4 martyrs are beatified in the Congo: 3 priests and a brother murdered out of hatred for the faith in 1964

This Sunday, August 18, 4 martyrs have been beatified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 3 Italian Xaverian missionaries and 1 Congolese priest, murdered out of hatred for the faith 60 years ago

After praying the Angelus this Sunday in the Vatican, Pope Francis referred to the beatification of the Xaverian missionary priests Luigi Carrara, Giovanni Didoné and Brother Vittorio Faccin, together with the priest Albert Joubert, murdered in the African country on 28 November 1964.

“His martyrdom has been the crowning of a life dedicated to the Lord and his brothers. May his example and intercession promote paths of reconciliation and peace for the good of the Congolese people. “Applause for the new blessed!” exclaimed the Pope.

The beatification of the 4 martyrs

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and member of the Council of Cardinals that advises the Pope, presided over the beatification Mass in the square in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Uvira.

According to reports Vatican Newsthe Bishop of Uvira, Bishop Sébastien-Joseph Muyengo, the Apostolic Nuncio in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bishop Mitja Leskovar, the Superior General of the Xaverian Missionaries, Father Fernando García, concelebrated the Eucharist; and the postulator of the cause of beatification of the martyrs, Father Faustino Turco.

“By officially declaring a person blessed, as is happening today, the Church recognizes and confesses that physical death has not won and that God has not abandoned his servants,” Cardinal Ambongo indicated in his homily; in which he highlighted that “martyrs do not fall from heaven. They are not extraordinary beings either, but Christians like you and me.”

The only difference, he specified, is that they lived their faith in an exceptional way, “showing fidelity to God and his word, in a sometimes hostile environment.”

The cardinal highlighted that the new martyrs lived in the midst of the rebellion of the 1960s. Having been able to leave the country to escape persecution, the four preferred “to bear witness to their evangelical brotherhood by remaining with their faithful of Fizi and Baraka, until bloodshed.”

“I am convinced that the blood of our blessed martyrs will obtain for us the gift of peace,” continued the cardinal who exclaimed: “Enough of violence! Enough of barbarities! Enough of massacres and deaths on Congolese soil! And in the Great Lakes subregion! Violence and wars are the result of thoughtlessness.”

After pointing out that wars “are the work of the devil and his acolytes who sow desolation and death,” the cardinal invited the path of dialogue and negotiation to resolve the current conflicts in the region.

The martyrdom of the 4 new blesseds

In 1960, the Democratic Republic of the Congo achieved its independence after 60 years of Belgian domination. In 1963 and after the execution of the prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, Pierre Mulele, who had been a minister in Lumumba’s government and who arrived after having been indoctrinated in China, returned to the country.

Its guerrillas professed the traditional religion of tribal and animist rites; and they were convinced that the Catholic Church and pro-Western Congolese politicians were the enemy, so they looted places of worship and desecrated sanctuaries in various places; in addition to committing atrocious crimes, encouraged by local shamans.

In that deeply anti-Catholic and anti-religious climate, the four martyrs decided to stay to evangelize the Congolese, while many others left the country, he explains. Vatican News in French.

At 2 in the afternoon on November 28, 1964, a military jeep parked in front of the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Jesus in Baraka. In the car was one of the rebel leaders, Abedi Masanga, who asked brother Vittorio Faccin to get into the jeep. The missionary refused and was murdered.

Upon hearing the bullets, Father Luigi Carrara left the church and was ordered to get into the jeep, but when Brother Vittorio was dead, he knelt down and told Masanga: “If you want to kill me, I prefer to die next to my brother.” The rebel leader killed him unceremoniously.

The bodies of the two missionaries were dismembered. Masanga then went to Fizi and, at night, went to the missionaries’ parish where he murdered Fathers Giovanni and Albert.

Brother Vittorio Faccin was 30 years old. He especially cared for the sick and less fortunate. Father Luigi Carrara, 31 years old, was characterized by his courage and deep faith and, in Baraka, he dedicated himself to education and spiritual accompaniment.

Father Giovanni was 34 years old, “he was distinguished by his tireless service and his love for those most in need. In Fizi he was a pillar of reference for many and also a spiritual guide,” indicates Vatican News in French.

Father Albert Joubert worked in several dioceses and then decided to collaborate in Fizi, “always willing to face adversity, his main activity was school ministry,” indicates the Vatican media.

Vatican News indicates that this is the second beatification in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after that of 1985, of Sister Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta, murdered on December 1, 1964, three days after the death of the four new martyrs .