MILWAUKEE -- The funeral mass for Sister Margaret Held took place at St. Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee Friday.
She and another nun, Sister Paula Merrill, were stabbed to death a week ago in their home in Durant, Miss., where they worked in a medical clinic.
Archbishop Jerome Listecki led the burial mass. Held will be buried at Mount Olivet cemetery Friday afternoon.
Even on the day of the funeral, those who knew Held are praying for the man police believed killed her. Rodney Earl Sanders, 46, of Kosciusko, Mississippi, is charged with two counts of capital murder.
They believe Sister Held would feel the same way.
If the suspect in custody is convicted, the sisters said they still don't believe in the death penalty and said death is for God to decide.
"I felt great sadness for him and his family, and I can't imagine the pain they're all feeling because the family lives there," Sister Judeen Schulte said. "They know what a contribution those two sisters were."
The School Sisters of Saint Francis -- a group Held was a part of for 49 years -- plans to honor Sister Margaret by continuing the community work she was doing in Mississippi in Milwaukee.
