Pope, at Jubilee audience, pays tribute to Blessed Isidore Bakanja, Congolese martyr
November 10, 2025
In the eighth special jubilee audience of 2025, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to Blessed Isidore Bakanja (c. 1887-1909), a Congolese martyr.
The theme of the series of jubilee audiences is hope. In “Sperare è testimoniare. Isidore Bakanja“ [To hope is to bear witness. Isidore Bakanja, video], Pope Leo described Blessed Bakanja as “a witness of Christian hope in Africa.”
Bakanja worked as “an agricultural worker for an unscrupulous European boss, who could not stand his faith and authenticity,” Pope Leo told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on November 8. “The master hated Christianity and those missionaries who defended the natives against the abuses of the colonizers, but Isidore wore his scapular around his neck with the image of the Virgin Mary until the end, suffering all kinds of mistreatment and torture, without losing hope.”
The Pope added:
To hope is to bear witness! Isidore dies, telling the Trappist monks that he bears no grudge against them. On the contrary, he promises to pray even in the afterlife for those who reduced him to this state.
This, dear brothers and sisters, is the word of the Cross. It is a lived word, which breaks the chain of evil. It is a new kind of force, which confounds the proud and overthrows the powerful from their thrones. Thus hope arises.
Previous audiences in series:
- Pope Francis, To hope is to begin again—John the Baptist (11 January 2025)
- Pope Francis, To hope is to turn around. Mary Magdalene (1 February 2025)
- Pope Leo XIV, To hope is to connect. Irenaeus of Lyon (14 June 2025)
- Pope Leo XIV, To hope is to dig. Empress Helena (6 September 2025) The Vatican has not published an English translation of this audience, though it has published an English summary.
- Pope Leo XIV, To hope is to intuit. Ambrose of Milan (27 September 2025) The Vatican has not published an English translation of this audience, though it has published an English summary.
- Pope Leo XIV, To hope is to choose: Clare of Assisi (4 October 2025) The Vatican has not published an English translation of this audience, though it has published an English summary.
- Pope Leo XIV, To hope is not to know. Nicola Cusano (25 October 2025)
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