Esther Paniagua Alonso was 45 years old when she was gunned down alongside her fellow Augustinian sister, Caridad Álvarez, on October 23, 1994. They were killed near their home in Bab El Oued, a neighborhood in the city of Algiers that Pope Leo XIV visited last Monday in Algeria. For Leo it was a visit to his sisters in their shared Augustinian spirituality.
As Algeria descended into civil war, the Spanish government offered Sister Esther a safe way out. Her surprising response revealed a profound love.
Just hours before her martyrdom on that Sunday morning, the missionary made a surprising request to the Spanish ambassador.
The ambassador and the consul had gone to visit her at the hospital where she worked as a nurse, trying in vain to offer her special protection and a way out.
"So, what do you want?" the ambassador finally asked her. "A colonoscope," Esther replied, "because what we need here is to detect intestinal cancers early."
"Well, let's see if we can get it. I'm sure you'll have it," the diplomat promised.
In fact, the Spanish government did send the medical instrument some time later. In a recent documentary, Augustinian Sister María Jesús Rodríguez recalled how happy Esther was when she explained her conversation with the ambassador during lunch that day.
An offertory at the chapel doors
Courtecy of Agustinos Re coletos
Sister María Jesús had traveled to Algeria to help the Augustinian sisters discern whether to stay or leave the country. However, there wasn't much to debate, as the sisters were absolutely certain they were staying.
That Sunday afternoon, which coincided with World Mission Sunday, the sisters planned to hold a Mass at a nearby chapel run by the Little Sisters of Jesus, a congregation inspired by Charles de Foucauld.
For security reasons, they didn't walk together. Esther and Caridad left first under the light rain. About 10 minutes later, Sister María Jesús headed out with Sister Lourdes — the same religious who greeted Pope Leo XIV during his visit last week on April 13.
"We heard two gunshots," she recalled. A young father sheltered them in his home, which shared a courtyard with the sisters' chapel. From there, they heard people calling out two names: Caridad and Esther.
"They were moments that felt like an eternity to me," Sister María Jesús noted.
The police soon arrived, and the sisters watched as officers loaded Esther into an ambulance. She had lost a lot of blood. An hour later, they received the devastating news of her death. Authorities transferred Caridad to a military hospital, but she also died shortly after.
The enduring example of Blessed Esther
Sister María Jesús pointed out that it was an incredibly difficult time, but “looking back now, their lives have borne immense fruit.
"The Eucharist was left at the offering of their lives at the chapel door," she added. She explained that for Esther, the perfect model was Jesus, who "suffered, had to overcome difficulties, and ended in the ‘failure’ of the cross, from which springs the source of life."
The house where they lived is now a welcoming center that hosts activities for children and adults. Pope Leo XIV visited the center on the first day of his 10-day apostolic journey to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea.
Today, the presence of Blessed Esther and Blessed Caridad is deeply felt there. The two missionaries are part of the 19 martyrs of Algeria, whose feast day is celebrated on May 8. That date also marks the anniversary of Pope Leo XIV's papal election.
