BLESSED AGUCHITA

A fascinating woman is soon to be named blessed, from my favorite South American country.  Pope Francis  recognized the martyrdom of SISTER AGUSTINA RIVAS LOPEZ, known as “AGUCHITA.” She was killed in 1987 in the Amazon region of Peru, determined to continue helping people of the Ashaninka tribe.

In the 1980s, a high level of violence prevailed in Peru, mainly in the interior areas of the country. Shining Path,  a Maoist guerrilla movement, sought to end  democracy and establish a socialist state.   When I visited Northern Peru 12 years ago, the peoples of the highlands were still suffering the effects of this dreadful movement.

Born in Coracora, capital of the province of Parinacochas, Antonia Luzmila Rivas López was born on June 13, 1920. She was the oldest of eleven children.

Part of her  early years were spent helping her parents in the fields, taking care of their animals. She enjoyed being in contact with nature.

From a very young age she knew the word of God and the Christian virtues within her family.  She and her mother  were very active in the town’s parish, which  played an important role in deciding her vocation to be a religious.

 In 1938 she traveled to Limavisiting her brother César, upon his ordination to the priesthood. On that occasion she had her first meeting with the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, whom she would join in 1942.

From 1963 to 1967 she worked in the house of Barrios Altos, Lima, as director of the laundry, where she  evangelized the young residents under the care of the Congregation.  She once wrote, “To love the poor is to love life.

She  also organized soup kitchens and mothers' clubs, where she taught the women how to earn a living through their own work. She spent five years, from 1970 to 1975, as a nurse, working among the poor.

In 1988 she felt called to serve among the Asháninka, an indigenous people living in the rainforest of Peru. The Ashaninka tribe, were a people who had almost been wiped out in the early 20th century by rubber exporters destroying the forests and bringing disease to the local people. Sister Aguchita spent most of her time working with the young women of the tribe.

On September 27, 1990, members of the guerrilla band, nabbed Sister Aguchita and placed her in front of the villagers. Six of the local people were also taken to be made examples of.  A 17-year-old girl executed Sister by firing seven shots into her with a rifle. Sister Aguchita died “in odium fidei” (in hatred of the faith).

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