‘Love is stronger’: How a Catholic woman saved tens of thousands of orphans
Marguerite Barankitse, a Catholic woman in Burundi, witnessed mass killings during the civil war and genocide, which shattered her faith. She fled with 25 children to a church, where she began rescuing and caring for them, eventually founding the organization Maiso. Over the years she rescued and raised tens of thousands of children, both Hutu and Tutsi, providing shelter and hope amid violence. Her faith was challenged but reaffirmed after hearing a rescued child’s words, prompting her to continue her mission. The story highlights her courage and the lasting impact of her humanitarian work during the conflict.
5 months ago
Marguerite Barankitse, a Burundian Catholic who survived the 1993 civil‑war massacres, rescued the first 25 children—both Hutu and Tutsi—and went on to care for tens of thousands of orphans through the organizations Maison Shalom and Oasis of Peace, grounding her work in Catholic teachings of love, forgiveness and human dignity 1 2.
In a Burundi chapel in 1993, Barankitse witnessed the execution of 72 friends and relatives.
She told God she could no longer see Him as love, but a later encounter with a rescued child reminded her that “God is love” 1 2.
A month of prayer after a 1996 killing wave deepened her humility, leading her to view herself as a “small instrument in God’s hands” 1 2.
Barankitse formalised the rescue effort as Maison Shalom, a community that provides shelter, education, healthcare and a shared sense of belonging regardless of ethnicity 1 2.
The name “Shalom” was chosen by the children after hearing it on the radio, meaning “peace” 1 2.
Her strategy emphasized love as a creative force, teaching children compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation 1 2.
Barankitse entered active combat zones to retrieve children from piles of bodies, insisting that every child deserved dignity and a chance at peace 1 2.
She rescued a mother killed by a grenade and her severely injured 4‑month‑old baby, later helping the infant grow into a successful adult 1 2.
When airline staff refused a child with a deep neck wound, she demanded assistance; the child survived and now has a family 1 2.
Forced to leave Burundi in 2015, Barankitse founded Oasis of Peace in Rwanda, serving over 70,000 Burundian refugees 1 2.
The program offers counseling for torture and rape survivors, vocational training, micro‑financing, and education through the newly launched École Sainte‑Anne de Kigali 1 2.
She describes her work as restoring dignity, noting that “being Christian is about restoring dignity to every human being” 1 2.
Barankitse repeatedly cites Catholic teaching that every person is made in God’s image and deserves reverence, love and dignity 1 2.
She stresses that forgiveness is “radical” and that love must be acted upon, not merely felt 1 2.
Barankitse received the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity in 2025, which funded further aid for refugee children 1 2.
She continues to speak internationally, urging others not to give up and to let love “be stronger than hate” 1 2.
Her vision includes creating “Shalom Houses” worldwide so every person can feel they belong 1 2.
Barankitse remains active daily, organizing, listening and expanding Oasis of Peace 1 2.
Catholic faith as catalyst for large‑scale orphan rescue
No news summary was included, so this analysis addresses the general question of how Catholic faith can function as a catalyst for large-scale orphan rescue—i.e., not merely as private charity, but as sustained, organized, and scalable action by persons, communities, and Church structures.
At the Catholic root, faith is not an abstract idea; it becomes charity—a theological virtue that moves believers to love God and neighbor. The Catechism defines charity as “the theological virtue by which we love God above all things… and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.”
Benedict XVI explains that the Church’s charitable activity depends on personnel “guided by the faith which works through love,” whose hearts are “conquered with… love, awakening within them a love of neighbour.” He adds the guiding criterion: “the love of Christ urges us on.”
That matters for “large-scale” rescue because it supplies a durable engine: charity is not only emotion, but a graced disposition that can motivate planning, discipline, and perseverance over time (especially when the need is chronic—like orphanhood and child vulnerability).
Pius XII likewise presents Catholic involvement as both universal and mission-driven: Religious Orders and congregations work with “admirable zeal and effect,” and missionary endeavor—especially through the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood—rescues children “from the slavery of the devil and of wicked men,” securing “freedom of the children of God.”
Catholic faith does not only generate funds; it generates institutional patterns. The historical record in the Catholic Encyclopedia shows a recurring Church logic: orphan relief is carried out through religious institutes, lay associations, and coordinated local mechanisms.
For example, St. Vincent de Paul is portrayed as attracting “the gentlemen of the court, noble ladies, and simple peasants,” then directing that energy “with the skill of a general” toward the orphan crisis.
Likewise, the Encyclopedia describes the creation and spread of networks such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which began with Catholic students and expanded with “branches… called conferences… in almost every country.”
This is a key point about scaling: Catholic faith tends to convert good intentions into repeatable organizations—associations with conferences, institutes with stable charisms, and local structures capable of responding not just to one catastrophe but to ongoing need.
Catholic faith also catalyzes rescue by insisting that the orphan is not a “problem,” but a person—precisely one who must be defended. Scripture grounds this directly in divine judgment: “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute… Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
John Paul II appeals to authorities and families specifically for children deprived of family life. He describes “countless people” who cannot claim “a true family,” where poverty and instability make that impossible in practice, and he calls for urgent attention to children “deprived of family life.”
He then appeals to