AMERICA/PERU - "Aguchita", the missionary martyr who gave her life for the Amazon and for the human rights of its peoples

Lima (Agenzia Fides) - Sister María Agustina de Jesús Rivas López, known by all as "Aguchita", the Peruvian nun murdered on September 27, 1990 by the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso and whose martyrdom in odium fidei was recognized by Pope Francis on 22 May 2021, will be beatified on May 7th. In this period, therefore, initiatives are being intensified to make the religious testimony of faith known (see Fides, 24/5/2021).
The Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), in coordination with the Catholic Association of Latin American and Caribbean Communication (SIGNIS), has made a documentary short film entitled "Aguchita", which is part of the series "La Vida por la Amazonía", previewed on February 14th.
The documentary, which lasts 20 minutes, shows the testimony of life of the Peruvian missionary who spent most of her life in the central forest of Peru. The nun, who belonged to the community of the Good Shepherd, was murdered while carrying out her pastoral mission in the village of Ashaninka, in the central forest of Peru. Aguchita dedicated her work to health care, education, offering food and literacy mainly to women, which she promoted through training projects, organizing youth groups and family catechesis in the rural communities of the city of Valle del Yurinaqui, in the department by Junín. A newly published book entitled "Aguchita: death cannot be improvised, love is our vocation" by Alfonso Tapia, Vicar General of San Ramón, was also dedicated to the Peruvian missionary who gave her life for the Amazon and for the human rights of the Amazonian peoples. Commenting on the text, historian José Antonio Benito underlines among other things, that if in La Parada and Aguchita apostolates reminds us of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in the Peruvian jungle "we see a lot of Saint Teresa, for her experience of spiritual childhood, in the trust and abandonment in God. Without this dimension, Aguchita would be a social activist - but reduced to a social volunteer. Here the key to her charity and her holiness is revealed".
In the account of the killing of Aguchita and the villagers, José Antonio Benito points out that "the nun - at all times - prayed for everyone. Thus she ended her life and that of all the villagers who died on that tragic day". But for the believer martyrdom is not something that ends with the bloody act, so "the death of Aguchita and the thousands of innocent Peruvians who died unjustly, becomes a testimony of peace and freedom. They are no longer absurd deaths, but they have assumed a sense of vindication for justice and peace, for a more just and fraternal Peru". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 22/2/2022)

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