On Saturday 22 January 2022, the Lebanese Bishop César Essayan officially opened the process that could lead to the beatification of the Dutch Jesuit and missionary Nico Kluiters, who was murdered in Lebanon in 1985.
Father Nico Kluiters worked for ten years as a pastor in some Christian villages in the Bekaa Valley, in the east of Lebanon. On 14 March 1985, he was kidnapped by militants of an Islamic organisation. On 1 April 1985, his seriously mutilated body was found in a 97-metre deep ravine. At the time of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), he worked for peace and reconciliation.
In the process of beatification, a tribunal chaired by Bishop César Essayan examines whether Nico died as a martyr. That is, whether he was killed for his faith. On Saturday 22 January, during a Eucharist in the Church of Saint Joseph in Beirut, the bishop opened this process and all those involved were sworn in.
An example for the faithful
According to vice-postulator, Dutch Jesuit Thom Sicking, who lives in Lebanon, the bishop is enthusiastic about the case. In recent years, Sicking has done the preparatory research and created a file on Nico Kluiters. "What is such a beatification all about? To set an example for the faithful", says Father Sicking. "Popular devotion often adds an intercession, that you can pray and ask him things. But that is in fact a side issue. The main thing is that the Blessed, or Saint, can be an example to others. The bishop considers Nico's life an excellent example, especially for priests in Lebanon: someone who gave his life and showed great social awareness."
About Nico Kluiters
Nico Kluiters was born in Delft (The Netherlands) on 25 May 1940. He was a boy with artistic talent. His talent and work ethic brought him, among other things, to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. But in addition to his artistic interest, something else grew in him. A desire that ultimately proved unstoppable. "Should I perhaps become religious, devote my life entirely to God?"
In 1965 he entered the novitiate of the Dutch Jesuits. After just one year he was sent to Lebanon, a mission field of the Dutch Jesuits. There he continued his noviciate and started to study the Arabic language.
In the summer of 1973 Nico was ordained a priest in Amsterdam. Back in Lebanon he started to work as a pastor. In the north of the Beka Valley, a 160 kilometre wide plateau between the two mountain ranges of Lebanon. There he found his true vocation. He lived among poor Christians in the midst of a mainly Shiite population.
To flee or to stay?
In 1975 the civil war starts in Lebanon. In a letter from 1980, Nico writes of kidnapping, murder, barricades. "Our own house has been shot at. Telephone contact is broken more than ever. Often no electricity." In late 1982, he writes openly about whether he should stay in Lebanon. In that year, hundreds of Christians were kidnapped by Muslims, some of whom were murdered. A priest was severely beaten, a bishop and two vicars were kidnapped but also released.
On 14 March 1985, the fate of his abduction struck. Four armed men took him to a cave, where they tortured and finally killed him. On 1 April, his body was found at the bottom of a natural ravine 97 metres deep.
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