Beginnings and EndingsAdorers of the Blood of Christ from the United States began working with the church in Liberia, West Africa in 1971 when Sisters Bonita Wittenbrink and Alvina Schott established the first ASC mission on the Kru coast in Grand Cess. In 1973, Sisters Alvina Schott, Virginia Walsh, and Mary Evelyn Nagle opened a second mission in Gardnersville just outside of the capital city of Monrovia. On January 12, 1982, Sisters Barbara Ann Muttra and Antoinette Cusimano began working with the Liberian people in Bomi County and established a mission at Kle in Bomi County. Until the civil war forced their return to the States in August, 1990, the Adorer's presence in Liberia was uninterrupted as they engaged in health care, education, and parish work among the people of Grand Cess, Gardnersville, and Kle.
In March, 1991, Adorers returned to Gardnersville to resume their work among the people. In addition to their work in health care and education, they took on the added ministry of helping the people to regain spiritual and psychological health after their experiences during the brutalizing civil war. It was these works in which Sisters Barbara Ann Muttra, Shirely Kolmer, Joel Kolmer, Agnes Mueller, and Kathleen McGuire were engaged when they were murdered in October, 1992.
Were these women the victims of some drug-crazed soldier's illusions? Were they simply in the wrong places at the wrong times? Speculation raises more questions than it answers, and the entire truth probably will never be known. The two facts that are known are that they returned to a country still in unrest because they loved the people whom they called their own and that they were killed while trying to help the people whom they loved.
Continuing the MissionAlthough there have been no Adorers working in Liberia since October of 1992, the people of Liberia have remained close to the hearts of U.S. Adorers. Over the past ten years the Adorers have supported the education of several Liberian young women living in the United States and in Liberia and have worked for the cause of peace and justice in that country that remains torn by civil war.
The five Martyrs of Charity continue to live in the hearts of the Liberian people. In June of 1993, the Sister Barbara Ann Muttra Memorial Health Center and the Sister Agnes Mueller Memorial Maternity Center were dedicated in Gardnersville. The school at St. Mulumba's parish in a small town between Gardnersville and Robertsfied Airport is named after Sister Kathleen McGuire. The Catholic parish in Barnersville has been dedicated to the Sisters and named Holy Martyrs Church. Five Liberian Marist brothers teach at the Sister Shirley Kolmer School in Barnersville. Fomer Liberian aspirants who received their early training from Sister Joel and now reside in the United States and elsewhere are living memorials to her work in Liberia. At a commemorative Eucharist held in Monrovia on October 20, 2002, Archbishop Michael Kpakala Francis announced the appointment of a three-member commission to investigate the lives and deaths of the five nuns. The findings have been forwarded to the Vatican and two Adorers have been appointed to plead the case of the five Adorers --- the first steps in a process that could lead to canonization of the Martyrs of Charity. (For an explanation of the process of canonization in the Catholic Church, click here.)
The work of others of the Liberian missionaries has also flourished. The 10 villages in Bomi County that Sister Antoinette Cusimano and Father Garry Jenkins SMA evangelized during the 1980's have grown to over 100 villages through the good work of the Liberian catechists, many of whom received their initial training from Sister Antoinette. The Liberian ASC Associates program developed by Sisters Rachel Lawler and Raphael Ann Drone still flourishes. Many of the Adorers' works in health care and education have been continued by the Liberian people.
The bond between the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and the Liberian people goes much deeper than monetary support, lobbying for justice, and even deeper than the continuation of the Sisters' work. The blood of five U.S. Adorers has mingled with that of the thousands of Liberians killed during the civil war, and the Adorers have shared with the Liberian people the grief of losing loved ones through violence. This sharing has irrevocably bound the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and the people of Liberia in a way that no one could possibly have imagined when the first Adorers were welcomed by the Liberian people over thirty years ago.
History of LiberiaThe oldest independent country in Africa, Liberia was established by freed Amerian slaves in 1820 and acheived independence on July 26, 1847. Descendants of these early settlers became known in later generations as Americo-Liberians. Those who could trace their ancestry back to the indigenous Liberian tribes became known simply as Liberians. Although Liberia is a country rich in natural resources such as timber, diamonds, and rubber, historically the country's economy and wealth has been controlled largely by foreign business interests.
Political unrest has been a factor in Liberian government for decades. Presidents William Tubman (1944-1971) and William Tolbert (1971-1980), both Americo-Liberians, tried with little success to unite the various groups in the country. The animosity between Liberians and Americo-Liberians remained as did the ancient tribal rivalries. Hard economic times were joined by heightened political unrest because the ruling Americo-Liberians had not kept their promise to give the native Liberians a share in the government. In 1980, Master Sergeant Samuel Kenyan Doe, a Liberian, staged a coup, ordered President Tolbert assassinated, and established a military rule with himself as president. His government developed a reputation for brutality, abuse of human rights, and increasing ethnic tensions.
On December 24, 1989, a group calling itself the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) invaded the country from the Ivory Coast. By June, 1990, the fighting had reached the capital city of Monrovia and had become a full-fledged, ethnically-based civil war. By August 25 of that year, all the ASC missionaries in Liberia had returned to the States. In September of 1990 Doe was captured, tortured, and assassinated. By March of 1991, ASC missionaries had returned to Gardnersville. In October, 1991, an accord was reached at Yamoussoukro in the Ivory Coast. Under its terms, there would be a cease-fire, disarming of all factions, and the holding of free elections. The terms of the accord were never fully enacted. In late 1991 a new armed group called the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO) entered the fight. By October 15, 1992 NPFL forces had again attacked Monrovia, only to be driven back by peace-keeping forces from other African nations in collaboration with the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and ULIMO troops. It was during this offensive that Sisters Barbara Ann Muttra, Shirley Kolmer, Joel Kolmer, Agnes Mueller and Kathleen McGuire were killed --- Barbara Ann and Joel on October 20; Shirley, Agnes, and Kathleen on October 23.
On July 25, 1993, a new accord was signed in Contonou, Benin and accepted by all opposing factions. Free elections were to be held in February, 1994, but did not actually take place until July, 1997. Charles Taylor was elected with 70% of the vote. At this writing, civil war rages once more in Liberia with its attendant widespread displacement, death, and destruction.
Other Websites for More Information About Liberia
British Broadcasting System (BBC) CIA World Factbook Liberian Embassy in the U.S. Friends of Liberia Liberia Page
Call to Action for Justice Although on July 25, 1993, an accord was signed in Cotonou, Benin, and accepted by all opposing parties engaged in the Liberian civil war, peace in that country has been tenuous at best. During the four years of the war, the destruction was almost too great to be imagined. A conservative estimate placed the dead at over 150,000 and exiles and refugees at around 1.25 million. Many of the living will bear the scars of their war experiences for the rest of their lives. Farmland was destroyed. Businesses, villages, towns were almost completely wiped out. At this writing the country has declined economically, and fresh fighting has broken out and escalated to the point of a new civil war which rages worse than the previous one. The number of dead and refugees grows daily.
Adorers of the Blood of Christ continue to support the Liberian people. If you wish to join our efforts, here are some suggestions for action:
US Mission Center, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, 877-272-1870 Vocation Office, 1400 South Sheridan Rd., Wichita, KS 67213 - Telephone: 877-ADORERS (877-236-7377)(Copyright 2005 Adorers of the Blood of Christ)
