Antonia Luzmila Rivas López

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rivas and the second or maternal family name is López
.
Roman Catholic Church
Beatified7 May 2022, La Florida, Peru by Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo (on behalf of Pope Francis)
Feast26 September

Antonia Luzmila Rivas López (13 June 1920 – 27 September 1990) –

peasant women while she oversaw a number of different health and catechetical programs.[3][2] Rivas worked at a time when the communist-oriented Shining Path movement was on the rise and threatened local religious communities.[4] The nun was slain in 1990 when a teenage girl from the Shining Path shot her dead with a rifle when she tried to intercede for the villagers that she was with at the time; her death rattled her order who pondered whether or not to leave the area in light of her murder.[1][2]

The process for her beatification was initiated in Peru in 2017 and she became titled as a Servant of God at the outset.[3] Pope Francis determined in 2021 that Rivas had been slain "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) hence permitted for her to be beatified; the beatification was celebrated in La Florida, Peru, on 7 May 2022.[1][2][5]

Life

Antonia Luzmila Rivas López was born on 13 June 1920 in Coracora in the Parinacochas Province as the first of eleven children born to Damaso Rivas and Modesta López de Rivera.[1] Her devout parents educated her and her siblings in their faith and from her childhood she developed a strong passion for nature with its abundance of plants and local farm animals.[4] In her childhood she also helped her mother with her duties inside the house; her mother did her best to take her to Mass each morning despite the distance involved. Rivas and her siblings all attended catechetical instruction in their local parish while her brother César entered the priesthood and was ordained as a Redemptorist.[4]

In 1934, she relocated to

peasants
but was at first unsure of the meaning behind it. It was not until 1987 that her dream became true after she was sent to her next assignment where her order had been working for just over the last decade since 1976.

But the

soup kitchens and clubs for mothers where she would teach them various skills to earn a living for themselves. Rivas also worked from 1970 until 1975 as a nurse for the poor.[1] But the increased violence in the surrounding areas saw her order reflect on whether or not it would be wise for them to continue to serve local communities there due to the anti-religious sentiment that the terrorists demonstrated. But the order decided to continue with their work and accept the risks involved and often said "leave the town or give your life for it".[2][4]

Rivas was well aware of the risks to her person during this time but decided to remain close with the local population and the Asháninka tribe (a tribe that had almost been wiped out at the beginning of the twentieth century due to disease as a result of rubber exports destroying the ecosystem) and later wrote: "I was never a respecter of persons, I loved everyone. To love the poor is to love life. It is to love the God of life".[4] But the Shining Path broke into La Florida on 27 September 1990 and ordered all its inhabitants to gather in the main square with their original intention being to capture or execute the village chief. The terrorists searched for the chief but took Rivas instead and killed her in front of them.[5] The terrorists accused her for false charitable and educational programs that sought to divert the teenage population from the armed insurrection. But the terrorists left the corpses of the six slain alongside her in the square all night and in fear fled the area before the bodies were discovered the next morning and buried. Rivas was killed after a teenager, only aged seventeen, shot her with a rifle and fired seven shots into her. The police recovered her remains and were able to confirm the manner of her death for her order.[1][3] The priest Alfonso Tapia later said in 2021 that "she interceded for them and then when they were about to kill her, she had her hands together, she wanted to kneel. Her hands and legs were shaking ... she fell to the ground and they shot her five times. When we performed the autopsy to exhume the body, I was truly shocked. Nearly thirty years later, the forensic expert removed the five bullets from her body".[2] In the aftermath of her death, the congregation began to ponder if the rest of them were willing to follow in her footsteps, having been shocked and frightened at her murder.

Beatification

The diocesan process to investigate her life and holiness opened in the San Ramón vicariate on 4 October 2017 and concluded a fortnight later on 18 October. Pope Francis signed a decree on 22 May 2021 that determined that Rivas had been killed in odium fidei ("in hatred of the faith")[1][3][5] The beatification took place on 7 May 2022. The postulator for this cause is Waldery Hilgeman.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    Congregation for the Causes of Saints
    . Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The nun who was killed by terrorists in Peru and declared a martyr". Rome Reports. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Beata Maria Agostina Rivas López, detta Aguchita (Antonia Luzmila)". Santi e Beati. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Larry Peterson (27 May 2021). "She was executed for loving too much: Meet Sr. Aguchita". Aleteia. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Junno Arocho Esteves (24 May 2021). "Pope recognizes martyrdom of Peruvian nun". Crux. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

External links

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