Sister María Agustina Rivas López, known as "Aguchita", who was murdered in 1990 by the communist terrorist group Sendero Luminoso because of hatred of the faith, will be ordained, according to a statement released by the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity, the Good Shepherd. beatified on May 7, 2022.
The beatification Mass will be celebrated by a representative of the Holy Father a year after the Holy Father approves the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Sister “Aguchita”.
Biography of Aguchita
Sister Aguchita was born on June 13, 1920 in Coracora, in the Ayacucho region, in the southern highlands of Peru. She took her vows at the age of 25 and has been a missionary in the Barrios Altos area, in the heart of Lima, for many years. During her prayer hours, she always prayed for the priests to keep them faithful.
In 1987 she was sent to the town of La Florida. That's when the Communist Party of Peru-Sendero Luminoso - The Way of Light - started a wave of violence and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people across Peru.
In 1992, Abimael Guzmán, who called himself "President Gonzalo", was arrested. Since then, the terrorist group has lost most of its military force and retreated to the valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Marañón rivers (VRAEM), in southern Peru.
Members of the terrorist group regularly enter villages and hold trials and decide which villagers should be killed. On September 27, 1990, they went to La Florida and murdered several people. Unable to find a single person on the list of six chosen, the terrorist group chose Sister Aguchita to take her place. They charged first with helping the poor and contacting an anti-terrorist group.
Clay in God's hand
A year earlier, during a retreat, Sister Aguchita had written to her provincial superior the prophecies: “Spiritally, you are about to make great strides. Looks like these will be the last days of my life.” “The years have passed and I tell myself that God sent me here to make me happy in my old age, before I die. In short, you are clay in God's hands."
On February 22, Sister Marlene Acosta, Provincial of the Order in Peru, said that the beatification Mass "will be celebrated in La Florida, in the Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramón," a town located in the region. Junin, central Peru. And Sister Norma Condori, of the same order as the newly blessed, told ACI Prensa news agency that on Friday, May 6, there will be a vigil at the diocese's cathedral. (ACIPrensa February 23, 2022)