SW News: A Peruvian nun shot dead by communist guerillas in 1990 will be beatified in May. Sister Maria Agustina Rivas Lopez, who was a member of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, will be proclaimed blessed on May 7. The nun was confirmed as a martyr who was killed in hatred of the faith by Pope Francis on May 21 last year.

Lovingly called "Aguchita", the sister worked with Peruvian tribal groups, where she spent most of the time with the young women in a bid to empower them. She also worked in the rural towns of Valle del Yurinaqui in the department of Junín to provide healthcare, food, and literacy to women, which she promoted through training initiatives, youth groups, and family catechesis. Unfortunately, the nun was slain while on a pastoral trip in the village of Ashaninka in the jungle. While assisting the tribal group there, she was assassinated by Shining Path, a communist guerilla group, on September 27, 1990, along with six other people. A teenage girl from the group shot her dead with a rifle when she tried to intercede for the villagers.

Meanwhile, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM) collaborated with the Catholic Association of Latin American and Caribbean Communication (SIGNIS) to produce "Aguchita," a short documentary film on her life, that premiered on February 14 as part of the series "La Vida por la Amazona." The documentary, which runs for 20 minutes, depicts the life of the Peruvian missionary who spent the majority of her life in Peru's central forest.