Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta 60 Years After Her Martyrdom
After her martyrdom, Catholic Church in Congo closes jubilee year in her honor
In Congo, the Catholic Church is preparing for the closing celebration of the jubilee year of the 60th anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta Marie-Clémentine as the first Blessed of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The celebration will take place in the dioceses of Wamba and Isiro.
December 1, 1964 to December 1, 2024
Exactly 60 years have passed since the Blessed’s tragic martyrdom. For the solemnity, the CENCO bishops had gathered at their June 2023 Plenary Assembly held in Lubumbashi and decreed the pastoral year 2024 as the “Year of Blessed Anuarite.”
One of the main objectives of this jubilee year dedicated to Blessed Anuarite was to create a national dynamic of appropriation of Anuarite’s cause through popular devotion and to mobilize the necessary funds for the construction of a dignified national shrine in her honor in Isiro.
To this end, a national committee was established, whose role was to plan and implement a series of leading Christian and cultural activities in the country’s 48 dioceses through diocesan focal points; prepare, in cooperation with the local committee based in Isiro in the Diocese of Isiro-Niangara, the closing solemnity of the Jubilee Year, scheduled to be held in Isiro on December 1, 2024; and raise awareness among all interested parties by mobilizing the necessary funds for the construction of a worthy national shrine in her honor.
It is also interesting that the Jubilee Year is a national opportunity to espouse the Blessed’s cause by building a national shrine in Isiro dedicated to her, and also for her cause to be known in all dioceses in the country that uncompromisingly follow Christ according to the Anuarite model: “fidelity to commitments made,” “keeping one’s word,” and “symbolizing the fight against violence of all kinds against women” from which the country has suffered for decades.
All dioceses in the country are mobilized for this pilgrimage to Isiro. Pilgrims should register at their diocesan focal points. The CENCO Secretary General reminded that the lanterns of the Blessed Year of Anuarite 2024 will be extinguished in Isiro, the place of her martyrdom, in Haut-Uélé province, on Monday, December 02, 2024, where a national pilgrimage is planned.
The calendar
– First stage: Tuesday, 11/26/2024: arrival in Kisangani and departure for Isiro by road (pilgrimage in Anuarite’s footsteps);
– Second stage: Wednesday, 11/27/2024: departure from Kisangani and arrival in Wamba by road (pilgrimage in Anuarite’s footsteps);
– Thursday, 11/28/2024: pilgrimage in Anuarite’s footsteps and Eucharistic celebration in Matari (village of Blessed Anuarite);
– Third stage: Friday, 11/29/2024: departure from Wamba (via Bafwabaka) and arrival in Isiro (pilgrimage in the footsteps of Anuarite);
– Fourth stage: Saturday, 11/30/2024: pilgrimage in Anuarite’s footsteps, confession, rosary…
– Sunday 01/12/2024: cultural activities
– Monday 02/12/2024: closing celebration of the jubilee year
– Tuesday 03/12/2024: end of the pilgrimage and departure from Isiro
This major national event could not take place without the mobilization of all Christians in the country and the national institutions of the 48 dioceses of the Republic. The goal is to update the Catholic faithful on the Anuarite Year, which is why there has been a great mobilization and fundraising to raise from the generosity of Christians the funds for the construction of the shrine.
Who is Blessed Anuarite?
Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta, the young martyred nun, was born on December 29, 1939, in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) to a pagan family converted to Christianity. Despite this, little Anuarite constantly brooded within herself the desire to become a nun. A childhood dream she would fulfill years later. She entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1955 and professed her first vows on August 5, 1959, five years before her martyrdom.
Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta struggled to the death to be faithful to her God; she did not fear the threats of the wicked: she was founded on the rock
On November 29, 1964, she was taken away with all her sisters by the Simba rebels who were spreading terror in her region. This departure into the unknown led to her pious torment. In the face of threats of all kinds, Anuarite did not yield to the perverse proposals of her executioner, who wanted to make her his wife.
Strong in the love of Christ, she answered him with determination, “I would rather die than sin.” Until death, and even to the last second of her life, Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite remained faithful to her commitments and the love of her life: Christ. Her whole life, actions and thoughts are an affirmation that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. She experienced this and passed it on to us as her testament. She was stabbed to death on December 1, 1964. She was only 25 years old.
Anuarite’s beatification process was officially opened on January 13, 1978. John Paul II proclaimed her blessed on August 15, 1985 in Kinshasa. Her feast day is set for Dec. 1, the anniversary of her martyrdom. “She preferred to die a martyr’s death to preserve her purity. She is our model. He gave proof of a supreme love for God that he put above his own life.” The beatification of Anuarite, a daughter of our race, is a great grace for Congo and for Africa. It clearly shows us that God calls everyone to become saints.”
Other martyrs, including Luigi Carrara Albert Joubert, Vittorio Faccin and Giovanni Didonè, who were killed at the same time as Anuarite, were beatified on August 18 this year.
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Images
- Rodrigue Bidubula