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Two nuns on a charity mission to Africa have fallen pregnant, leading Roman Catholic Church officials to open an investigation.

The nuns, Fox News reports, were on separate missions in Africa, having travelled to the continent from Sicily, Italy, where their orders are based.

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The nuns are both themselves African; one is based in Messina, the other in Ispica. Italy’s Gazzetta del Sud reports that the nuns have been given the choice to leave their orders and raise their kids.

One nun, aged 34, has since been switched to an order in Palermo, the Independent reports. She is said to have complained of stomach pains after returning home from her trip, and then discovered she was expecting after having an ultrasound.

The other, a mother superior whose age remains unclear, is reported to have since left Italy for her native Madagascar after also discovering that she was expecting.

Citing an anonymous Rome source, British tabloid the Sun said there was alarm in Church circles over the turn of events.