Isidore Bakanja
Roman Catholic martyr and lay carmelite (1887–1909)
Feast: 15 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
In the small town of Wenga near Busira in the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Blessed Isidore Bakanja, martyr, who, a young man initiated into Christianity, diligently cultivated the faith and bore witness to it with great courage during his work; for this, out of hatred for the Christian religion, he was subjected to continual floggings by the director of the colonial company and died a few months later, forgiving his persecutor.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 15 August as a young Congolese martyr flogged for his faith who died forgiving his persecutor.
The cause
Isidore Bakanja has been beatified; the cause continues. Favours received, and offers of help, go to the postulation, the office that carries the cause forward: Carmelites: Blessed Isidore Bakanja.
- Roman Martyrology, 15 August (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q668528 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Isidore Bakanja (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.