Wherever the Catholic faith spreads, inevitably there arises local opposition that seeks to limit its message of freedom in Christ.
Such has been the case in places in Africa, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where military aggression has been ongoing for decades.
A light in the darkness
Yet, despite the opposition to the Catholic faith, Christ's grace continues to win people to himself. This happened to Anuarite Nengapeta, who was baptized with her family in 1945. She felt drawn to the religious life at an early age.
When she was old enough, she even ran away from home to enter a convent, as her parents opposed her religious vocation.
She entered the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1959, taking the name, “Marie-Clémentine.”
St. John Paul II praised her virtues at her beatification ceremony in 1985:
Faith grew in her and became a powerful force in the orientation of her life. She wanted, very young, to consecrate her life to the Lord as a religious: in the community of the Jamaa Takatifu, the Congregation of the Holy Family dedicated particularly to educational tasks, she brought her perseverance to work, her sense of service, her love for her young pupils, her attention to the poor and the sick, the joy she knew how to radiate, her desire to progress spiritually. The members of her family and her congregation, present today, are pleased to be able to testify to her qualities.
One of the greatest virtues she had was courage, as she did not stand down when faced with opposition, even when it cost her life.
Some years into her religious life, a group of rebels captured her and several other religious sisters, fearing that they were "conspiring with foreigners."
After being captured, a military general tried to force Sister Marie-Clémentine to submit to his sexual passions, but she refused. This enraged him, and he eventually had her beaten and killed.
St. John Paul II spoke about this moment and how she forgave her captors:
Anuarite showed an audacity worthy of the martyrs who, starting with Stephen in Jerusalem, punctuate the history of the Church with their heroic imitation of Christ.
To defend her superior, threatened because of her own refusal, she dares to say: "You will only kill me." When the deadly blows reached her, her sisters clearly hear these words addressed by her to those who hit her: "I forgive you because you don't know what you're doing"; and again: "It's as I wanted it." In the most direct way, Anuarite follows the Christ to whom she gave herself.
Her heroic sacrifice helped strengthen the resolve of her other sisters and continues to be a beacon of light in the darkness.
All Catholics can look to her for inspiration and call upon her intercession for fortitude and courage in the midst of persecution.
The youth killed in Adoration during the night between 26 and 27 July 26 and 27, 2025, in Komanda, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were praying in a church named after Blessed Anuarite.
