In his diary we find written, “Society does not want to worry about the little people, it has other problems and forgets about the people living in the jungle. However, we missionaries, we must believe in the Gospel, there we find written that Jesus left the 99 sheep to look for one; even if you are few you have the same value; Jesus cared about the little ones of the abandoned. That’s what we have to do as well.”
Bishop Alejandro Labaka was born in Spain on April 19, 1920, in Beizama, a small village in the Basque Country. A Capuchin Friar Minor, he was pastor in Pifo, Superior of the Custody of the Capuchin Fathers in Ecuador; still Prefect and then Apostolic Vicar of the Mission of Aguarico. He expended all his energies on behalf of the Amazonian people of the Huaorans, also called acuas. On July 21, 1987 he was shot dead, along with Sister Inés Arango, also a Capuchin missionary, by the spears of those to whom he wanted to proclaim the Gospel.
While in Rome in 1965 for the Second Vatican Council, he wrote to His Holiness Paul VI: “…I felt very strongly within me the mandate to preach to all peoples and especially to these acuas. A campaign to approach them has begun, but – this is my question – to what extent can I expose the lives of the missionaries, the laity and my own propter evangelium?… Most Blessed Father: if in the designs of God it will be necessary to sacrifice some life to bring Christ to these tribes, please deign to offer us, together with the divine victim, in your Holy Mass, so that we may be worthy of this grace and so that we may obtain a special blessing for all the missionaries and for all those entrusted to us.”
In his diary we find written, “Society does not want to worry about the small peoples, it has other problems and forgets about the people who live in the jungle. However, we missionaries, we must believe in the Gospel, there we find written that Jesus left the 99 sheep to look for one; even if you are few you have the same value; Jesus cared for the little ones of the abandoned. So we must do the same.”
