Fr. Louis BIRA sx
In Burundi, the Xaverian Sisters together with the Xaverian Missionaries have transformed a place of horror into a place of prayer for mercy and peace. It is the house where three Xaverian sisters, Italians by origin, were murdered. Indeed, on Sunday, September 7th, 2014, the lifeless bodies of sisters Olga Raschietti and Lucia Pulici were found in their home. Then, on the night of September 8th, Sister Bernadetta Boggian was beheaded. It is this house of horror that has been nicknamed in Kirundi: "Agasengero k'ikigongwe n'amahoro"- "The house of prayer for mercy and peace." Today it is very frequented by many people who come to spiritually rejuvenate themselves. Even though it is a spiritual nourishment, the house does not hide the scars of the tragedy that took place there in September 2014. As part of our continental meeting of the African Studies Centre which took place in Bujumbura, from February 2nd to 7th, 2020, we had the chance to gather there. A Xaverian missionary, who witnessed this horror, took the time to tell us, not without emotions, the story of the martyrdom of the Xaverian sisters.
According to him, that afternoon of sad memory, everything had unfolded as in a film of horror. Indeed, the first two sisters had been slashed and struck with a stone on the head; just as if their murderers were determined to put them through the worst of torment. Sister Bernadetta Boggian, who had accompanied the bodies of her sisters to the mortuary, will in turn be cowardly beheaded on the night of September 8th. In less than 24 hours, the very hectic Kamenge neighbourhood where the sisters peacefully lived had just suffered the shock of a crime which those responsible and the reasons for such cruelty remain unknown up until today. In a country agitated by political unrest, one would soon think that this crime was politically motivated. However, according to Monsignor Evariste Ngoyagoye, archbishop of Bujumbura at the time of the tragedy, these are only indignant rumours circulating without any evidence. Yet a unanimous and unequivocal observation exists, as the prelate continues: "the three sisters had a great love for God and for the inhabitants of this district of Kamenge in the midst of which they lived and spent their lives for years." On the basis of this testimony and so many others, it appears that the murder of these three religious sisters remains incomprehensible. It is a real horror in front of which we remain speechless. It is hard to understand that religious sisters who have stood in solidarity with the Burundian people during all their years of crisis could end up being tortured and murdered like thugs. And yet they were mere innocent people serving the Lord in Burundi. The account of their murder seems as if, by snatching away their lives, evil has definitively triumphed. But that is wrong! The Christian faith draws another perspective: it shines forth a small light of hope even where the darkness of evil, which is the son of death, reigns. Christ is our victor! By his death, he destroyed death. His resurrection is our victory. This is the cry that accompanied generations of Christians in the face of peril, especially in the face of torture and martyrdom. And it is this same conviction that seems to have guided the Xaverian missionaries working in Burundi when it came to deciding what to do with this house with sad memories. After the murder of the religious sisters, it was necessary to choose between despair and hope, between a spirit of vengeance and that of mercy. At the end, it was the spirit of hope and mercy that triumphed. Turning a house of horror into a place of prayer for mercy and peace reflects this desire to move forward, to look to the future with the eyes of faith. It is to reaffirm that evil has never had the last word; it's refusing to be paralyzed by fear. Thus, to obtain the conversion of the executioners who had cowardly murdered the religious sisters and the wish to see a lasting peace come to Burundi, the beloved land that had become the second homeland of sisters Olga, Lucia and Bernadette, is the ardent desire of the Xaverian missionaries who serenely continue their missionary service in Burundi.
In Burundi, the Xaverian Sisters together with the Xaverian Missionaries have transformed a place of horror into a place of prayer for mercy and peace. It is the house where three Xaverian sisters, Italians by origin, were murdered. Indeed, on Sunday, September 7th, 2014, the lifeless bodies of sisters Olga Raschietti and Lucia Pulici were found in their home. Then, on the night of September 8th, Sister Bernadetta Boggian was beheaded. It is this house of horror that has been nicknamed in Kirundi: "Agasengero k'ikigongwe n'amahoro"- "The house of prayer for mercy and peace." Today it is very frequented by many people who come to spiritually rejuvenate themselves. Even though it is a spiritual nourishment, the house does not hide the scars of the tragedy that took place there in September 2014. As part of our continental meeting of the African Studies Centre which took place in Bujumbura, from February 2nd to 7th, 2020, we had the chance to gather there. A Xaverian missionary, who witnessed this horror, took the time to tell us, not without emotions, the story of the martyrdom of the Xaverian sisters.
According to him, that afternoon of sad memory, everything had unfolded as in a film of horror. Indeed, the first two sisters had been slashed and struck with a stone on the head; just as if their murderers were determined to put them through the worst of torment. Sister Bernadetta Boggian, who had accompanied the bodies of her sisters to the mortuary, will in turn be cowardly beheaded on the night of September 8th. In less than 24 hours, the very hectic Kamenge neighbourhood where the sisters peacefully lived had just suffered the shock of a crime which those responsible and the reasons for such cruelty remain unknown up until today. In a country agitated by political unrest, one would soon think that this crime was politically motivated. However, according to Monsignor Evariste Ngoyagoye, archbishop of Bujumbura at the time of the tragedy, these are only indignant rumours circulating without any evidence. Yet a unanimous and unequivocal observation exists, as the prelate continues: "the three sisters had a great love for God and for the inhabitants of this district of Kamenge in the midst of which they lived and spent their lives for years." On the basis of this testimony and so many others, it appears that the murder of these three religious sisters remains incomprehensible. It is a real horror in front of which we remain speechless. It is hard to understand that religious sisters who have stood in solidarity with the Burundian people during all their years of crisis could end up being tortured and murdered like thugs. And yet they were mere innocent people serving the Lord in Burundi. The account of their murder seems as if, by snatching away their lives, evil has definitively triumphed. But that is wrong! The Christian faith draws another perspective: it shines forth a small light of hope even where the darkness of evil, which is the son of death, reigns. Christ is our victor! By his death, he destroyed death. His resurrection is our victory. This is the cry that accompanied generations of Christians in the face of peril, especially in the face of torture and martyrdom. And it is this same conviction that seems to have guided the Xaverian missionaries working in Burundi when it came to deciding what to do with this house with sad memories. After the murder of the religious sisters, it was necessary to choose between despair and hope, between a spirit of vengeance and that of mercy. At the end, it was the spirit of hope and mercy that triumphed. Turning a house of horror into a place of prayer for mercy and peace reflects this desire to move forward, to look to the future with the eyes of faith. It is to reaffirm that evil has never had the last word; it's refusing to be paralyzed by fear. Thus, to obtain the conversion of the executioners who had cowardly murdered the religious sisters and the wish to see a lasting peace come to Burundi, the beloved land that had become the second homeland of sisters Olga, Lucia and Bernadette, is the ardent desire of the Xaverian missionaries who serenely continue their missionary service in Burundi.