Dernier de quatre enfants, dont un mourut en bas âge de la maladie bleue, François-Xavier naquit à Châteaudouble, dans la Drôme et le diocèse de Valence, France, le 5 avril 1939. Ses parents, cultivateurs et bons chrétiens, virent avec plaisir la vocation de leur fils.

Après ses études au petit séminaire de Valence et à Bonnelles, il fit la philosophie à Kerlois, puis l’année spirituelle à Gap, à partir du 11 septembre 1961. Après son service militaire à Rouen, où l’aumônier ne tarissait pas d’éloges pour son rayonnement parmi ses camarades, il étudia la théologie à Vals, en France. Ses formateurs le voyaient assez effacé, mais mûri par son service dans l’armée, très sérieux et appliqué, d’un fond solide ; il faisait au scolasticat un bon chef infirmier, et s’occupait bien d’un ‘foyer’ de jeunes ; une gaîté naturelle le rendait agréable en communauté. Il fit son serment à Vals le 27 juin 1966 et fut ordonné prêtre à Bourg-les-Valence, le 25 juin 1967, par l’évêque de son diocèse d’origine. Une grosse peine attrista cette fête, car son père qui, disait François-Xavier, “ne vivait que pour cela depuis trois ans”, était décédé quelques jours plus tôt.

Il avait postulé la Haute-Volta ou le Mali. Ce fut le Mali, et le diocèse de Sikasso. Après un stage à Mours, il s’initia à Karangaso à la langue minyanka à partir du 17 décembre 1967. Le 10 juillet 1968, il passait à Koutiala comme vicaire ; il y revint le 1er novembre 1971, après avoir soigné une mauvaise sciatique durant son congé. Le 8 octobre 1975, son foie lui donnant des soucis, des examens médicaux lui apprirent qu’il n’avait qu’un rein depuis sa naissance…

De retour au Mali, après avoir fait, à la demande de Mgr Cissé, un stage de bambara, il fut nommé vicaire à Kimparana dont il devint le supérieur en 1980, jusqu’à la session retraite de Jérusalem commencée le 29 septembre 1983. Entre-temps, il avait dû éliminer des amibes récalcitrantes. Toutes ces années furent marquées d’assez gros soucis de santé.

De retour au Mali le 1er janvier 1984, il demeura curé de Kimparana jusqu’au 17 mai 1990, après un nouveau congé médical en 1987 qui le vit hésiter un moment à repartir. En 1990, physiquement et moralement épuisé, il rentra en Province : il se disait découragé, “sur les genoux” ; pourtant, disait son Régional, il pouvait partir content : Kimparana, doté d’une nouvelle église, connaissait depuis cinq ans un véritable renouveau ; tout avait progressé, notamment le catéchuménat. Mais François souffrira toujours de ce qu’il appelait un manque de partage communautaire. Il pensait faire une année de recyclage quand, après un repos en famille, on lui demanda de prendre la responsabilité de la Procure de Lille, où se trouvait aussi le 1er cycle des aspirants Pères Blancs. Il fit là un bon travail d’animation missionnaire. À partir du 1er octobre 1993, on lui accorda l’année sabbatique désirée. Il en sortit requinqué et retrouva le Mali et Karangasso, le 1er juillet 1994.

Non sans appréhension, car une lombalgie, due à un disque écrasé, lui rendait pratiquement impossible l’usage de la voiture sur les routes maliennes ! Or, travailler au pays minyanka sans voiture, c’était se priver de la visite des trois quarts des villages.

Lors d’un congé anticipé en 1997, après l’expérience difficile d’une communauté mixte, clergé autochtone et Pères Blancs, il se montrait pessimiste. Un zona douloureux était venu s’ajouter à ses problèmes de dos et de rein, et le physique agissait sur le moral. Pourtant, il voulut repartir : “Ce n’était pas le moment, disait-il, de quitter le bateau”. Mais il présumait de ses forces : trop de difficultés de tous ordres, notamment une impression de rejet de la part des catéchistes, achevèrent de saper son moral. Il était mal à l’aise, avait l’impression qu’on travaillait sans projet ; il n’avait plus le tonus pour faire face. Pourtant, disait son Régional, “il est plein de richesses”. Mais la santé ne suivait pas.

Il demanda un temps de réflexion. Une année sabbatique à Paris, de juillet 1999 à mai 2000, couronnée par la session des plus de 60 ans, à Monte Cucco, lui fit un grand bien. À son retour de Rome, on lui proposa de rester 3 ans en France, comme responsable de la nouvelle communauté de Montreuil, dans le diocèse de la Seine-Saint-Denis : il devait prendre en charge la pastorale auprès des migrants africains. Durant 7 ans, il s’y distingua par son attention aux plus pauvres et l’aide aux défavorisés.

Le 1er septembre 2004, “au vu de sa compétence et de ses résultats”, Mgr de Berranger l’avait nommé curé de Montreuil. Aussi fut-il très attristé quand cet évêque, en 2006, décida de mettre un terme à leur collaboration ; heurté aussi de n’avoir pas été prévenu avant par les responsables de la Province. On lui proposa alors Ste-Foy-lès-Lyon. Il y assuma divers ministères qui allèrent se précisant : supérieur de la communauté depuis le 1er juillet 2007, il était nommé, le 1er octobre suivant, aumônier diocésain du CCFD, chargé de la pastorale des migrants et vicaire dans les paroisses de Rillieux. Puis en 2011, administrateur de la paroisse Notre-Dame de la Mulatière. Comme toujours, il se donna sans compter et tous ceux qui l’ont connu gardent de François-Xavier le souvenir d’un homme accueillant, attentif aux personnes et très engagé dans son service pastoral. Mais le dimanche des Rameaux, 24 mars 2013, une grave crise cardiaque le terrassa.

Lors de ses obsèques présidées par le cardinal Barbarin, on notait, dans la foule des fidèles, la présence du député de la Seine-Saint-Denis, ancien maire de Montreuil, ce qui veut beaucoup dire. Le maire de Ste-Foy-lès-Lyon, dans une lettre à la communauté des Pères Blancs, résumait, quant à lui, ce que nombre d’amis éprouvaient, devant ce départ prématuré : “C’est avec beaucoup d’émotion, qu’avec tant de Fidésiens, j’ai ressenti le décès, si brutal, du Père François-Xavier Baude. Je n’ai pu participer à la célébration de ce 28 mars, si fervente, à laquelle étaient présents mon épouse et plusieurs de mes proches, mais croyez en ma profonde union de pensée et de prière avec votre communauté, très présente en mon cœur, et à qui je renouvelle toute ma reconnaissance”. Que de gens, en effet, partageaient ces sentiments et s’unirent à la prière de la communauté des Pères Blancs !

Armand Duval

Père Michel Descombes

1922 - - 2013

Michel naquit à Marcilly-sur-Seine, dans le diocèse de Châlons-sur-Marne, France, le 18 mai 1922. Après ses études secondaires au petit séminaire du diocèse, il fit une année de philosophie à Kerlois, une autre à Thibar, puis le noviciat à Maison-Carrée à partir du 1er octobre 1941. La guerre, de 1942 à 1945, retarda, comme pour beaucoup d’autres, ses études de théologie : deux aumôniers de l’armée de l’Air, dont le P. Hehn, louent son comportement parmi ses camarades, mais sans préciser les lieux où il passa ; on sait seulement qu’il en revint amibien.

Ce n’est donc qu’en 1945 qu’il commença la théologie ; le 29 juin 1948, il fit son serment missionnaire à Thibar, avant d’être ordonné le 1er février 1949 à Carthage. Le contraste est saisissant entre les jugements de ses formateurs et la carrière qu’il mènerait en mission, les importantes responsabilités qu’il y exercerait avec tact et efficacité. S’il était ardent au sport et au travail manuel, malgré une santé quelconque, on le trouvait, en effet, quelque peu terne, ‘taiseux’, timide, peu attiré par les études spéculatives. C’est qu’il en est dont les qualités cachées demandent des circonstances adéquates où s’épanouir, un terreau approprié où fleurir et fructifier.

Michel avait postulé l’Afrique de l’Ouest, plus spécialement Nzérékoré, mais il fut nommé en Haute-Volta, au diocèse de Ouagadougou. Le 20 octobre 1949, il était déjà à pied d’œuvre, vicaire à Kaya, mais le climat était trop dur pour lui. Dès le 4 septembre 1951, il lui fallut se reposer à Pabre, et le 25 février 1952, il rentra en France, malade. Après une cure à Vichy en mai-juin 1952, il fut nommé économe à Pau où il s’attacha, pour le bien des résidents, à améliorer le régime alimentaire et à remplacer peu à peu une literie trop longtemps négligée, et ceci, sans faire appel à la caisse provinciale, ce qui vous vaut toujours un satisfecit reconnaissant. Requinqué, Michel désirait retourner en mission, alléguant n’avoir pas même eu le temps de se familiariser avec la langue. Mais les supérieurs, soucieux de sa santé, jugeant le climat de Ouaga trop dur pour lui, le nommèrent au Rwanda, sous des cieux plus cléments.

Dès le 1er janvier 1954, il est vicaire à Kabgayi, puis, le 1er août suivant, directeur des écoles à Nyumba et supérieur du poste, dès juin 1955 ; supérieur aussi le 1er avril 1956 à Nyanza où il resta jusqu’en 1961 :. “Grand travailleur, sensé et surnaturel, bon confrère”, note le Régional de l’époque. Après un congé et un court temps de “Propagande” à Paris, il fut nommé à l’évêché de Butare le 30 mai 1962, et fut vicaire général de Mgr Gahamanyi jusqu’en 1976, avec la seule coupure de la Grande Retraite à la Villa Cavaletti, à partir du 18 mai 1968.

On lui confia en plus, en 1974, la charge de Secrétaire général de la conférence épiscopale rwandaise, où l’on apprécia sa discrétion, sa qualité d’administrateur et sa docilité à assumer les missions les plus ingrates ; il occupera ce secrétariat jusqu’en 1984, à Kigali, le cumulant, à partir de 1978, avec la fonction de Secrétaire général de la Caritas-Rwanda. Là, les domaines d’intervention étaient variés : aide à l’habitat, à l’alimentation, à la santé, à l’éducation. Il encourageait les gens à chercher du travail, fût-ce à temps partiel, pour ne pas être simplement des assistés, aidait à scolariser les enfants des familles nécessiteuses, s’ingéniant à trouver le minimum de matériel scolaire pour les stimuler.

Il sut susciter le bénévolat, invitant à l’entraide fraternelle gratuite, dans les immenses camps de réfugiés. Il instaura, là aussi, écoles et lieux de culte. Il essaya d’éveiller la prise de conscience nationale, par-delà les considérations ethniques. Tout cela lui vaudra d’être promu, le 14 avril 1993, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. Durant toutes ces années, il n’en restait pas moins attaché à l’apostolat traditionnel, se rendant en paroisse chaque dimanche.

La tragédie qui ensanglanta le Rwanda provoqua son retour en France juste un an plus tard, en 1994. Mais, le 29 mai, il rejoignait déjà Bujumbura, y transférant les services de Caritas-Rwanda pour remédier aux multiples traumatismes du génocide. Il accompagnait lui-même les convois de vivres et de remèdes au Rwanda, malgré les innombrables tracas de douane et de barrages de route. Il créa des maisons d’accueil pour les orphelins du sida et demanda de l’aide pour les millions de personnes qui survivaient dans des conditions inhumaines. Il put d’ailleurs ramener Caritas-Rwanda à Kigali dès le 29 octobre et en assura la direction jusqu’au 30 mai 1995. Il entama alors une année sabbatique à Paris, à partir du 1er septembre, la conclut par un petit séjour à l’hôpital, et, le 31 août 1996, rejoignit Butare comme aumônier de l’hôpital de Kabutare, visitant les malades les plus pauvres, depuis la communauté Lavigerie. Effacé, efficace, il se montra toujours soucieux des malheureux, déplacés, victimes de sévices, réfugiés.

Dans toutes ces fonctions, malgré une petite santé, Michel a excellé ; dire que les relations avec le Régionalat furent toujours sans nuage serait inexact. Ses nominations successives par les évêques du pays se firent presque toujours sans consultation préalable des Régionaux. Or, pour ceux-ci, le temps semblait venu, à juste titre, de laisser ces postes clés au clergé local. Pour ce faire, on avait bien cherché à faire nommer Michel en France en 1986, comme économe à Tassy, mais cela n’aboutit pas.

Cependant, l’âge venait inéluctablement, provoquant des troubles de mémoire, jusque dans la célébration de la messe ; aussi, Michel, conscient de la chose, refusa de faire renouveler son passeport, qui expirait en octobre 2005, et opta pour le retour en France.

Le 1er juin 2005, il souhaita, pour être à proximité de son frère et de ses neveux attentionnés, se retirer à la maison de Bry-sur-Marne ; il y mena une vie cachée, parlant peu, mangeant peu, sirotant son petit verre de vin, priant beaucoup, mais sans ostentation, fumant discrètement sa pipe dans sa chambre, et se montrant farouchement allergique aux médicaments. Le 1er février 2012, il accepta de passer à la maison de Billère, et c’est là que le Seigneur l’a rappelé à lui, le 17 avril 2013. Ses obsèques furent célébrées dans la chapelle de Billère, au sein de la communauté des Pères Blancs. Ainsi s’achevait une longue et belle vie toute donnée à la Mission.

Armand Duval

Père Albert Muller

1921 - - 2013

Etrange destin que celui du Père Albert Muller, né à Düsserdorf, Allemagne, le 13 janvier 1921. Sa mère s’étant mariée à René Montier, il s’était trouvé, très jeune, à vivre en Normandie. C’est à Alençon qu’il fit ses études primaires et commença ses classes secondaires avant de les finir à Saint-Laurent d’Olt et à Tournus, ayant très vite décidé d’être Père Blanc.

De nationalité allemande, il s’engagea à la Légion Étrangère lors de la déclaration de guerre en septembre 1939 pour éviter de se retrouver dans un camp de regroupement. Après l’armistice de juin 1940, il quitte la Légion et rejoint le scolasticat de Thibar (Tunisie) pour y faire ses deux années de philosophie. Ayant commencé son noviciat à Maison-Carrée à l’automne 1942, il le poursuit en Kabylie, évitant de justesse les ennuis que lui attirait le débarquement anglo-américain de novembre. Il fait toute sa théologie, de 1943 à 1947, à Thibar, où il est ordonné prêtre le 2 février 1947, après y avoir prononcé son serment missionnaire le 25 juin 1946.

Après avoir enfin été naturalisé français en 1947, il est nommé à l’IBLA (Institut des Belles-lettres Arabes) de Tunis. Il étudie l’arabe littéraire aux Hautes Études et sort premier de sa promotion. En octobre 1949, il est professeur de langue à la maison d’études des Pères Blancs de La Manouba, mais une crise d’épilepsie l’oblige à se soigner et à se reposer, ce qui l’amène à se retrouver au collège d’Aïn Sefra (Algérie), pour un an (1950-1951), puis à faire une année de théologie à Paris (1951-1952). Il revient alors à La Manouba comme professeur de 1952 à 1958, assure même une suppléance au collège d’Aït Larba (Grande Kabylie algérienne) en 1956, puis enseigne à l’École d’agriculture de Thibar de juin 1958 à août 1962.

Redevenu professeur à La Manouba, il réside à l’IBLA de Tunis (à partir d’octobre 1963), et rejoindra le centre de la Manouba, devenu l’Institut Pontifical d’Études Arabes, au début de 1965. L’année scolaire 1968-1969 le voit à Paris pour une année d‘études d’économie rurale (son mémoire y porte sur “L’expérience tunisienne de collectivisation agraire dans une région du Tell septentrional”), ce qui l’habilite à retourner à Thibar, au Lycée agricole, où il enseigne de 1969 à 1973.

Par la suite, il enseigne comme coopérant au Lycée agricole de Medjez el-Bab, avec résidence à Tunis, de 1973 à 1980. C’est en août 1980 qu’il est assigné au PISAI, à Rome, comme bibliothécaire où il se dépensera pendant seize ans pour enrichir et moderniser cet indispensable instrument de travail.

L’âge de la retraite se faisant proche, il est nommé à la communauté de Strasbourg où il rendra d’éminents services, surtout à l’accueil, de juillet 1996 à mai 2001, date à laquelle il rejoint la maison de repos de Pau-Billère pour y vivre du mieux possible dans la prière et l’espérance. Sa santé est devenue fragile avec les ans : épilepsie, diabète, angine de poitrine, rhumatisme.

Depuis l’accident de 1949, il avait dû s’astreindre à de fréquents contrôles de santé et s’assurer chaque jour une sieste indispensable. C’est dire qu’il a su assumer son ministère d’enseignement en Tunisie et à Rome en des conditions de santé parfois difficiles.

Albert Muller avait totalement fait sienne la culture tunisienne, qu’il s’agisse de l’arabe littéraire ou du dialecte tunisois qu’il maîtrisait parfaitement, tout comme il était de plain-pied avec la mentalité des jeunes de la Tunisie indépendante, tant à Thibar qu’à Medjez el-Bab : “Je peux dire, confessa-t-il une fois, que je me suis senti utile dans ma fonction d’enseignant de l’arabe et du droit musulman. Je me sentais très bien avec les étudiants tunisiens. On faisait bon ménage ; je pouvais leur dire certaines vérités”. Sa franchise, parfois un peu bourrue, correspondait d’ailleurs à son esprit de discipline exigeante pour lui-même.

À l’époque, les premiers magnétophones avaient un fil d’acier et A. Muller était chaque jour à l’écoute-radio des commentaires, en dialectal, du fameux Laroui. Il se chargeait de la recherche du vocabulaire et du contrôle des expressions. Nous avons pu produire un Cour d’arabe dialectal tunisien qui a connu plusieurs éditions, ainsi que deux volumes pour l’apprentissage de l’Arabe littéraire moderne dans les lycées et collèges à direction catholique de Tunisie, également plusieurs fois réédités. Son souci de la précision et de rigueur l’avait également amené à l’École d’agriculture de Thibar à s’y faire gentleman-farmer et à y mettre sur pied un élevage de poules qui lui valut alors une certaine renommée.

Albert Muller a su faire fructifier tous les talents dont le Seigneur l’avait gratifié. Très réservé quant à sa personne et à sa spiritualité, on devinait bien vite que sa foi était profonde et que sa disponibilité était totale. Son assistante bibliothécaire du PISAI, Mme Silvia Quercetti, a beaucoup appris de lui. “Certes, reconnaît-elle, son caractère bourru ne facilitait pas les relations, mais, la tête toujours penchée sur ses registres, minutieux dans son travail et réservé dans ses propos, il témoignait d’une riche expérience humaine et spirituelle en même temps que d’une grande rigueur scientifique.” Et comme le reconnaît Michel Lagarde du PISAI, “il était droit et avait son franc-parler, ce qui surprenait parfois, mais ce qui éliminait toujours les malentendus ; avec lui, on savait à quoi s’en tenir.

Tout ce qu’il faisait, il le faisait à fond et très sérieusement. Il suivait un régime alimentaire : ce qu’il faisait avec beaucoup de sérieux et de régularité. C’était un homme de science qui avait une connaissance fine de la langue arabe et de la culture musulmane ; là aussi, on s’apercevait qu’il avait fait un investissement long, persévérant et profond. J’ai aussi beaucoup apprécié son humour parfois caustique et décapant qui mettait pas mal de gaieté au cours des repas communautaires. Malgré le sérieux de son engagement en tout, il n’avait pas l’esprit de sérieux que Pascal haïssait. Il ne se prenait pas au sérieux, ayant une conscience aiguë d’être un serviteur inutile”. Voilà ce qui semble bien avoir été son idéal partout où il a eu à servir comme enseignant ou bibliothécaire. C’est ainsi qu’il se voulut toujours évangélique dans son service des musulmans tunisiens qu’il a su aimer “en esprit et en vérité”.

Il est décédé le 7 janvier 2013 et a été inhumé à Billère, France, à l’âge de 92 ans dont 67 de vie missionnaire en Tunisie, en Italie et en France.

Maurice Borrmans

PROFILES

Father Pierre Laridan

1923 - - 2013

Pierre was born on the 15th September 1923 in Marcq-en-Baroeul, Diocese of Lille, France. He was the fourth child in a family of six children, four girls and two boys. His father worked for the Railways. He did his secondary school studies in the Junior Seminary of Aubourdin followed by one year of Philosophy in the Major Seminary of Lille. Then he joined the White Fathers. Because of the war, he could not go to Algeria, so he did his Spiritual Year in Tournus (Saòne-et-Loire) and began his theological studies there (1943-1945). He finished his theological studies in Thibar where he took his Missionary Oath on the 30th January 1949. He was ordained priest on the 29th June 1949 in Carthage. Intellectually he was brilliant but he was inclined to be highly strung and had to take a period of rest before he finished his studies.

He spent a year teaching in Kerlois before being appointed to Mali and by the 8th December 1951, he was actively at work in Ouolossebougou. Seven months later, he was appointed curate and then Parish Priest of the Parish of Bamako. However on the 21st September 1955, he was recalled to Paris to the Secretariat and the editorship of the magazine “Père Blanc” and later on “Voix d’Afrique”. It was eight years before he got back to Bamako in September 1963. On the 1st July 1966, he was appointed as Secretary of the Malian Bishops’ Conference.

At the beginning of 1968, he returned to France and began a new phase in his life. He spent six months as a stretcher-bearer in Saint-Camille Hospital in Bry-sur-Marne. He became an organiser for the Human Rights Movement, ATD-Quart Monde. He lived in a caravan in Creteil, for something like 15 years, so that he could be near to people, and became a permanent member of ATD. He was always at the service of the poorest and was a leader of four clubs.

He had a good reputation of being an excellent leader, sound common sense, firm but fair and full of initiatives. It wasn’t always easy: he told with a certain sense of humour the story of bringing a group of young people to a camp in the south of France but no sooner had they arrived than they raided the poor boxes of a church and did some shop lifting which led to them being forcibly expelled from the place. Pierre lived by himself but he did not find it too difficult. He spent every Wednesday in our house at Rue Friant. In 1983, he wrote a letter showing that he was becoming a bit disillusioned with the new leadership of the movement. It seemed to him that they were moving towards doing ‘things for’ people rather than doing ‘things with’.

On the 1st January 1984, on the proposal of the Provincial, Pierre accepted to be responsible for the retirement home in Bry-sur-Marne. He stayed there for four years with a break for the session/retreat in Jerusalem in 1986. But one does not change character so easily and he was always ready to provoke and, in November 1984, speaking of a Sale of Work in aid of the White Fathers which was held in a hall rented at great expense, he proposed to the Provincial another way of looking for help for the missions. He proposed that persuasive messages should be sent to those benefactors organising the event, on the urgent needs of Africa, and the benefactors would be invited to circulate these letters to their friends, their parishes, prayer groups etc. People had to be made aware of the need to show solidarity with all the poor of the world and that was more urgent than selling what he described as useless objects.

Gifted with a good pen, he left a long and beautiful meditation on the cure of the blind beggar in Mark’s Gospel (Mk: 10, 46). He was appointed to Frejus in April 1988. He took part in the foundation of the Parish of Gabelle in what was considered a difficult area. On the 1st May 1990, he was appointed chaplain to the l’Hôpital Intercommunal Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël with special responsibility for migrants in collaboration with the “Association de Solidarité avec les Travailleurs Immigrés” and the Diocesan team for Migrants.

By the end of 1989, as much as 63,000 immigrants had been counted in the Department of the Var, coming from the Maghreb, southern Europe, Vietnam, etc. Pierre felt overwhelmed by the task, maybe because he liked to work independently, and he wrote a bitter-sweet letter to Bishop Cadilhac who was President of the Bishops’ Assembly for the south east France: “I think that there are a good many other people who are more competent than me who would be able to take over the direction of the pastoral work for migrants...”

He worked in two places seven kilometres apart. He thought he had between 150 and 170 funerals a year. He still found time to read: he had subscriptions to 12 magazines! He managed to hold on until February 1997 at which time he was only responsible for Maison Lachenaud in Frejus, a sort of retirement home for military families. He stayed there and in the small chapel he celebrated for the residents and the teams of volunteers that he had founded for visiting the sick. However from 1998 onwards he remarks in his letters that his health was not so good: loss of memory, dizziness, and moments of anxiety and fear of depression.

On the 16th September 2002, he joined the community in Tassy not without some apprehension as he had lived alone for a long time. His health deteriorated rapidly and he had alternating periods of lucidity and mental confusion. His confreres supported him as best as they could, the personnel loved him and he had many visitors. His heart was full of love for the poor, in the manner of St. Francis of Assisi. He liked to pray the Canticle of Canticles and the Prayer for Peace: “Lord make me a channel of your Peace”. All his life he dreamed of a just society and worked for its rightful place in the world by pushing everybody to give unselfish service to the most needy.

Each evening, a confrere said a little prayer with him, always ending with the invocation: ‘Our Lady of Confidence, pray for us’. He died on the 20th March 2013, after being anointed. He, who loved the poor died in the most radical kind of poverty, that of the mind.

Armand Duval

Father Pierre Vallée

1925 - - 2013

Pierre was born on the 2nd April 1925 in Montours not far from Fougères in the northern part of the Diocese of Rennes, France. The family was composed of six children, two of whom died at a young age. Pierre lived all his life very close to his family, loved by his nephews and nieces and very attached to his village where he liked to celebrate his various jubilees.

He did his secondary studies in St-Laurent-d’Olt and studied Philosophy in Kerlois. He entered the novitiate in Maison-Carée in 1947. He was sent to ‘s-Herrenberg in the Netherlands for Theology where he took his Missionary Oath on the 26th July 1951. He finished his studies in Monteviot, Scotland where he was ordained priest on the 31st May 1952. He was considered to be a good and dedicated worker with a good level of intelligence but above all with very good human and spiritual qualities. He enjoyed good health and he liked hard work so that it was predicted that he would make an excellent missionary.

As he had done his theological studies in English, he was destined for English speaking Africa. He had applied for Tamale in Ghana as he had always wanted to work in West Africa but in the event he was appointed to Tanganyika where he began his ministry on the 1st September 1952 in Busanda in the Diocese of Mwanza.

However less than two years later, on the 1st August 1954, Pierre was appointed to the Junior Seminary of Nyegezi to teach History and Geography and above all the job of bursar, something he did for the next 15 years. There was a break for the Long Retreat in Villa Cavalletti in September 1961 and 10 months in missionary promotion for youth in Lyons and Nantes in 1964-1965. He confided later that this was a real nightmare for him. He suffered a lot and although he did his best to make the White Fathers known, he admitted that he just was not made for this type of apostolate. His letters were always deferential and tactful; he never demanded anything but said simply what he felt.

Pierre was very happy, therefore, to rejoin Nyegezi on the 1st September 1965 and he became the Superior on the 1st July 1967. At the beginning of 1970, he returned to pastoral work, firstly as curate in Sumve and then from 1973 as Parish Priest of Bukumbi and Musungwi. In 1973, he was also elected Regional Councillor. In 1975, when he went on home leave, he felt the need to update himself in Pastoral Theology after 23 years of priesthood, and followed a course in Mortain. He also took advantage of his presence in France to have treatment for a double hernia, no doubt the price for his liking and aptitude for hard manual work. On the 1st April 1976, he was appointed Parish Priest of Kahangala

Pierre’s problems with his hernia reappeared in Kahangala and made motor bike safari’s difficult and even, as he admitted later on, made standing difficult. His expertise as bursar was remembered and he was appointed Regional Treasurer on the 1st November 1976 after only six months in Kahangala. He did this job particularly well so much so that he was called to Rome as Assistant Treasurer General on the 1st July 1983. He was to stay there for six years. He left Rome on the 22nd February 1989 and had a double operation in Paris for prostate and hernia. He arrived back in Tanzania on the 31st August and was again appointed as Regional Treasurer at Nyegezi. In September 1994, he went to Arusha, until his home leave in May 1995, to supervise the building of the new 1st Cycle house which was being carried out with great competence by Bro Lionel Godard. Two years later, he was called on to supervise the building of the 3rd cycle house, St. Charles Lwanga, in Nairobi. This work was interrupted by a problem of an aneurism in his eye which thankfully could be treated on the spot.

In March 1998, he did the session for over 70s and he returned to Tanzania that year: to parish work in Bukumbi. He stayed there for four years and devised a computer programme, with the help of Fr. Cole, for book keeping for the Parish. His health was holding good but in 2001, on the anniversary of his Golden Jubilee, he confided in Fr. Chabanon who was his old Regional Superior and then Provincial in France that he thought it wise to return home before any readapting in Europe became too difficult. He was appointed to Mours in the beginning of May 2002 and as bursar on the 18th June 2002. He was able to take advantage of the numerous possibilities of ministry in the surrounding parishes.

No matter where he worked, he was very much appreciated for his competence and his rectitude in managing finances. A discreet man, he, nevertheless, radiated real human warmth and he knew how to render many services without making any fuss. However, his health began to fail and he was going to go to Billère to be better looked after when he died following a massive stroke on the 16th March 2013.

The sisters of Boran and the faithful of the surrounding parishes will miss the quality of his prayers and his words. The presiding priest at his funeral said of him. His charism was that of Martha but he also had the listening skills of Mary. Fr. Chabanon who lived with him for six years in Nyegezi testified: “He had a great sense of realism honed by his many years as bursar but he also had a great sense of discretion and kindness. He was a hard worker and you could always rely on him”. Such was this attentive servant of everyone, full of love and humility thanks to an intimate relationship with the Father and Christ.

All his correspondence reflected a great piety, his unfailing regularity to his religious duties and a deep attachment to the Society and to Africa. His love for people was embedded in his deep faith in the One who had called him to the mission of evangelisation which he lived fully through all the material services he gave. A simple life, but how fruitful it was!

It was with great sadness that the community of Mours saw this helpful and fraternal confrere leave them. The prayers of everyone accompanied him in his final Eucharist here below.

Armand Duval

Father René Gayet

1925 - - 2013

René was born in Chambery, France, on the 15th April 1925. He was the third child in a family of eight children. He did his secondary school studies in the Institution of Notre Dame de la Villette in La Ravoire near Chambery. He was a good student noted as being intelligent, enjoying good health, friendly, obliging and loyal. The nervousness that was to be with him all his life was already noticeable. At the end of his secondary school studies he applied to join the White Fathers. His first year of philosophy was done in the Diocesan Seminary of Francheville near Lyon. He entered Kerlois in 1945.

From there, René entered the Novitiate at Maison-Carée, two years of theology in Carthage followed by one year at Thibar where he took his missionary Oath on the 27th June 1950 and then a return to Carthage for the final year of theology. He was ordained on the 24th March 1951.

He had asked to be sent on mission to North Africa and he got his wish. He began by learning dialectical Arabic for one year in our beautiful house on rue Ben Cheneb in the Kasbah of Algiers. This was followed by three years study of Literary Arabic at La Manouba in Tunis. However, he never succeeded in learning Arabic fluently. He was nearly always appointed to education posts in the Kabylia country and he had to speak French with the students. Nevertheless, he had a number of appointments as a teacher of Arabic to his Kabylian students, at least in his first years there.

From 1955 to 1976, we see him moving from college to vocational centre between El Harrach, Beni Yenni (College) and Tizi Ouzou (Vocational Centre) always in the Kabylian milieu. At each post, he got the job of bursar and sports master. From time to time, he gave courses on morals or Arabic. He got on very well with the students, but outside the classroom rather than inside. His free time was spent hunting and he bagged a good number of wild boars. He liked to entertain the community with the exaggerated stories that all hunters like to tell about their hunting exploits. He did the Long Retreat in Villa Cavaletti in 1964.

The nationalisation of the schools in May 1976 was his first big ordeal. It was a heavy blow which left everybody more or less demoralised. One had the impression of having worked for nothing for all those years.

Following the nationalisation of the schools, three quarters of the priests and religious, who were involved in education, left. René stayed. His one consolation was that even if the new students had been lost, the old ones that had been educated by the White Fathers remained very much attached to the Society and they were proud to be called “children of the Fathers – ould babbas”. In most of the mission posts where René found himself over the next number of years, he always set aside several of his weekends to return to Kabylia to keep in contact with his past students.

René did a session of studying dialectical Arabic in El Bayadh ( Géryville) but it was a waste of time. He was appointed to Ouargla in the Sahara and did some ministry with those working in the oil fields. After two years, he returned as bursar to the post of Larbaa Nath Iraten (Fort National). One year later, he was appointed to the Language Centre of the Diocese of Algiers in rue des Glycines again as bursar. He stayed there for 13 years. He was a good handyman and in order to avoid big outlays in maintenance, he repaired everything himself with whatever there was to hand. Finally, he was appointed to the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in February 1994. It was there that he was to suffer his second major ordeal.

René held the post of bursar and receptionist. The situation was very dangerous because René and his confreres, Charles Deckers and Paul Marioge occupied the most prominent Christian outpost in all of Algiers. They were on top of a hill in a very Islamic part of the city. The first assassinations of Priests and Religious had begun with the murder of the Brother and Sister who were in charge of the Library in our old house in rue Ben Chenab. Every day, at least 10 to 20 Algerians were killed in Algiers, many Europeans and American also perished and the crackling of gunfire filled the days.

When the three fathers of Tizi Ouzu, Alain Dieulangard, Jean Chevillard and Christian Chessel and Charles Deckers, the fourth victim, who was visiting at the time, were murdered, René did not hesitate for a second, in two minutes he left for Tizi Ouzu. He was one of the first to take care of the deceased confreres and deal with all the formalities that followed. After the funerals, René stayed on at the post of Tizi Ouzou: he did not know what it was to be afraid.

René passed the next four years at Our Lady of Africa from 1994 to 1998. He established strong friendship with Cardinal Duval and particularly with his niece, Louise Duval who was looking after her uncle. On the 31st May 1996, the Cardinal died. At the same time the heads of the seven monks of Thibirine had been discovered. René had been part of all these events and he was very upset by them. He seemed to lose heart. On top of all that, he began to suffer from the illnesses of old age. An operation for a cataract in Algiers failed. His eyesight began to fail. He had to return to France, many times, for treatment for his eyes, prostate and other illnesses. In September 1998, he returned to Tizi Ouzou as bursar in order to see if he could cope. However, he became very bitter and was critical of everything. In October 2002, he returned to France definitively.

He returned to Savoie, his place of birth. He ministered principally in Motte-Servolex. In the beginning, things went well but little by little his nervous problems got worse. After some time, it was time to look for a retirement home. He, himself, asked to go to Billère and he arrived there in March 2011. He had become very unsteady and difficult to care for and it was decided to send him to a specialised nursing home at Pontacq, near Billère. He died there on the 20th May 2013.

He had the ordinary piety of all White Fathers, faithful to the exercises, sense of obedience and devotion to the mission. He had passed all his life in the service of his brothers particularly as a bursar.

Paul Marioge

Father François-Xavier Baude

1939 - - 2013

Francois was born in Chateaudouble, in the Diocese of Valence, France, on the 5th April 1939. He was the last of four children, one of whom died at a young age because of a congenital heart problem. His parents were very happy with the vocation of their son.

After studies at the Junior Seminary in Valence and then Bonnelles, he did his Philosophy in Kerlois followed, in September 1961, by the Spiritual Year in Gap. After his military service in Rouen, the chaplain did not hesitate to sing his praises and his influence on his comrades. He then studied Theology in Vals, France. Those in charge in Vals noted that he tended to keep himself in the background but that military service had matured him. He was very serious and focused and had a good solid background. He was a good infirmarian in the Scholasticate and did fine work in a hostel for young people. He was naturally cheerful and easy to live with in community. He took his Missionary Oath on the 27th June 1966 and he was ordained priest in Bourg-les-Valence on the 25th June. The feast was overshadowed by the death of his father a few days earlier.

Francois was appointed to the Diocese of Sikasso, Mali. He did a session in Mours and he began to learn the Minyanka language in Karangaso from the 17th December 1967. On the 10th July 1968, he was sent to Koutiala as curate. During his first home leave, he was treated for bad sciatica but returned to Koutiala on the 1st November 1971. In October 1975, his liver was giving him trouble and it was during a medical examination that he learnt that he was born with only one kidney. He returned to Mali and studied Bambara at the request of Bishop Cisse. He was appointed curate of Kimparana and afterwards became its Superior in 1980. He did the Session/Retreat in Jerusalem in September 1983. He also had to be treated for persistent amoebas. These years of his life were marked by serious medical problems.

He returned to Mali on the 1st January 1984 and he was to remain as Parish Priest of Kimparana until May 1990. He had to go home in 1987 for medical treatment and he was having doubts about returning. By 1990 he was physically and mentally exhausted and he returned to the Province. He felt very discouraged.

However, his Regional remarked that he could leave happy: Kimparana had a new church and things had improved dramatically in the previous five years. Progress could be seen especially in the catechumanate but Francis suffered from what he described as a lack of community sharing. He thought about doing a sabbatical year but after some rest with his family he was asked to take responsibility for the Procure in Lille which also housed the First Cycle for aspiring White Fathers. He worked enthusiastically at missionary promotion. In October 1993, he was able to take the long promised sabbatical year. He returned refreshed and went back to Mali to the mission of Karangasso in July 1994.

However, Francis suffered from lumbago due to a crushed disc in his spine. This made driving nearly impossible on the corrugated Malian roads. Without a car he realised that it would be impossible for him to visit three quarters of the villages in Minyanka country.

He came home early in 1997 after having a bad experience in a mixed community of local clergy and White Fathers. He was very pessimistic. A painful case of shingles added to his back and kidney problems and these physical problems affected his morale. However, he wanted to return saying that “this was not the moment to leave the ship.” But he had overestimated his strength: there were too many problems on all sides notably that he had a feeling of being rejected by the catechists. It was all too much for him. He was ill at ease and had the impression of working aimlessly.

Francis asked for a period of reflection and did a sabbatical year in Paris from July 1999 to May 2000. This included attending the session for the over 60s in Monte Cucco in Italy and it did him the world of good. On his return from Rome, he was asked to consider staying in France for three more years. He was appointed as Superior of the new community in Montreuil. The aim was to look after the pastoral need of the African migrants. For seven years, Francis became well known for his devoted service to the poorest.

In September 2004, Bishop de Berranger appointed him as Parish priest “in view of his competence and his results” So he was very saddened when the Bishop ended the collaboration in 2006 and was very hurt that he was given no warning by the leadership of the Province. He was asked to go to Ste-Foy-les-Lyon and arrived there in October 2006. He took up various ministries which developed as time went on. He was appointed Superior of the community in July 2007 and the following October he became chaplain to the CCFD with particular reference to pastoral work with the migrants. He was also appointed as curate in the Parishes of Rillieux. Then, in 2011, he was appointed administrator of the Parish of Notre Dame de la Mulatière. He gave himself completely to the work and everybody who met him was struck by his hospitality, his attention to people and his commitment to pastoral work. He died unexpectedly on Palm Sunday, 24th March 2013 of a massive heart attack.

His funeral Mass was presided over by Cardinal Barbarin and one noted among the crowd of faithful, the Member of Parliament for Seine-Saint-Denis and a previous Mayor of Montreuil. The Mayor of Ste-Foy-les-Lyon wrote to the White Father’s community expressing what was according to him what many people had experienced before his premature departure. “It was with great sadness that, along with many other citizens of Ste. Foy, I learnt of the sudden death of Fr. Francois-Xavier Baude. Please accept my deep expression of sympathy and prayer for your community which is very much present in my thoughts.” How many people did, in fact, share these sentiments and joined with the prayers of the White Father’s family.

Armand Duval

 

Father Michel Descombes

1922 - - 2013

Michel was born in Marcilly-sur-Seine, France, on the 18th May 1922. He did his secondary school studies in the Minor Seminary of the Diocese. He did one year of Philosophy in Kerlois followed by another in Thibar. He entered the novitiate of Maison-Carree on the 1st October 1941. However, the War (1942-1945) interrupted his theological studies. Two chaplains from the French Air Force praised his behaviour among his companions without ever mentioning where he served. We only know that he returned suffering from amoebas.

So it was only in 1945 that he could begin his theological studies. On the 29th June 1948, he took his Missionary Oath at Thibar and he was ordained priest at Carthage on the 1st February 1949. It is very noticeable that opinions regarding his character among the members of staff in the Seminary were in sharp contrast with the actual life he lived on the mission which involved him taking on important responsibilities which he exercised with tact and efficiency.

Michel had applied for West Africa specifically Nzerekore in Guinea but he was appointed to the Diocese of Ouagadougou in Upper Volta. On the 20th October 1949, he was already at work as a curate in Kaya. However, the climate was too tough for him and on the 25th February 1951, he had to go to Pabre for a rest. From there he returned to France because of illness. He took a cure at Vichy from May-June 1952 and he was appointed bursar in Pau, Billère. He did a great deal to improve the food and little by little, he replaced the bedding which had been neglected for far too long. He did all this without asking for special funds from the Provincial Treasurer something which deserved due recognition in itself.

As his health improved, Michel wanted to return to the missions saying that he never had time to become familiar with the language. However, his Superiors, anxious for his health and judging that the climate of Ouagadougou was too severe, appointed him to Rwanda to a more clement climate. On the 1st January 1954, Michel was working as a curate in Kabgayi and the following August he was given the task of Director of Schools in Nyumba and, from June 1955, he was the Superior of the mission there. On the 1st April 1956, he was in Nyanza also as superior and he was to remain there until 1961. The Regional at the time noted: “A great worker, sensible and supernatural. A good confrere”. After his home leave and a short time on Promotion work in Paris, he was appointed to the Bishop’s Office in Butare in May 1962. He was also the Vicar General to Bishop Gahamanyi until 1976 with only a break for the Long Retreat in Villa Caveletti in 1968.

Already in 1974, Michel had been confided with the job of Secretary of the Rwandan Bishops’ Conference. He was greatly appreciated for his discretion, his talent for administration and his readiness to take on the most unrewarding work. He worked in the Secretariat in Kigali until 1984. From 1978 onwards, he was also Secretary General of Caritas-Rwanda where he was involved in all sorts of projects: housing, food relief, health, education. He encouraged the people to look for work even if it was only on a part time basis so that they would not develop a dependency mentality. He helped to provide schooling for children of poor families and tried to provide them with the minimum of educational material to motivate them.

Michel knew how to get people involved in voluntary work, in a spirit of fraternal mutual aid freely given, in the vast refugee camps. He, also, set up schools and places of worship. He tried to rouse a national conscience regarding the refugees going beyond ethnic considerations. This resulted in his being awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour on the 14th April 1993. During all these years, he never lost his love of traditional parish work going each Sunday to help out in a parish.

The tragedy that bloodily engulfed Rwanda in 1994 meant a return to France. However by the 29th May, he had returned to Bujumbura, Burundi, and set up an office of Caritas-Rwanda to help those traumatised by the genocide. He, himself, went with the convoys carrying food and medicine to Rwanda despite the innumerable problems of Customs and barriers on the road. He created refuges for welcoming orphans resulting from the HIV/Aids pandemic and asked for aid for the millions of people who were surviving in inhuman conditions. He brought Caritas-Rwanda back to Kigali on the 29th October 1994 and continued directing it until 30th May 1995.

He began a sabbatical year in Paris which finished with a short stay in hospital. On the 31st August 1996, he returned to Butare as chaplain to Kabutare Hospital. He visited the poorest of the sick basing himself in the Lavigerie community. He was always concerned with the most unfortunate, the displaced ones, the victims of brutality and refugees.

Michel excelled in everything he did despite an uncertain health. His relationships with the Regional House were not always open and transparent. His successive appointments by the Bishops of the country were practically all made without consulting the Regional beforehand. For the Society, it seemed to be a good time to hand over the key posts to the local clergy and there was a move to have Michel appointed to France, but it did not succeed.

However, age did eventually catch up with him and he began to have problems with his memory causing him difficulties in saying Mass. Michel was aware of this and when the time came for his passport to be renewed in 2005, he decided to return to France. He asked to be sent to Bry-sur-Marne to be close to his brother and his concerned nephews. He arrived there in June 2005.

Michel lived a secret life in Bry: he talked little, sipped a little wine, prayed a lot but without ostentation. He proved to be ferociously allergic to taking medicine. On the 1st February 2012, he went to our house in Billère and it was there that the Lord called him on the 17th April 2013. His funeral was celebrated in the Chapel at Billère within the White Father community. So ended a long and good life totally devoted to the Mission.

Armand Duval

 

Father Albert Muller

1921 - - 2013

Albert Muller’s life began in strange circumstances. He was born in Dusseldorf, Germany on the 13th January 1921. He moved to Normandy with his mother and his step-father, who was French, when he was still very young. He did his primary schooling in Alençon and began part of his secondary school studies there before going to the Junior Seminary of the Society in St-Laurent d’Olt and finishing in Tournus. He had decided, early on, to become a White Father.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in order to avoid internment as he was a German citizen. After the armistice in June 1940, he quit the Legion and went to the Thibar Scholasticat in Tunisia, where his did two years of Philosophy. He had just begun his Novitiate in Carthage when the Americans landed in Algeria in autumn 1942, and the novitiate was moved to Kabylia to avoid any troubles. He did all his Theological studies in Thibar from 1943 to 1947. He took the Missionary Oath on the 24th June 1946 and he was ordained priest on the 2nd February 1947.

In 1947, Albert became a naturalised Frenchman and he was appointed to IBLA (Institut des Belles-lettres Arabes) in Tunis. He studied Literary Arabic there and was first in his class on graduation. In October, 1949, he was appointed to teach Arabic at the White Fathers house of Studies at La Manouba. However an attack of epilepsy forced him to seek treatment and to rest. He went to the College of Ain Sefra in Algeria for one year (1950-1951) and then did one year of Theology in Paris from 1951 to 1952. He then returned to La Manouba and taught there from 1952 to 1958. In 1956, he was a substitute teacher in the College of Ait Larba in the Algerian Kabylia. He taught at the Agricultural College in Thibar from June 1958 to 1962.

He returned as teacher to La Manouba. while residing at IBLA in Tunis from October 1963. In the beginning of 1965, La Manouba became the Pontifical Institute of Arabic Studies and Albert returned there. The academic year of 1968-1969 saw him in Paris studying Rural Economics. His dissertation was entitled: “The Tunisian experience of agrarian collectivisation in the Northern Tell”. This facilitated a return to the Agricultural School in Thibar where he taught from 1969 to 1973.

From 1973 to 1980, he taught at the Agricultural School of Medjez el-Bab as a volunteer teacher while residing in Tunis. It was in August 1980 that he was appointed Librarian at PISAI in Rome. He was to spend 16 years there upgrading and modernising this important centre of knowledge. He was appointed to the community of Strasbourg in July 1996 where he did sterling work at various services particularly at the reception. He stayed there until May 2001 when he transferred to the Retirement House in Billère to live out his last days in prayer and hope. His health had become very fragile over the years as he suffered from epilepsy, angina and rheumatism. Since the epilepsy incident in 1949, he was compelled to have frequent medical examinations. So he carried out his ministry of teaching in Tunisia and Rome resolutely despite his often precarious health.

Albert was completely absorbed into Tunisian culture whether it was Literary Arabic or the Tunisian dialect which he had perfectly mastered. He was completely at home with the mentality of the young people of the newly independent Tunisia. He confessed one time: “I can say that I feel very much at ease with the Tunisian students. We get on well together, I am able to tell them certain home truths” His frankness, sometimes a bit brusque, was very much in line with the spirit of discipline that he applied to himself.

At the time of the first tape recorders, Albert used to listen each day to the radio to pick up the dialectical commentaries of the famous Laroui. He took responsibility for researching the vocabulary and to note the terminology. We were able the produce a course of Arabic in the Tunisian dialect which went through many editions as well as two volumes for learning modern Literary Arabic in the Catholic schools which was also reprinted several times. His concern for exactness and precision also led him to the Agricultural College in Thibar and try his hand as a gentleman farmer specialising in raising chickens for which he gained a certain reputation.

Albert Muller knew how to use the talents which the Lord had bestowed on him. He was very reserved with regard to his personality and his spirituality. One could easily guess at the depth of his faith and his complete availability. His Assistant Librarian at PISAI, Mrs. Silvia Quercetti learnt a lot from him and spoke of him: “Certainly, his gruff character did not facilitate relations, but with his head always engrossed in the catalogues, meticulous in his work and reserved in his comments, he testified to a rich human and spiritual experience as well as a rigorous scientific mind.” Michel Lagarde of PISAI added: “He was direct and frank which could be a bit of a surprise sometimes but which eliminated any chance of misunderstandings. With him, you knew where you stood.”

Albert did everything thoroughly and seriously. He followed a special diet which he kept faithfully and regularly. He was a man of science who had a first rate knowledge of the Arab language and of Muslim culture. There, one can realise his deep, staunch and long involvement with the language and culture. I also appreciated his sense of humour which was sometimes caustic and abrasive but which injected quite a bit of fun at community meals. Despite the serious commitment in everything that he did, he did not adopt a spirit of self importance that Pascal hated. He did not take himself seriously having a sharp awareness of “being the useless servant” That seems to have been his maxim in everything that he did either as a teacher or librarian. It was also in this evangelical spirit that he tried to be in his service to the Muslims of Tunisia whom he loved “in spirit and in truth.”

Albert died on the 7th January and was buried in Billère, France at the age of 92 years of which 67 were spent as a missionary in Tunisia, Italy and France.

Maurice Borrmans