Pierre naquit au Loroux-Bottereau, diocèse de Nantes, France, le 11 septembre 1917, dans une famille de foi chrétienne éclairée qui donnera à l’Église deux Pères Blancs et une religieuse. Il fut baptisé dès le lendemain à l’église du village et reçut la confirmation le 16 juin 1929 à Ancenis, la ville où il fit ses études secondaires, couronnées par le baccalauréat, à l’institut Saint-Joseph. Désirant être missionnaire comme son frère Paul, il étudia la philosophie à Kerlois de 1934 à 1936, puis, après le noviciat à Maison-Carrée, se rendit en Tunisie pour la théologie, à Thibar (1937-39) et à Carthage. (1939-40) C’est à Carthage qu’il fit son Serment missionnaire le 12 mai 1940 avant d’être ordonné prêtre quelques semaines plus tard à Tunis, le 4 juin 1940. Fut-ce en raison de la guerre ? Toujours est-il qu’il fut ordonné avant d’avoir achevé ses études. Il repartit donc pour Thibar pour la 4e année de théologie, une année quelque temps interrompue par un grave abcès au poumon qui l’envoya aux portes de la mort, au point qu’on jugea bon de lui donner les derniers sacrements.

Tout au long de ses études, les appréciations de ses formateurs n’auraient pu être plus élogieuses : on se plaisait à énumérer chez lui “un ensemble de qualités humaines remarquables : intelligence claire, excellente mémoire, jugement droit, volonté et qualités de cœur, bon caractère, esprit de foi et charité délicate. Si la santé tenait, il serait à coup sûr un missionnaire de grande valeur”. Il n’y avait, en effet, qu’un seul bémol : la santé délicate qu’il traînera toute sa vie, rhumatismes chroniques très douloureux et poumons fragiles, ce qui ne l’empêchera pas d’apporter compétence et soin extrême dans l’accomplissement de toutes les charges importantes qu’on lui confiera dans la Société.

Son cursus théologique accompli, après quelques mois de repos au domaine de Thibar, il fut d’emblée nommé, le 15 septembre 1942, professeur au scolasticat, à Thibar, puis à Carthage. Comment mieux utiliser en effet cet homme discret, souriant, ferme dans ses convictions spirituelles profondes, que dans une maison de formation ? De fait, il sera apprécié, durant 6 ans, pour le sérieux de ses cours, et plus encore pour l’accompagnement spirituel et humain de ses dirigés.

Ces six ans connurent une courte interruption en avril 1943, quand il fut mobilisé à Sétif et à Tlemcem, avant d’être réformé trois mois plus tard.

En 1948, les supérieurs jugèrent utile, pour ce sujet brillant, une expérience de la vie de mission dans l’Afrique profonde. Il fut donc envoyé à Bobo-Dioulasso. Un bien court séjour, puisqu’en 1950, il était mis à la disposition du Provincial de France, au grand dam de Mgr Dupont, à qui on l’avait “prêté”, et qui avait apprécié comment, en si peu de temps, Pierre avait su étudier les mentalités, le milieu si divers de Bobo, à la satisfaction de tous : “Excellente impression sur toute la ligne”, écrivait-on. “Vrai missionnaire, saint prêtre et charmant confrère. Il a, à un degré peu ordinaire, les vertus du parfait Père Blanc.” Il sera en effet toute sa vie “un modèle de fidélité à la règle et à la vie commune”, comme le présageait un de ses formateurs au scolasticat. Quant à lui, rien, dans ses lettres, ne révèle ce qu’il ressentit en quittant si vite la Haute Volta…

Car, en juin 1951, il fut nommé Maître des novices clercs à Maison-Carrée, tâche qu’il poursuivra à Gap de 1957 à 1964. Dans cette tâche délicate, il va exceller : il allie sagesse et prudence dans la direction, fermeté pour faire progresser chacun dans sa voie, dégager les éléments sains de chaque personnalité et les faire développer. Il prit certes ce rôle important avec zèle, travaillant beaucoup ses conférences, pour donner une formation typiquement ignacienne et Père Blanc.

En juin 1964, nouvelle nomination et nouvelle grosse responsabilité, cette fois comme Secrétaire général de la Société à Rome, une tâche qu’il remplira jusqu’au Chapitre de 1980. Il prit tout de même le temps de faire les grands exercices à Clamart en juillet 1966, et un séjour en Angleterre, en 1968, pour raviver ses connaissances dans la langue de Shakespeare. Il prit part aux Chapitres de 1967 et de 1974 comme membre de droit et fit aussi un voyage à Ouagadougou en 1972, ce qui amena un cardinal Zoungrana perspicace à signaler au Conseil général, cette année-là, qu’il était preneur, si on libérait Pierre de sa tâche après le prochain Chapitre : cela resta sans suite. Après tant d’années d’un dur labeur à Rome, Pierre dut d’ailleurs se rendre à Billère, le 28 octobre 1979, pour un temps de repos.

Il fut toute sa vie un homme très demandé : en 1980, c’est le régional du Rwanda qui se mettait sur les rangs : “S’il y a un poste à ma convenance, je suis toujours prêt pour un travail apostolique en relation avec l’Afrique”, disait Pierre, car il y voyait un exemple à donner en acceptant de retourner sur le terrain, après un long temps en Europe. Mais les médecins déconseillèrent un séjour en altitude qui pouvait lui être néfaste.

Le 24 juin 1981, il fut nommé à la province de France et, en septembre, dans la communauté du second cycle à Toulouse/Vélanne : sans faire partie du staff, il apporterait, pensait-on, un soutien spirituel aux étudiants et serait pour eux une “présence formatrice”, tout en assurant ici ou là de nombreuses récollections ou retraites, pour l’animation spirituelle des confrères ou d’autres religieux. Après un retour de quelques mois à Rome en 1983 pour pallier l’absence, au secrétariat général, de son successeur tombé gravement malade, on le nommera responsable de la maison de Billère le 1er janvier 1984, puis de celle de Tassy, juste un an après.

Relevé de cette charge, au grand regret cette fois de Mgr Madec, l’évêque diocésain, qui savait son rayonnement autour de Tassy, on le retrouve, en 1990, à la procure d’Angers puis, de 1992 à 1997, aumônier de la maison de retraite des Sœurs Blanches à Verrières-le-Buisson. C’est l’époque où il écrit ses brochures “Pour une vieillesse heureuse”, “Le troisième âge, une chance, une grâce”. Outre l’aumônerie et divers services à Verrières, il assurait à Massy la messe du dimanche soir, pour des fidèles de toutes origines : “À Verrières, disait-il, je célèbre en France, à Massy, je célèbre dans le monde”.

Retiré à la maison de retraite de Mougins, où il apprécia fort la cohabitation avec d’autres congrégations, des Sœurs Blanches et des laïcs, il devint responsable de la petite communauté des Pères Blancs qui s’y trouvaient, jusqu’à leur transfert à la maison rénovée de Billère, le 14 septembre 2002. Là encore, avant que la maladie ne l’éprouve pour de bon, il aimait célébrer l’Eucharistie dans les chapelles ou paroisses qui font appel aux Pères Blancs.

Quand le Seigneur est venu le rappeler à lui, le 17 juin 2011, plusieurs de ses anciens novices ou scolastiques ont dit leur peine, leur émotion et aussi leur reconnaissance pour tout ce qu’ils ont reçu de lui. “Il m’a aidé à avoir une colonne vertébrale spirituelle”, disait notamment l’évêque du Sahara. “Pierre, dit l’officiant de sa messe d’obsèques en la chapelle de Billère, ton abandon au Seigneur dans les responsabilités que tu as assumées s’est manifesté par la joie et la paix que tu rayonnais. Dans la souffrance, tu as manifesté courage et patience. Nous tous ici te disons “à Dieu” jusqu’au jour bienheureux où nous te reverrons".

Armand Duval

Père Hans-Otto Wienen

1951 - - 2011

Hans-Otto est né le 28 juillet 1951 à Nievenheim, près de Cologne, en Allemagne. Il est le second d’une famille chrétienne de quatre enfants. Son père est employé d’une usine chimique où il travaille au laboratoire. Après cinq années de primaire, Hans-Otto choisit de suivre les humanités gréco-latines dans une école secondaire tenue par les Pères Spiritains. Il se rend ensuite en Angleterre pour étudier l’anglais.

En octobre 1972, il rejoint la maison de formation des Missionnaires d’Afrique à Frankfurt. Il est habité par le désir de partir en mission, en Afrique. À Frankfurt, il s’inscrit à la Faculté de théologie des Jésuites, où il étudiera la philosophie, l’histoire de l’Église et l’Écriture Sainte pendant deux ans. Homme au cœur d’or, il se distingue par sa sollicitude envers les humains et sa tendresse pour les animaux et les plantes. Ses formateurs notent qu’il n’est pas du tout sentimental, mais qu’il est un homme profond.

Après ces deux années à Frankfurt, Hans-Otto est envoyé à Mours, en 1974, pour l’Année spirituelle à l’issue de laquelle il sera admis en théologie à l’université de Strasbourg. Il fera partie du groupe des étudiants du Foyer international des Pères Blancs. En 1976, il y reçoit les ministères du lectorat et de l’acolytat, et se prépare à partir en Afrique.

“Bien des indices dénotent son idéal missionnaire : sens de l’accueil, disponibilité très grande, immense bonne volonté, souci particulier pour les démunis et les pauvres”, déclarent les membres du foyer de la rue de Neuwiller avant son départ en stage.

En 1977, il arrive en RDC et commence l’apprentissage du swahili au CELA, à Bukavu. Il rejoint ensuite la paroisse de Wamaza, diocèse de Kasongo, dans le Maniema. Il y fait équipe avec trois confrères qui apprécient son sérieux, sa profondeur et son engagement. Il va fournir des efforts remarquables pour approfondir le swahili et le parler correctement. Il s’occupe de l’animation spirituelle de la jeunesse, assurant la catéchèse extrascolaire. Les confrères qui l’encadrent pendant son stage le trouvent ouvert, travailleur, équilibré, plein de bon sens, ayant une profonde vie spirituelle personnelle.

Soutenu et encouragé par les confrères de sa communauté et les responsables de son stage, il demande à être appelé au Serment perpétuel et au diaconat, dérogeant ainsi au principe qui veut que le candidat fasse son Serment dans une maison de formation. C’est à Wamaza, sa terre de mission, qu’il prononcera son Serment missionnaire et sera ordonné diacre le 22 avril 1979 par Mgr Timothée Pirigisha Mukombe, évêque de Kasongo. Après cette expérience missionnaire au Maniema, il retourne à Strasbourg y parachever sa formation en théologie, avant d’être ordonné prêtre le 14 juin 1980 à Nievenheim, sa ville natale.

La fête de l’ordination et le congé passés, Hans-Otto repart à Wamaza où il est nommé vicaire. Il y passera son premier terme, de quatre ans, focalisant ses activités pastorales sur l’animation de la jeunesse. À la fin de ces quatre années, il part en congé en Allemagne et revient en février 1984. À son retour de congé, on lui annonce qu’il est nommé pour des études de théologie biblique à Rome, à partir de septembre de la même année. Il ne l’apprécie pas, car il aimerait tout d’abord faire un deuxième terme en mission.

Il écrit à Michaël Fitzgerald, alors Assistant général : “Je me permets de vous rappeler la situation du diocèse. Nous vivons une véritable tension. Monseigneur l’évêque ne se réjouira pas de mon départ. J’ai beaucoup d’estime et d’affection pour lui qui est un homme de foi, pauvre et droit. Cela me peinerait de le voir souffrir davantage. Toutefois, je ne suis nullement indispensable. Tout continuera sans moi, mais j’ai un cœur et les situations humaines me touchent profondément.”

Il ajoute : “Si vous maintenez ce projet de nomination, je viendrai, mais ce sera à contrecœur.” À l’issue du dialogue, on repoussera cette nomination de deux années. Plus tard, en septembre 1986, Hans-Otto arrive à Rome pour y faire une spécialisation en théologie biblique afin d’être formateur dans l’une ou l’autre maison de formation de la Société. Il termine ses études avec succès.

À partir de 1988, il sera formateur au premier cycle de la Ruzizi, à Bukavu, où il dispensera le cours d’introduction à la Bible. Toujours calme et jovial, les étudiants ne tariront pas d’éloges à son endroit. Ils évoquent sa bienveillance et sa compréhension envers les personnes en difficulté. Sensible à la misère des gens, Hans-Otto et son équipe de vie de la maison de formation leur rendent visite pendant le week-end. Nommé conseiller régional en 1991, il apprend à se familiariser avec les réalités des communautés et des œuvres ou projets de la Société, dans la région du Sud-Est Congo.

En 1992, il est élu délégué au Chapitre général, mais il manifeste des signes de surmenage et se fait remplacer. Il en profite pour aller se reposer en Allemagne.
Lorsqu’il revient au Congo, le conseil régional lui propose d’aller à la paroisse de Kalima comme vicaire. On le retrouve quatre années plus tard à la paroisse de Kipaka. La région qu’il dessert étant enclavée, les gens y meurent faute de soins de santé élémentaires. Cette situation pousse Hans-Otto à s’intéresser à la médecine. Il fera une formation d’infirmier auxiliaire à l’hôpital de Kipaka.

La RDC est entre-temps se­couée par une autre guerre en 1998. Un groupe armé de miliciens Maï-Maï occupe Kipaka et l’emmène, en 1999, en captivité à Mingana où il passe quelques mois avant d’être évacué sur Bukavu. Il ne cesse de se faire du souci pour les populations qu’il a laissées derrière lui et brûle d’impatience de retourner à Kipaka malgré les combats qui s’y déroulent encore. En mai 2000, il regagne Kipaka et poursuit la desserte des villages malgré la guerre. Il s’approvisionne en médicaments pour aider les malades.

Le conseil provincial de la PAC l’affecte à Mingana en juillet 2004. Hans-Otto s’y attelle à la pastorale de la santé sans négliger les autres activités apostoliques paroissiales. Il fait construire un nouveau pavillon pour abriter la maternité du centre de santé, équipe celui-ci d’un appareil échographique et lui fournit une grande quantité de médicaments. Cette structure de santé fera la fierté des habitants de Mingana, qui n’auront plus à parcourir des dizaines de kilomètres à pied ou en vélo, pour aller se faire soigner.
Il aide les ouvriers dans la construction des bâtiments : il est tantôt aide-maçon, tantôt aide-menuisier. Comme la plupart des routes de la région ne sont pas carrossables, il effectue en moto ses tournées pastorales dans les villages de la paroisse. Son dévouement dans cette contrée du Maniema est sans pareil. Les gens l’aiment et s’attachent à lui.

Le 10 mars 2011, il se rend à Kalole, une quasi-paroisse du diocèse de Kasongo située à une 90 km de Mingana. Il y est accompagné d’un maçon, chargé de finir les travaux de construction de la nouvelle église, et de l’animateur pastoral laïc de la paroisse de Mingana. Il occupe un pied-à-terre tout près de l’église et poursuit ses activités toute la journée du vendredi 11 mars. Le samedi 12, en fin de matinée, il sent des malaises à la poitrine, mais continue à recevoir les gens jusqu’à 22 heures. Le dimanche 13 mars, comme il tarde à sortir pour la messe, les responsables de la quasi-paroisse entrent dans la maison pour s’enquérir de sa santé. Ils le retrouvent inerte dans son lit. Ils appellent immédiatement les deux médecins du coin.

Les médecins arrivent et constatent le décès de Hans-Otto, provoqué par un arrêt cardio-respiratoire. Ils embaument son corps pendant que les chrétiens fabriquent un cercueil pour ramener la dépouille mortelle de leur pasteur à Mingana, le centre de la paroisse. Vers midi, après la prière, les jeunes chrétiens de Kalole commencent le voyage, à pied, transportant sur leurs épaules le cercueil. Ils parcourent 50 km et, à la tombée de la nuit, ils atteignent Bikenge, une autre succursale de la paroisse, où ils déposent le corps dans l’église. Une veillée de prières y est organisée par la communauté chrétienne locale jusqu’au lendemain matin.

À 6 heures, le cortège funèbre reprend la route, pour arriver à destination à 14 heures.
Pendant cette longue marche, les gens prient, entonnent des chants et se relayent pour porter le cercueil. La famille du Père Hans-Otto a demandé que son corps soit rapatrié en Allemagne. Cependant, les chrétiens de la paroisse de Mingana la supplie de les laisser pleurer et enterrer ce Père, leur père, qui les a aimés et que le Seigneur est venu rappeler en plein service au milieu d’eux. Aux dires des gens de cette contrée, Hans-Otto était l’ami de tous, toutes confessions religieuses et tribus confondues.

Une foule immense de catholiques et de non catholiques attend le corps à l’entrée de Mingana. À l’approche du cortège, des pleurs et des gémissements éclatent. L’église est comble. Après une messe émouvante, célébrée dans une ambiance où dévotion et émotion sont mêlées, Hans-Otto est inhumé devant l’église paroissiale, aux côtés de trois autres confrères ayant desservi la même paroisse et décédés avant lui.

Placide Lubamba

Voir aussi les photos de l'enterrement et les témoignages

Père Jules Bongaerts

1926 - - 2011

Jules est né le 16 juillet 1926 à Bree, dans la province du Limbourg en Belgique. Il fit ses humanités classiques d’abord au collège St-Michel de sa ville natale, puis la poésie et la rhétorique au collège St-Joseph à Hasselt. En septembre 1944, il entre chez les Pères Blancs à Boechout. Son frère Karel (décédé en 2007) l’y a précédé et son frère cadet Albert (+2010) l’y suivra. En 1946, parce que sa santé pose question, Jules est d’abord envoyé à Heverlee où il fait deux années de théologie, avant de faire son noviciat à Varsenare.

En 1949, il retourne à Heverlee pour achever sa théologie. Il prononce son Serment missionnaire le 22 décembre 1950 et reçoit le sacerdoce le 24 mars 1951. Ses formateurs mentionnent à plusieurs reprises ses dons artistiques, son imagination poétique et ses qualités de dessinateur. Pendant les week-ends et les vacances, Jules est aumônier scout du district Brabant Centre ; il y fait naître un authentique esprit missionnaire, ouvert sur le monde, surtout sur l’Afrique. Certains anciens scouts en parlent encore aujourd’hui. En 1953, Jules obtient le grade de candidat en pédagogie à l’université de Louvain.

Le 7 octobre 1953, Jules s’embarque à bord d’un avion Sobelair pour le Congo. Il est envoyé à Aba dans le nord de l’Ituri pour y apprendre le Lingala. Commence alors sa longue carrière dans l’enseignement : en mars 1954, il est directeur de l’école normale à Essebi. En janvier 1955, il est professeur à l’école secondaire de Bambu. En novembre, professeur à l’école normale à Kilo où il devient directeur en octobre 1959. Après son congé et la grande retraite à Rome en 1961, il retourne à Kilo, comme professeur à l’école normale. En décembre 1963, il prend la direction de l’école normale de Drodro, jusqu’au départ précipité des missionnaires en décembre 1964, à cause de la rébellion (il a même passé quelques jours en prison).

Jules profite de ces quelques mois de congé imprévus pour aller perfectionner son anglais à Totteridge. En mai 1965, il reprend son poste de directeur à Drodro. Un régional de cette époque écrit : “Comme directeur, il s’est révélé un chef : il avait tout le monde bien en main, professeurs et élèves, à la satisfaction de tous.” Au mois de décembre 1974, il part pour Bambu avec la mission d’y fonder une nouvelle école normale. Il n’aura pas l’occasion d’achever ce projet car, en février 1975, survient la vague des nationalisations : il n’y a plus de place pour des directeurs expatriés. Jules reste à Bambu-Mines et se charge de l’aumônerie au pensionnat pour jeunes filles Virgo Maria. Il lance également un centre pour retraites et recyclages.

Pendant son congé en Belgique, fin 1975, de sérieux problèmes de santé se déclarent. Il réussit à suivre encore quelques mois de ressourcement à l’Arbresle, mais en août 1976, il doit subir plusieurs pontages coronariens. Suit alors une longue période de rétablissement à Opitter au Limbourg. En juillet 1977, le voilà de retour pour reprendre son poste à Bambu. Son dernier geste missionnaire sur le sol africain est le lancement de notre premier cycle à l’Est du Congo. En septembre 1979, des symptômes d’angine de poitrine reprennent et les médecins le renvoient en Belgique. Le régional écrit alors au provincial de Belgique : “C’est un grand sacrifice pour lui. Il m’a dit qu’il voit bien que ce départ risque beaucoup d’être définitif.”

Le 1er janvier 1980, Jules est nommé curé de la paroisse de Vliermaal, un village situé à mi-chemin entre Saint-Trond et Maastricht. “Je considère ma vie missionnaire ici au Limbourg comme une vie d’intercession pour l’Afrique, dans la prière et la contemplation. Surtout la prière de louange et d’intercession du bréviaire permet d’évoquer des situations bien concrètes de toute l’Afrique.” Il veut faire de sa paroisse “une communauté engagée pour les missions” et “faire ressortir la dimension missionnaire de la paroisse”. Aussi le président du conseil paroissial pouvait-il témoigner : “Le fond missionnaire d’un tel curé influe sur son parler et son agir : la perspective de la paroisse s’élargit et la solidarité avec le tiers-monde prend forme.

Dans nombre de contacts et d’entretiens, il fait spontanément le lien avec l’Église universelle et l’esprit ecclésial des paroissiens change.” En juillet 1985, Jules est nommé curé à Melveren, une des paroisses de la ville de Saint-Trond. En 1986, il participe à la session retraite à Jérusalem et, en 1994, il suit à Rome la session pour le troisième âge. Il reste en fonction à Melveren jusqu’en en 1998. Il a alors 72 ans. En octobre 1998, après avoir fait ses adieux aux paroissiens, Jules se retire à Saint-Trond dans une belle maison qu’il a héritée de sa tante.

Sa vie durant, Jules a manifesté son amour pour l’art classique et il a essayé de le communiquer aux autres. Plus rien ne l’empêche maintenant de s’entourer de beaux tableaux et de quelques objets d’art religieux. Il aime à répéter que les œuvres d’art l’aident à prier. Mais il reste généreux aussi envers l’Afrique, en continuant à aider de jeunes candidats M.Afr. À deux reprises, il répond favorablement à un appel du Centre de formation missionnaire de Varsovie en Pologne et part donner des cours de français aux prêtres et religieux polonais qui se préparent à partir pour des pays du tiers-monde. Dans son testament, il lègue tous ses biens à nos maisons de formation en Afrique.

Jules écrit dans son testament : “Malgré mes faiblesses, j’ai toujours essayé d’être un prêtre dévoué à l’Église, celle de l’Afrique et celle d’ici. La beauté m’a toujours conduit à Dieu. D’un cœur joyeux j’abandonne maintenant tout cela pour aller contempler la vraie beauté qui est Dieu, facie ad faciem.” Jules s’est éteint doucement le 30 mai, après trois semaines dans le coma.

La liturgie de la résurrection a eu lieu à Saint-Trond le vendredi 3 juin. Une bonne trentaine de confrères l’entouraient dans une église bondée. Il fut déposé dans le caveau familial, près de sa tante.

Jef Vleugels

PROFILES

Father Guy Weemaes

1938 - - 2011

Guy was born on the 26th June 1938 at Brasschaat in the province of Antwerp. He was the fourth of five children in a modest working-class family. He did his grammar school standard education at the diocesan junior seminary at Hoogstraten. He entered the White Fathers at Boechout in September 1958, followed by novitiate at Varsenare and theology at Heverlee. There, he was ‘vader’, the representative of the scholastics in relations with the teaching staff. He was also chaplain to Chiro (the youth movement) and the most efficient seller of calendars in the Scholasticate.

He took his Missionary Oath on the 28th June 1964 and was ordained a priest on the 26th June 1965. He formulated his proposals for appointment thus: ‘I prefer a region which is not yet genuinely Christian. I am not put off by an activity where I do not see immediate results, among fetish­ists or with Muslims, for example.’ He made explicit mention of Mali and Upper Volta. After extra pastoral studies at Mours, Guy left in December 1965 for what was then called Upper Volta.

On the 10th January 1966, Guy arrived at his first post, at Bomborokuy, Nouna Diocese, Burkina Faso. In 1969, he retuned to Belgium for anticipated leave on account of his health. In June 1973, he was put in charge of the Procure at Nouna. After his home leave and the Jerusalem Session-Retreat in 1979, Guy was appointed in September of that year as parish priest at Dedougou. In 1980, he was elected by his confreres as a member of the Regional Council. In November 1986, Guy returned to Bomborokuy, initially as a curate and then from October 1989 as parish priest. In May 1993, he was five months at Solenso (still in Nouna Diocese). He remained parish priest and in charge of the community at Bomborokuy until October 1999. He was the last White Father in charge of this parish, whose current parish priest, Father Yadia Etienne, awarded him the homage of being ‘a combatant in faith for all people.’

Guy spent 34 years in the Diocese of Nouna-Dedougou, among the Bobos-Oulé people he so loved. One day, Guy invited the parish priest of his home parish of Brasschaat to Burkina. When he became Administrator and Dean of the Cathedral of Antwerp, this prelate created a twinning contract between Guy’s parish and the Cathedral. This enabled several projects to be undertaken in the Diocese of Nouna. Today, a non-profit organisation called AFRANT continues the work that Guy had begun.

By way of transition, Guy took a sabbatical year in Belgium. He was back in Burkina in early September 2000. He had always asked too much of himself, with work taking precedence over health. On this subject, a Regional wrote of him, ‘To moderate Father Guy Weemaes, he has to be removed from his environment.’ Since working in the rural areas was too demanding for him, Guy was appointed to the capital Ouagadougou, where he was placed in charge of the guesthouse. Soon, the airport, the airlines, the embassies and their visa offices held no more secrets for him. With uncomplicated and direct cordiality, Guy welcomed his confreres and the candidates of the First Cycle, who lived nearby. Someone wrote about him, ‘His smile was his greatest asset.’

In September 2009, at the request of the Belgian Sector, Guy was appointed bursar of our guesthouse at Rue de Linthout, Brussels. He had only just begun his new responsibility when illness struck. In October 2010, chemotherapy began; his body responded well and Guy was hopeful. After his return from the Nieuwpoort Health Centre, in late April 2011, metastasis was discovered and the doctors admitted they were powerless to cure him.

Guy needed some time to accept this verdict. He stayed for a while in our Antwerp community. At the end of May, in the company of his family members and his confreres, Guy received the Sacraments of the Sick at the hands of our confrere Paul De Buck, chaplain of Notre Dame Médiatrice Clinic at Deurne (Antwerp). Guy passed away in the afternoon of the 9th June, surrounded by his family.

During his years in formation, annual assessments highlighted some traits typical of Guy. Throughout those years, they describe his silent approach, delivering painstaking work. He was not an intellectual, but endowed with practical gifts. He was a good organiser, but not a born leader, as he was somewhat shy and a little withdrawn. He was pleasant in his relations, with a sense of service and with a humorous streak. His work in Africa was of the same style: solid and enduring, without attracting attention. Guy was mo­dest, with attention to detail and the practical needs of the people. He was uncomplicated and was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He was generous and always smiling. This is the picture of Guy that will remain with us always.

The farewell Eucharist was concelebrated in St Anthony’s parish church at Brasschaat, on the 18th June 2011. Father Guido Verbist concluded his homily thus: ‘At a death in Burkina, the ceremony concludes with a blessing: Allah ka layoro suma! May God refresh your new dwelling-place!’ Guy’s body is now at rest in our cemetery at Varsenare.

Jef Vleugels

Father Berthold Meyer

1923 - - 2011

From the 1st October 2005, Berthold was keen to help whoever was to write his obituary. ‘Here are a few pointers to faciliate your task, but for goodness sake, stick to the facts. In any case, I will not be able to read your assessments of me. Nevertheless, I am totally convinced they will be inaccurate.’
I knew Berthold well at Bonnelles and Paris. His sometimes grinding humour always seemed to come from a sincere heart and I cherish a happy memory of a pleasant and cultivated confrere who liked to play pranks on us. However, according to his wishes, let us stick to the facts. The best approach would be to follow his long Bio-Notes he wrote out at Billère during his retreat on the 15th June 2008 after having drafted an outline on the foregoing Holy Saturday.

Berthold was born on the 4th May 1923 at Püttlingen in the Sarre, Diocese of Trier, Germany. Pierre Berthold was baptised on the 10th May in the church of Saint Sebastian, Püttlingen, making his First Communion there on the 23rd April 1933. The Sarre was at that time administrered by the League of Nation and France took over its coalmines. ‘I attended the French school’, he said, ‘and learned a great deal, except French.’ His father, a mine employee, had obtained French nationality on the 16th December 1932 and so Berthold and his brother Paul, born in 1927, received it too.

However, the 1935 plebiscite (92% in favour of Germany, and 0.4% in favour of France) turned their lives upside down. The family emigrated to Folschviller, near Saint-Avold (Moselle), France on the 12th February 1935. Three days later a third son, Robert, was born. Tipped from one day to the next into CM2 at Folschviller School, Berthold experienced very tough beginnings. ‘The circumstances were such that I was torn between two cultures’, he said. Falling between two chairs was never a comfortable position to be in. One is always suspected of not being fully committed to one things or a cause, even in the White Fathers.’

Through the intercession of the parish priest, Fr. Seiwert, a friend of Father Pierre Muller, Berthold was offered a place at Alkirch. His parents agreed. He received Confirmation at Lelling from the hand of Bishop Pelt of Metz on the 9th May 1935 and after a language course in a large farm at Manoncourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Berthold entered Altkirch on the 17th September 1935 and remained there until 1940. When war broke out, not knowing where his family had been evacuated to, he returned to Manoncourt before finding his family in the free zone at Villars, near Saint-Étienne (Loire) in January 1941.

He was then able to complete his secondary schooling at Saint-Laurent-d’Olt (Aveyron), in 1941-1942, one of the first five pupils that Fr Bonté presented for the Bacca­laureate and all of them passed. His family had moved to Carmaux, Tarn, and he took the opportunity to reach Lourdes by bicycle. He returned, however, he said, very disappointed.

In September 1942, he reached Tunisia for philosophy, delivered at Thibar by Father Devriendt. His studies were interrupted by the Allied landings in North Africa. Initially called up in January 1943 for the Aïn Draham ‘Youth Worksites’, he was transferred in May to the 3rd Algerian Rifle Regiment at Guelma, followed by landings and campaigns in Italy, France and Germany, curtailed by a brief home leave in January 1945. After the armistice, he obtained a pass for those eligible for release at Oppenheim, and was demobbed at Tunis on the 9th October 1945. He was able to resume his philosophy studies and then go on to Maison Carrée for the novitiate in 1947-1948. Finally, he went to ’s Heerenberg, where he spent three years, taking his Missionary Oath on the 26th July 1951. He then went to Monteviot in Scotland, where once his studies were over, he was ordinaried a priest on the 31st May 1952 at Galashiels by the (later Cardinal) Archbishop of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh.

After celebrating his first Masses at Créhange near Folsch­viller and Püttlingen, where his heart lay, he was appointed to Bonnelles Junior Seminary, where he arrived in September 1952. From there, he went to the one at Altkirch on the 11th August 1953 only to return to Bonnelles on the 1st August 1956. He remained there for five years teaching mostly German and there received his appointment for Africa.

After a pastoral course at Oak Lodge, London, he left firstly for Katete in the Diocese of Mzuzu, Malawi on the 16th December 1961 to learn Chitumbuka and from there, he was to circulate at Nkhamenya, Rumpi, and Kasina, in the Diocese of Dedza, on the 29th December 1964, as junior seminary professor. He then retuned to Kaseye (Mzuzu) on the 1st January 1966. Although his correspondence was usually very upbeat, problems of adaptation or community living induced him, it seems, to apply to do the Long Retreat at Villa Cavaletti, Rome, from the 16th September 1967.

After a brief return to Malawi, he was appointed to the General­ate as a librarian on the 12th May 1969. He was to remain there until his 1974 appointment as editor of the ‘Voix d’Afrique’ d’Alsace et de Lorraine’ Magazine at Strasbourg. When the magazine moved to Paris, he was attached to the Permanent Mission of the Holy See at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg from 1983 till 1993. He was much appreciated there. His knowledge of German and English, his flair for Italian and Spanish made sense of his appointment. He then did the session for the Third Age and left Strasbourg after a residence of 20 years.

He went to the Provincial House at Paris where he was entrusted with the task of archivist, which he carried out from September 1995 until the 11th September 2003. On that date, as his eyesight was failing considerably, he retired to the Billère retirement community, writing the last line of his curriculum vitae: ‘Exitus Fiat Amen, Alleluia!’

His sometimes biting humour did not shock those who knew him well and hid his deep sensitivity. On Holy Saturday the 22nd March 2008, he wrote, ‘I am shy, fiercely independent. I detest chatterboxes and flatterers. I do not wear my heart on my sleeve. I believe in God and the final general stupefaction.’ He hated showing his deep feelings. Courageously, he carefully prepared his own funeral service. ‘The long sessions of chemotherapy are good for reviewing my life; therefore, after my death, here is what I wish’, he wrote, 13 months before his death. ‘The First Reading is to be I John 3:11, 16-20, then Psalm 102, and the Gospel from John 6:37-40’. Texts full only of hope. ‘Whatever accusations it may raise against us, God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.’ The Lord is tenderness and mercy, slow to anger and full of love.‘All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away.’

This contains all Berthold’s faith and hope. Non-conformist to the end, he did not want any speeches, but as a homily, he recommended listening to “Ancient Airs and Dances of Ottorino Respighi, suite n°3, intermezzo 17 ‘Siciliana’”. The whole piece was punctuated by voice-overs: ‘Lord, for all that has been, thanks. For all that shall be, yes.’ (Dag Hammarskjöld). ‘It is a fine thing to be able to say at the end of one’s life, I am grateful to have been born and it is good to have lived.’ (Shakespeare).

He said he was counting a great deal on the Lord’s sense of humour. He was granted his wish on the 14th July 2011 when the Lord chose that date to call our brother to Himself, an unconditional Germanophile! Berthold himself would have had a good laugh at it. A man with a big heart, he was interred after a prayerful Eucharist among his brothers of Billère community who had gone before him marked with the sign of peace.

Armand Duval

Father Éloi Declerck

1924 - - 2011

Eloi was born on the 22nd May 1924 at Hazebrouck, Diocese of Lille, into a goodly modest family where his father, a tailor to trade, was highly devoted to parish activities. Of the four children, a second was to consecrate himself to God in the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Éloi was baptised on the 24th May in the parish church of Saint-Éloi at Hazebrouck. He also received Confirmation there on the 18th June 1936 before entering the St. Francis of Assisi Junior Seminary, in the same town. He found the studies from 1936-1945 laborious.

As a very cheerful fellow, he probably did not pay much attention to them. In 1944 an attack of pleurisy also held him back somewhat. However the Superior nonetheless reckoned his vocation as solid and making headway. His parish priest in his view found him ‘modest, smiling and keen to be of service, as well as popular in Hazebrouck.’ In fact, he enjoyed playing the fool. Feeling called to the African mission, he did his scholastic philosophy from 1945-1947 at Kerlois then the novitiate at Maison Carrée from 1947-1948. After this, he began his theology studies, firstly at Carthage from 1948-1949 then at Thibar. As he was from the class of 1944, he was excused military service.

During his studies, those White Fathers in charge of his formation found him somewhat impulsive, but he had sound judgement, gifted for relationships and contacts, with good qualities in dedication; he was of a level sufficient to make a good missionary. If one or other member of Staff gave a more severe judgement on him, others pointed up noticeable progress ‘across the board’ and advised accepting him with confidence. In community, he proved to be an able cobbler, jovial and held in high esteem by his confreres.

However, his health was already beginning to show signs of weakness. He suffered particularly from recurring liver problems. He was admitted to the Oath on the 28th June 1951 and was ordained a priest on the 12th April 1952 at Carthage.

His first appointment in June 1952 was for Nyangoloko in the Vicariate Aposotolic of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, where he arrived on the 15th November 1952. He set to work immediately to learn the Ciramba language and succeeded in his exam without problems. He spent the whole of his first term in this mission. He was especially in charge of the dispensary, but found he was somewhat oppressed by his Superior at that time. Therefore in August 1959, he asked for another post after his home leave. This was to be Orodara; but this post needed the Dioula language. For this he was sent to Faladyé, Mali, from November 1959 till May 1960 to learn Bambara. This was a success in the words of the Father in charge of guiding students. ‘He should manage to master the language,’ said this Father.

From 1962-1965, he was asked to work in the French Province on propaganda, as it was then called and therefore also on vocation promotion. He ended this phase of his activity with the Long Retreat at Villa Cavaletti from the 16th January 1965 as well as an unfortunate viral hepatitis. Once back in Upper Volta, he was appointed to Toussiana on the 25th November 1966. However, already in June 1968 he had to return to France for an operation to remove his gall bladder. He convalesced at Pau, then at Lille from the 29th March 1969. From then on his correspondence would be sprinkled with health bulletins and test results of all kinds: he was in one way or another to suffer poor health.

After over a year’s treatment in France, he was nonetheless able to return to the mission and was a curate at Toussiana. In September 1971, he was then moved to the Bobo-Dioulasso Centre Abel Sanon, in charge of the national plan for childhood organisations. He gave himself generously to this task that pleased him. He wrote that he then had spent 12-and-a-half years in Africa, half of them with native-born diocesan priests. Assessing this period, he remarked, ‘If the differences in culture brought mutual enrichment, they also exacted an effort in mutual understanding.’ In 1973, after treatment in France for amoebas, and attending a MINADE session at Morsang-sur-Orge, he was sent to the junior seminary of Nasso as Bursar. This was until 1977, when he became Superior of the post at Nyangoloko in its beginnings, and which remained closest to his heart.

Taking advantage of the following home leave, he did the Jerusalem Session-Retreat from the 13th June 1982. After this, in spite of painful lumbago, he returned to Nyangoloko as curate on the 13th June 1982.

His health let him down yet again and this time with depression, for which he had to return home in July 1984. He was again treated for a new amoebiasis and chronic malaria, no doubt at the source of his psychological fati­gue. In fact, from 1982, he was often exhausted, nervous and even bad-tempered. He suffered migr­aines, dizziness and stomach trouble that made him irritable. He needed a long rest. When he was sufficiently recovered, the question was raised as to whether this should be a return to Africa or a final withdrawal.

His condition was fragile and the decision was put off until 1986-87; in the meantime, he was offered a temporary appointment: the reception desk at the Provincial House. The following year, whereas he had given Burkina up for good, he took on the office of Bursar at Bry-sur-Marne, on the 20th April 1986. He said he was happy to be of service to our senior confreres. All the same, he was overjoyed to be able to return to Burkina in January 1988 to bid farewell and attend the grand and prayerful 60th anniversary celebration of the diocese of Bobo. He described this as a ‘voyage of hope’.

In 1989, he was asked to take on another office of Bursar, this time at the French Provincial House, followed once again by the reception desk the following year. That year, in September-October, while he was holidaying in the south of France, serious heart trouble meant hospitalisation at Toulon, then intensive care, followed by a long convalescence at Fréjus and Tassy. On the 1st December 1997, he was appointed to the Procure at Lille, but under stress from this house’s rumours of imminent closure, he asked to go to Mours on the 9th September 2002. He remained there carrying out various ministries until his departure in June 2009 for the retirement community of Bry-sur-Marne, which he already knew.

This is where the Lord came to call him to Himself on the 21st June 2011, after 59 years of missionary life often upset by multiple health problems endured with courage and generosity. Olivier Soma, a young Burkinabe confrere born at Nyangoloko, when he heard of the news of Éloi’s death, wrote of how much his memory was alive among the elders, in the land where he had worked to the best of his ability. He concluded, ‘May the lord grant him the rest promised to his faithful servants!’

Armand Duval

Father Pierre Grillou

1917 - - 2011

Pierre was born at Loroux-Bottereau in the diocese of Nantes on the 11th September 1917 into a family of enlightened Christian faith. The family was to give to the Church two White Fathers and one Sister. Pierre was baptised the following day in the village church and received Confirma­tion on the 16th June 1929 at Ancenis, the town where he did his secondary schooling, culminating in the baccalaureate at the
St. Joseph Institute. Desirous of becoming a missionary like his brother Paul, he studied philosophy at Kerlois from 1934-1936, going on to Tunisia to study theology at Thibar (1937-1939) and at Carthage (1939-1940).

He took his Missionary Oath there on the 12th May 1940 before being ordai­ned a priest a few weeks later at Tunis on the 4th June 1940. Was this on account of the war? In any case, he was ordained before completing his studies. He therefore left again for Thibar and his 4th year of theology, a year that was to be interrupted for a while due to a serious abscess on the lung that brought him to the brink of death.

Throughout his studies, the appreciation of the members of staff could not have been more eloquent. They enjoyed listing the number of remarkable human qualities he had: ‘bright intelligence, excellent memory, keen judgement, qualities of good will and kindness, good character, a spirit of faith and a sensitive charity. If his health holds out, he will undoubtedly become a missionary of great worth.’ There was only one damper and this was the poor constitution he had for all his life – very painful chronic rheumatism and weak lungs. This did not prevent him from the competence and extreme care he exercised in all the important responsibilities entrusted to him by the Society.

Once his theological programme was complete, and after a few months of rest on the farm at Thibar, on the 15th September 1942, he was immediately appoi­nted professor at the Scholas­ticate at Thibar and then Carthage. How better to utilise the qualities of this man, so discreet, smiling and firm in his deep spiritual convictions than in a Formation House? Indeed, he was to be appreciated for 6 years by the serious nature of his courses and even more for the spiritual and human accompaniment of those to whom he gave spiritual direction.

These six years were only briefly interrupted in April 1943 when he was called up for Sétif and Tlemcem, before being exempted three months later.

In 1948, his Superiors thought it wise for this brilliant prospect to experience missionary life in deepest Africa. He was therefore sent to Bobo-Dioulasso. It was a very short stay, as in 1950 he was placed at the disposition of the French Provinical, to the great displeasure of Bishop Dupont. For Pierre was only on ‘loan’ and Bishop Dupont had seen in such a short time how Pierre knew how to study the very diverse mentalities and social settings of Bobo, to everyone’s satisfaction. ‘He gives an excellent impression throughout,’ they wrote. ‘He is a genuine missionary, a holy priest and a charming confrere. He has all the virtues of the perfect White Father to an uncommon degree.’ Throughout his life he was to be ‘a model of fidelity to the Rule and community life,’ as one of his Formation Staff members had predicted during his Scholasticate. As for him, in his letters, there was nothing to disclose how he felt in leaving Upper Volta so soon.

In June 1951 he was appointed Novice-Master of the clerics at Maison Carrée, a task he was to continue at Gap from 1957-1964. In this sensitive task, he was to excel. He combined wisdom and prudence in spiritual direction, firmness for each one to make progress on his journey, bringing out the healthy aspects in each personality and developing them. Naturally, he took on this role with enthusiasm, working on his talks to provide a typically Ignatian and White Father formation.

In June 1964, he received a new appointment and a new heavy responsibility, this time as Secre­tary General of the Society at Rome. He was to fulfil this task until the 1980 Chapter, only leaving his office on Sundays to help local parish priests. Nevertheless, he took the time to do the Long Retreat at Clamart in July 1966 and a spell in England in 1968 to revive his knowledge of the language of Shakespeare. He took part in the 1967 and 1974 Chap­ters as ex officio member and also took a trip to Ouagadougou in 1972.

This led a perceptive Cardinal Zoungrana to send a signal to the General Council that year that he was willing to take him, if Pierre was to be freed from his task after the following Chap­ter. There was no follow-up to this. After so many years of hard labour in Rome, Pierre moreover had to go to Billère on the 28th October 1979 for a time of rest.

He was always to be a man everyone requested: in 1980, the Regional in Rwanda put him on his list. ‘If there is a suitable post, I am always ready for apostolic work in relation to Africa,’ said Pierre, as he saw an example to give by agreeing to return to the field after so long a time in Europe. However, the doctors advised against him living at high altitudes that could be harmful to his health.

Therefore, on the 24th June 1981, he was appointed to the French Province. In September, he was in the Second Cycle community at Toulouse/Vélanne. He was not a member of Staff, but brought a spiritual support to the students and would be a ‘formative presence’, while providing many recollection days and retreats here and there for the spiritual well-being of confreres and other Religious. After returning from Rome where he had gone for some months in 1983 to supply for his successor at the General Secre­tariat who had fallen seriously ill, he was appointed Superior of the house at Pau on the 1st January 1984, then of Tassy just one year afterwards.

Relieved of his responsibility to the great regret this time of the Ordinary, Bishop Madec, who knew of his influence around Tassy, he was sent in 1990 to the Procure at Angers. Afterwards, from 1992-1997, he was chaplain to the retirement community of the White Sisters at Verrières-le-Buisson. This was when he wrote his pamphlets on ‘For a happy old age’ and ‘The Third Age is a Grace’. Besides chaplaincy and various services at Verrières, he celebrated Sunday evening Mass at Massy for parishioners of every origin. He used to say, ‘At Verri­ères, I celebrate in France; at Massy, I celebrate in the world.’ Retiring to the home for the elderly at Mougins, where he greatly appreciated the living together with other Congregations, White Sisters and laypeople, he was for five years in charge of the little community of White Fathers who were there, until their transfer to the renovated house at Billère on September 2002.

There again, he liked to celebrate Mass in the chapels and parishes that called on White Father services.
When the Lord called him to Himself on the 17th June 2011, several of his former novices or scholastics expressed their pain, their feelings and also their gratitude for all they had received from him. ‘He helped me to form a spiritual backbone’, said no less than the Bishop of the Sahara. ‘Pierre,’ said the celebrant of the Funeral Mass in the chapel of Billère, ‘your abandonment to the Lord in the responsibilities you took on was manifest in the joy and peace you radiated. In suffering, you showed courage and patience. All of us here bid you ‘Adieu’ until that happy day when we see each other again.’

Armand Duval

 

Father Hans-Otto Wienen

1951 - - 2011

Hans-Otto was born on the 28th July 1951 at Nievenheim, near Cologne, Germany. He was the second born into a practicing Christian family of four children. His father was employed in the laboratory of a chemical factory. After five years of primary school, Hans-Otto chose to continue his secondary studies at a grammar school run by the Holy Spirit Fathers. He then went to England to learn English. In October 1972, he entered the Formation House of the Missionaries of Africa at Frank­furt to become a Missionary.

He was taken by the desire to leave for the Mission in Africa. At Frankfurt, he enrolled at the Jesuit Faculty of Theology, where he was to spend two years in the study of philosophy, Church History and Holy Scripture. A man with a heart of gold, he distinguished himself in his concern for humanity, and his tenderness towards animals and plants. Those in charge of his formation noted that he was not at all sentimental, but a good sound human being.

After two years at Frankfurt, Hans-Otto was sent to Mours on September 1974 for the Spiritual Year after which he was admitted to the Theology Faculty at Stras­bourg University, becoming part of the group of students at the White Fathers International Foyer there. In 1976, he received the ministries of Lector and Acolyte, and prepared himself to leave for Africa.

‘There are many indications that point towards his missionary ideal: his sense of welcome, his very great willingness to be of service, his immense good will and a quite particular care for the deprived and the poor.’ This is what the Staff of Neuwiller wrote of him.

He arrived in the DR Congo in 1977, and began to learn Swahili at CELA, at Bukavu. He then penetrated deep into the Congo, more precisely to the parish of Wamaza in the Diocese of Kasongo, in the Maniema. He formed a team with three confreres who appreciated his serious approach, his depth and his dedication.

He was to exert remarkable energy in deepening his mastery of the swahili language and speaking it well.
He was involved in the spiritual care of youth. The confreres in charge of looking after him during his apostolic practice found him open-minded, a good worker, well-balanced, full of common sense and with a deep, personal spiritual life.

Supported and encouraged by the confreres of his community and those in charge of his apostolic practice, he applied to take his Perpetual Oath and receive the Diaconate. Therefore, he took his Perpetual Missionary Oath and was ordained to the Diaconate on the 22nd April 1979 at Wamaza, his mission territory. Bishop Timo­thée Pirigisha Mukombe of Kasongo performed the ceremony. After this missionary experience in the Maniema, he returned to Strasbourg to complete his formation in theology before being ordained to the priesthood on the 14th June 1980 at Nievenheim, his home parish.

Once the celebration of his ordination and his home leave was over, Hans-Otto left for Wamaza, where he was appointed curate. He spent the first term of four years serving in the parish, focusing his pastoral activities on the spiritual care of youth. He then left for home leave in Germany, returning in February 1984.

On his return from leave, he received word of an appointment for biblical theology studies at Rome. He did not like this, as he would have firstly preferred to do a second term in mission. He then wrote to Michael Fitzgerald, who was then Assistant General. ‘May I remind you of the situation in the diocese? We are living in tense times. The Bishop would not be happy with my departure. I have lots of esteem and affection for my Bishop who is a man of faith, poor and just. It would hurt me to see him suffer any more. Nevertheless, I am in no way indispensible. Everything will carry on without me, here or somewhere else, but I have a heart and human situations affect me deeply.’

He added, ‘There is no doubt that if you maintain the appointment plan, I would come, but it would be against the grain.’ The outcome of this dialogue was that the Assistant General postponed his appointment for two years. Later, in September 1986, Hans-Otto arrived in Rome to specialise in biblical theology so as to become a member of staff in one or other Formation House of the Society. He completed his studies successfully.

From 1988, he became a member of staff at the First Cycle at La Ruzizi, Bukavu, where he gave the Introduction to the Bible course. As he was always calm and jovial, the students poured out their praise for him. They brought out his kindness and comprehension towards people in difficulty. Appointed Regional Councillor in 1991, he learned to familiarise himself with meetings where confreres examine the realities of communities, and the works or projects of the Society, in the Region of South-East Congo.

In 1992, he was elected as a delegate to the General Chapter, but he showed signs of overwork and was replaced by his substitute at the Chapter. He took advantage of the occasion to return to Germany for some rest.

When he returned to the Congo, the Regional Council offered him the parish of Kalima as curate. Four years later he was in the parish of Kipaka. As the region he served was landlocked, the people died there through lack of elementary health care. This situation compelled Hans-Otto to take an interest in medicine.

He followed a course for nursing auxiliaries at Kipaka Hospital.
In the meantime, the DRC was shaken by another war in 1998. An armed group of Maï-Maï militia occupied Kipaka and led Hans-Otto away, in 1999, in captivity to Mingana where he spent some months before being evacuated to Bukavu. He never stopped worrying about the people he had left behind and burned with impatience to return to Kipaka despite the skirmishes that were taking place. In May 2000, he returned to Kipaka and continued to serve in the villages despite the war.

The PAC Provincial Council sent him this time to Mingana in July 2004. Hans-Otto attached himself to the pastoral care of the sick without neglecting the other parish apostolic and pastoral activities. He had a new ward built to house the maternity wing of the health centre, equipped it with an ultrasound machine and supplied it with an abundance of medicine. This health structure was the pride of the inhabitants of Mingana, who were no longer obliged to travel tens of kilometres on foot or bicycle for treatment.

He joined in with the workers in the buildings: he was sometimes an apprentice mason and sometimes an apprentice carpenter. Since most of the region’s roads were impassable, he made his pastoral tours into the villages of the parish by motorbike. His dedication to this district of Maniema was unparalleled. The people loved him and were very attached to him.

On Thursday the 10th March 2011, he went to Kalole, a sub-parish of the Diocese of Kasongo about 90 kilometres from Minga­na. He was accompanied by a mason in charge of completing some building work on the new church and the lay pastoral assistant of Mingana parish. He occupied a pied-à-terre right next to the church and continued his activities the whole of Friday the 11th March. On Saturday the 12th at the end of the morning, he felt pains in the chest, but he continued to receive people until 10pm. On Sunday, as he was delayed in coming out for Mass, those who were in charge of the sub-parish entered the house to enquire about his health. They found him lifeless in his bed. They immediately called the two local doctors.

The doctors arrived and could only confirm the death of Hans-Otto from a heart attack. They embalmed his body while parishioners made a coffin to bring the body to their pastor at Mingana, the parish centre. Towards midday, the young Christians of Kaloge began their trek on foot, transporting the coffin on their shoulders. They covered 50 km and at nightfall reached Bikenge, another outstation of the parish where they placed the body in the church. A prayer vigil was organised by the local Christian community until the morning. At 6 o’clock, the funeral cortege resumed its route, arriving at their destination in the afternoon.
During this long march, the people prayed, intoning hymns and relaying one another in carrying the coffin.

The family of Father Hans-Otto had asked for his body to be repatriated to Germany. However, the Christ­ians of Mingana parish pleaded with them to let them mourn and bury this Father, their Father, who had loved them and whom the Lord called to himself in the full vigour of his service among them. In the opinion of the people of this district, all religious denominations and tribes united in one voice that Hans-Otto was everyone’s friend.

A huge throng of Catholics and non-Catholics waited on the body at the entrance to Mingana. When the cortege appeared, tears and wailing broke out. The Church was crammed to capacity. Thus, after a moving Mass, celebrated in an atmosphere of combined devotion and emotion, Hans-Otto was interred in front of the parish church by the side of three other confreres who had pre-deceased him. May he rest in the peace of the Master he served so fondly and so well.

Placide Lubamba

To see the pictures of the burial and the testimonies

 

FatherJules Bongaerts

1926 - - 2011

Jules was born on the 16th July at Bree, Belgium. He did his customary secondary school studies firstly at St. Michael’s College in his home town, then poetry and rhetoric at St. Joseph’s College at Hasselt. He entered the White Fathers at Boechout in September 1944. His brother Karel (+2007) had preceded him there and his younger brother Albert (+2010) was to follow him there also. As Jules’ health was a cause for concern, he was initially sent to Heverlee where he did two years of theology (1946-1948) before doing his novitiate at Varsenare. He returned to Heverlee in 1949 to complete his theology.

He took his Missionary Oath on the 22nd December 1950 and was ordained a priest on the 24th March 1951 by Bishop De Smedt. Those in charge of his formation mentioned his artistic gifts, his poetic imagination and his qualities as a draughtsman on several occasions. During weekends and holidays, Jules was Scout Chaplain of the Brabant Centre District. He instilled a genuine missionary spirit there - open to the world - especially to Africa. Some former Scouts still speak about him today. In 1953, Jules qualified in pedagogy at Louvain University.

Jules set off for the Congo on the 7th October 1953 on board a Sobelair aeroplane. He was sent to Aba in the north of Ituri to learn Lingala. His long career in teaching then began. In March 1954, Jules was Director of the Teacher Training College at Essebi; in January 1955, he gave classes at Bambu Secondary School and in November, he lectured at Kilo Teacher Training College, where he became the Director in October 1959.

After his home leave and Long Retreat at Rome, he returned to Kilo in 1961 as professor of the Teacher Training College. In December 1963, Jules took over at Drodro Teacher Training College until the hurried departure of the missionaries in December 1964 on account of the rebellion. He even spent some days in prison. Jules took advantage of these few months of unplanned leave to improve his English at Totteridge.

In May 1965, he resumed his post as Director at Drodro. At that time, a Regional wrote, ‘As a director, he showed himself to be a leader. He had everyone well in hand, professors and pupils, to everyone’s satisfaction.’

In December 1974, he left for Bambu with the missionary objective of founding a new Teacher Training College. He was not to see the end of this project because in February 1975 the wave of nationalisations took place: there were to be no more white directors. Jules remained at Bambu-Mines and too over as chaplain to the Virgo Maria boarding school for young girls. He also set up a centre for retreats and updating courses. During his home leave in Belgium at the end of 1975 serious health problems arose. He still managed to follow some months of a refresher course at l’Arbresle, but in August 1976 had to undergo several heart bypasses.

A long period of convalescence followed at Opitter in Limbourg. In July 1977, he was once again back to take up his post again at Bambu. His final missionary act on African soil was the launching of our First Cycle in the East of the Congo, which was to welcome the first group of philosophers. In September 1979, symptoms of angina pectoris recurred and the doctors sent him home to Belgium. The Regional wrote to the Belgian Provincial, ‘It is a great sacrifice for him. He told me he is aware that this departure is very likely for good.’

On the 1st January 1980, Jules was appointed parish priest of Vliermaal, a village halfway between Saint-Trond and Maas­tricht. ‘I consider my missionary life here in Limbourg as a life of intercession for Africa, in prayer and contemplation. The Breviary prayers of praise and intercession above all enable me to bring to mind very specific situations in the whole of Africa.’ He wanted to make his parish ‘a community committed to the missions’ and ‘to bring out the missionary mission of the parish.’ Consequently, the Chairman of the Parish Council was able to testify: ‘The missionary depth of such a parish priest influenced his word and action. The outlook of the parish enlarged and solidarity with the Third World took shape. In many contacts and interviews, he made a natural link between the Universal Church and this changed the understanding the parishioners had of being Church.’

In July 1985, Jules was appointed parish priest at Melveren, one of the parishes of Saint-Trond. In 1986, he took part in the Jerusalem Session-Retreat and in 1994 he attended the Third-Age Session at Rome. He remained in his post at Melveren until 1998. He was then 72 years of age. In October 1998, Jules retired to Saint-Trond in a well-appointed town house he had inherited from his aunt.

Throughout his life, Jules had shown his love for classical art and had tried to pass it on to others. Nothing else prevented him then from surrounding himself with beautiful paintings and of some objects of religious art. He was fond of repeating that these artworks helped him to pray. However, he remained generous to Africa, where he continued to help young MAfr candidates. On two occasions, he responded favourably to a call from the Warsaw Missionary Formation Centre in Poland and went to give French lessons to Polish priests and Sisters preparing to leave for Third World countries. In his will, he bequeathed all his possessions to our Houses of Formation in Africa.

In his will, Jules wrote, ‘Despite my weaknesses, I have always tried to be a priest dedicated to the Church, in Africa and here. Beauty always led me to God. Now I abandon it all with a joyful heart to contemplate genuine beauty, who is God, face-to-face. He quietly passed away on the 30th May after three weeks in a coma.

The Resurrection Liturgy took place at Saint-Trond on Friday the 3rd June. He was encircled by thirty or so confreres in a church crammed full. He was laid to rest beside his aunt in the family vault.

Jef Vleugels