The Bugobe Martyrs
Chapter 10 constitutes the second teaching section of Mt. It is traditionally known as the Mission Discourse, because Jesus chooses his twelve Apostles and gives them instructions before sending them out on mission. Jesus warns them very bluntly that spreading his message and acting as he does will mean facing difficulty and opposition, and even hatred, violence, and death.
Throughout our 200 year history, a number of Marist Brothers have lived and died by Mt 10. Four heroic examples are the Bugobe Martyrs: Brothers Fernando de la Fuente, Julio Rodriguez, Miguel Angel Isla, and Servando Mayor, four Spanish brothers who went to the Bugobe Refugee camp in Nyamirangwe, DRC to serve as teachers for the children there. The Rwandan Genocide in 1994 caused over a million refugees to flood across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing the already fragile country to collapse into a civil war. The brothers went at the invitation of the Marist general administration, who believed that as Westerners they might be safer than native Congolese or Rwandan brothers. However, as the situation worsened, it became clear that no one was safe, and Br. Bernito Arbues, the Superior General, asked them to evacuate. They declined, with Br. Servando saying, “We cannot abandon those who are already abandoned by everyone. If you were here, you would do the same. We have decided to stay, if you will permit us.” The four brothers were killed in a militia attack on the camp on October 31, 1996. They stand as witnesses to the fidelity and self-sacrificial love that Jesus preached.
