Remembering Mother Marie-Catherine

ACN has received the sad news of the passing of one of our Church partners, Mother Marie-Catherine, who worked extensively in Niger. Mother Marie-Catherine was born in Senegal, but spend 15 years working in Niger with poor children and their parents.

By ACN Staff

Mother Marie-Catherine Persévérance Kingbo. (Credit: Aid to the Church Need)

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is very sad to have received news that one of our Church partners, Mother Marie-Catherine Persévérance Kingbo, died on the 24th of May in Dakar, Senegal. Mother Marie-Catherine was born in 1953 in Guinguinéo, Senegal. She spent 15 years in Niger, a mostly Muslim country that is also very poor. She explained to ACN why she went to Niger:

"I heard God's call to leave everything and serve the poor."

While in Niger Mother Marie-Catherine founded the "Fraternité des Servantes du Christ", an order focused on social and charitable work. The order focuses on helping children, young people and parents, with particular focus on education and training. Before founding the "Fraternité des Servantes du Christ" Mother Marie-Catherine belonged to one of Africa’s oldest female congregations, the "Filles du Saint Coeur de Marie".

Mother Marie-Catherine speaking for ACN in France. (Credit: Marc-Antoine Mouterde)

The Bishop of Maradi, Ambroise Ouédraogo, asked Mother Marie-Catherine to help in the diocese, with the "Fraternité des Servantes du Christ” working there since 2006. Initially the congregation helped in six or seven villages, with this number having increased to 120 villages. The sisters run a school in Tibiri and a nutrition centre in Dan Bako. Mother Marie-Catherine told ACN during one of her frequent visits to ACN’s headquarters:

“Weekly 500 to 600 mothers come with their children; many are malnourished. Every year we feed about 23,000 people."

One area that the congregation has worked a lot on is child marriage. It is common for girls as young a ten to married in Niger. Mother Marie-Catherine and her sisters managed to convince many parents to send their daughters to school rather than marrying them at a young age.

Mother Marie-Catherine and her congregation were very well received in Niger, despite many of the local people being Muslims. After a while local people began to trust the sisters and told the sisters things like:

“We see God in what you are doing."

ACN worked for many years with Mother Marie-Catherine. She travelled on many occasions to ACN’s headquarters and also gave her testimony in ACN’s national offices in France and Portugal. She dedicated her life to the Lord. May she rest in peace. Please join us in prayer for the repose of her soul.