When sister Monique Gervais heard about an attack on Catholic students outside a bus stop in Kawaski, Japan, she immediately wondered if the victims were from her congregation’s school.
“Nothing can ever explain tragedies like this,” said Gervais.
A man in his 50s attacked a group of schoolgirls and adults at a bus stop just outside of Tokyo on Tuesday. Officials say he killed two people and injured at least 17 others before taking his own life.
Most of the victims were students from Caritas Gakuen school, which was founded by the Soeurs de la Charité de Québec, a Catholic organization in Quebec City.
Gervais said she first heard the news late Monday night when a fellow sister was browsing the news on her tablet.
“She recognized the name of the area and we said ‘We hope it’s not our school,'” said Gervais. “And then this morning I got confirmation that it was our school.”
READ MORE: 2 dead in Japan after man attacks girls from school founded by Quebec nuns
Gervais said she was astounded. As a nun with the Quebec City organization, she has visited Caritas Gakuen Catholic school twice, her most recent trip being two years ago.
“I told myself this was impossible. It’s a quiet area, we never hear about any violence around there,” she said.
The only consolation is how people immediately rallied together and supported one another after the attack, she added.
Gervais said the Soeurs de la Charité de Québec got involved with the school after the Second World War, when the Vatican asked Canadian priests to send missionaries to Japan. Cardinal Maurice Roy, who was serving as Quebec’s archbishop at the time, asked the congregation to send some of their nuns to Japan.
READ MORE: Man swinging a knife attacks commuters waiting at a crowded bus stop just outside Tokyo
“The reason for the funding and why the sisters were sent there was to educate people, to help them, to give their lives new meaning with solid values and to help them rebuild their society,” said Gervais.
It will be tough to re-establish a sense of safety at the school, she added.
“The students are already very well surrounded. They get picked up and dropped off at the bus station, but they will have to do more to ensure their safety,” she said. “And hopefully they will implement psychological support to help everyone at the school get through this.
“Our sisters over there will continue to do what they do in the face of this tragedy, that’s all they can do. We will get through it,” she said.
— With files from The Associated Press
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