Max naquit le 1er novembre 1930 à Vertou, près de Nantes, France, dans une famille chrétienne de 11 enfants. Son père était industriel. Ses études secondaires, à l’Externat des Enfants Nantais, furent, de son propre aveu, médiocres, mais, dès 15 ans, lors d’une causerie d’une missionnaire du Gabon, sœur de son professeur, il confia à ce dernier son désir d’œuvrer lui aussi en Afrique ; le professeur lui conseilla les Pères Blancs. Il fit donc le cours de philosophie à Kerlois et son année spirituelle à Maison-Carrée à partir du 24 septembre 1951, puis, 3 ans à Thibar. Bien qu’on lui trouvât de nombreuses qualités, on lui conseilla alors un an de probation à Aïn-Sefra. Il y enseigna les jeunes musulmans, à la satisfaction des Pères de la Mission ; seul, l’un d’eux, des plus connus au Sahara, le jugeait “très entêté en ses idées”.

Ce Père voyait juste, car ce trait de caractère vaudra parfois à Max incompréhensions et souffrances. Mais on appréciait son zèle, sa profonde piété, son esprit surnaturel, aussi fut-il admis au serment à Carthage, le 15 avril 1957, avant d’être ordonné prêtre le 21 du même mois. On notait seulement : “Il devra veiller à ses façons d’apprécier et de s’apprécier, à ses jugements facilement enthousiastes, à ne pas s’ériger trop facilement en directeur”. Ses modèles, écrira-t-il plus tard, étaient, depuis Kerlois, le Curé d’Ars, Vincent de Paul et surtout Matteo Ricci, le jésuite incompris de son temps et tardivement réhabilité au XXe siècle. En souvenir de Ricci, il voulut un calice qui fût la copie d’un vase Kou en bronze destiné aux libations aux Ancêtres, environ 1 200 ans avant Jésus Christ.

La vie missionnaire de Max se scinde en deux. D’abord, au Congo-Kinshasa, du 1er janvier 1958 à la fin 1975. Ensuite, après un court intermède en Province de France et à Rome, en Tanzanie, du 1er janvier 1980 à juin 2013. Après ses débuts à Kalima, diocèse de Kasongo, il enseigna au petit séminaire de Mungombe, du 19 septembre 1959 au 1er janvier 1961 : l’assassinat de Lubumba provoqua alors des troubles graves et Max fut, comme d’autres Pères, durement maltraité ; rapatrié avec un tympan crevé, il ne retrouva l’audition qu’après une double opération. De retour au Congo, il fut nommé au collège de Kasongo, puis à Kalima, le 30 juin 1962. Fasciné d’emblée par les coutumes d’initiation des Warega, il connut déjà quelques crispations avec certains de ses confrères, trop peu attentifs, selon lui, au sens profond de ce “pas” traditionnel vers l’âge adulte.

Il était de nouveau à Wamaza, depuis le 22 septembre 1963, quand éclata la rébellion muléliste. Comme on avait déjà assassiné deux Pères à Kalemie et plusieurs abbés, dont le fils du capitaine Joubert, à Baraka, l’assistant régional pour le diocèse de Kasongo ordonna aux Pères de se retirer au Kasaï, à Kabinda, abandonnant tout, livres, habits, souvenirs personnels… Presque tous partirent en camion, mais Max fit tout le long trajet sur sa moto, malgré les pistes sablonneuses de la savane.

Comme beaucoup de ses confrères, Max fut ensuite dirigé sur le Burundi. Il fut affecté provisoirement au poste de Karusi, diocèse de Ngozi. Là, très apprécié comme économe, il se mit à l’étude du kirundi.
La rébellion, extrêmement meurtrière pour la population et l’Église, s’étant entre-temps essoufflée, dès le 1er janvier 1965, il était de retour à Bukavu et, le 1er septembre suivant, nommé à Kalima. Mais voilà qu’il fut indûment associé à des tensions entre abbés de diverses ethnies, et on l’envoya en France recruter des prêtres Fidei donum et des coopérants, pour combler le vide des religieux enseignants chassés par la rébellion. Il mit à profit cette “mise à l’écart”, comme il dit, pour faire la grande retraite à la Villa Cavaletti, à partir du 21 septembre 1968.

Le 1er mars 1969, il retrouve Wamaza, mais, à partir du 1er octobre 1970, il fit une année sabbatique à l’Institut Catholique de Paris. Il dit avoir alors dévoré les documents de Vatican II, découvert aussi “le décodage de la culture des gens qui l’accueilleraient où que ce soit”, et fait de Marcel Légaut, le paysan philosophe, son maître spirituel.

Après quoi, il fut nommé vicaire à Lusaka, dans le diocèse de Kalemie, le 11 octobre 1970, puis à Kala le 11 mars 1975. On y faisait l’apostolat en kiswahili, mais il tint à étudier le kitabwa, traduisant l’Évangile pour son usage personnel, et fit racheter au Musée de Tervuren, par Mgr Mulolwa, 500 copies oubliées d’un dictionnaire kitabwa, œuvre d’anciens missionnaires, ce qui déplut fort à l’économe du diocèse.

Le Régional d’alors voit un Max “très zélé, agréable en communauté, mais parfois un peu trop têtu pour défendre ses idées, pas toujours équilibrées”. Le 1er janvier 1976, nommé en Province de France, il se consacra à l’animation missionnaire, hors communauté, à Versailles, avec un mi-temps en paroisse. Il conclut cet intermède de trois ans, qui s’avéra très fructueux, par un cours en anglais de Théologie pastorale, à l’Angelicum de Rome, à partir du 1er septembre 1979.

En effet, son retour au Congo n’étant pas souhaité, - ce qui lui fit mal -, il accepta volontiers d’œuvrer en Tanzanie. Dès le 1er janvier 1980, il est à Magu où il restera 10 ans vicaire, puis 10 ans aussi à Muhingo, dans le diocèse de Mwanza, si l’on excepte une hospitalisation à Paris, en 1981, suite à diverses lésions résultant de l’effondrement d’une case, lors d’un cyclone, et une opération de hernie avant la session-retraite à Jérusalem en septembre 1988.

Après un stage de langue, il s’initia à la culture sukuma, sur les pas du P. David Clément, qu’avaient soutenu Mgr Blomjous et le P. Hendrix. Il écrira même un livre, préfacé par Mgr Mayala, synthétisant les schémas de la “vie spirituelle” des Wasukuma recherchant la “Baraka” par la lignée des ancêtres : 6 000 exemplaires, - qu’on lui disait voués aux rats -, mais qui furent tous écoulés en moins de 10 ans.

Le développement ne le laissait pas indifférent : pour remédier à la sécheresse, il avait lancé, avec un technicien français et les paysans, la fabrication artisanale d’éoliennes et le creusement de puits à Magu et, plus tard, un atelier de tricycles pour handicapés à Buhindo : on en fit 600 en 9 ans.

Son anticonformisme lui attira encore des ennuis : en 1999, on l’accusa, sans qu’il pût s’expliquer, d’embrouiller la foi des chrétiens en faisant la part trop belle aux coutumes anciennes. Le 3 mai 2000, il accepta donc d’être vicaire à Kaniha, dans le diocèse de Kahama, avec deux abbés africains, un séjour coupé, en 2003, par l’opération, sans suite fâcheuse, d’un cancer de la prostate. Puis, à partir du 1er septembre 2007, il passa à Igunga, dans le diocèse de Tabora, après avoir fait au préalable la session des plus de 70 ans à Rome.

Dans ses dernières années, Max reconnaît avoir pris pas mal ses distances avec ce qu’il appelle “le moulage clérical traditionnel préconciliaire”. Certes, il se sentait, parfois, en porte à faux, mais, comme Marcel Légaut, son mentor, il estimait que “suivre Jésus, c’est à tes risques et périls ; ça fait nécessairement des méandres, des avancées et des reculs dans ton cheminement, mais ça peut devenir, après de dures épreuves, un tremplin pour sauter à nouveau.”

Conséquence du surmenage peut-être, il avait fait, en ses dernières années de Tanzanie, plusieurs accidents vasculaires cérébraux. Il arriva pourtant à Paris en bonne forme apparente, lorsqu’un nouvel accident vasculaire exigea son transfert à l’Hôpital Saint-Joseph, où il mourut quelques jours plus tard, le 10 juin 2013. Il fut inhumé en la chapelle Saint-Paul en présence de nombreux confrères, de son frère Régis et d’autres membres de sa famille.

Voici son jugement personnel sur sa vie d’apôtre parfois conflictuelle, mais vraiment généreuse : “Je ne suis pas un saint. Je dois traîner ma pauvre humanité. J’ai culbuté. J’ai dû relever le nez pour rechercher mon appui, le meilleur, Jésus, qui pourtant, ne se lasse pas de me dire : ‘Marche, ma grâce te suffit’. Il m’est arrivé de ramer dans la même pirogue que Lui, mais ce n’est pas encore le Golgotha ! J’espère quand même entrer par la petite porte au Paradis, si sa Mère donne un coup de pouce”. Nous pouvons être sûrs que Marie, souriante, devait être là.

Armand Duval

Père Joseph Robert

19323 - - 2013

Né le 23 février 1923 à Neuvier, diocèse de Besançon, France, non loin de la frontière suisse, Joseph fit ses études secondaires au petit séminaire diocésain de Maîche et sa philosophie à celui de Faverny, dans le même diocèse, mais en Haute-Saône.

Engagé volontaire dans la Première Armée en 1944, il ne nous a malheureusement pas laissé de récit de cette période de sa vie. Démobilisé, il fit une année de théologie au grand séminaire de Besançon, et, selon la mauvaise habitude d’un certain nombre de diocèses de France, on exigea de lui une année comme surveillant au petit séminaire de Maîche avant de l’autoriser à entrer chez les Pères Blancs : on appelait cette année de purgatoire, le S.T.O. (Service du Travail Obligatoire) !

Ce n’est donc qu’à partir du 29 septembre 1948 qu’il put faire l’année spirituelle à Maison-Carrée. Envoyé au Canada pour le cours de Théologie, il fit son serment à Eastview le 23 juin 1951 et y fut ordonné prêtre le 17 janvier 1952. Sa première nomination fut pour l’économat et des études au XXX Aprile, à Rome, où demeuraient les étudiants Pères Blancs. De ce premier séjour romain, il garda un excellent souvenir, grâce à la bonne ambiance des étudiants et surtout à l’ouverture d’esprit de son supérieur, le Père Devriendt. Désormais, le service de l’économat serait le plus souvent la tâche de cet homme silencieux, mais extrêmement sérieux en tout ce qu’il entreprenait.

C’est ainsi que, son service à Rome terminé, il devint, le 11 septembre 1954, économe et professeur au scolasticat Sainte-Croix de Thibar, en Tunisie, jusqu’à la fermeture du scolasticat en 1957. En apprenant cette nomination, il regrettait tout de même qu’on ne lui eût pas permis, à Rome, de suivre quelques cours de liturgie, missiologie ou autre discipline à sa portée, puisque, vraisemblablement, on lui demanderait d’enseigner quelques cours secondaires à Thibar en plus d’assurer l’économat. Effectivement, il dut donner les cours de liturgie et de prédication pour lesquels il n’était pas préparé. Il se réjouissait tout de même, a posteriori, d’avoir pu suivre à Rome les conférences du P. Devriendt sur la direction à donner aux aspirants Pères Blancs.

Nommé au Mali en février 1958, il étudia d’abord le bambara à Kita, dans le diocèse de Kayes. Mais muté, dès le 5 juillet, à Sagabari, il dut se mettre au malinke. Pas pour longtemps, car, sa réputation d’économe l’ayant suivi, on le sollicita pour exercer cette fonction d’abord au grand séminaire de Koumi, en Haute-Volta, dès le 4 septembre suivant, et, de là, après un congé bien mérité en France, le 1er septembre 1963, au scolasticat des Pères Blancs nouvellement installé à Vals, près Le Puys.

Ce n’est que le 15 novembre 1966 qu’avec joie, il put revoir le Mali ; il dut alors s’atteler au dioula à Sikasso. Séjour fugitif encore, puisqu’il devint économe et professeur au petit séminaire de Tionkuy, dans le diocèse de Nouna, en Haute-Volta, dès le 25 mars 1967. Il y demeura 17 ans, jusqu’en 1985, avec la seule interruption de l’un ou l’autre congé et la session-retraite à Jérusalem à partir du 13 juin 1982.

Les débuts à Tionkuy furent difficiles : un jour, le supérieur régional, d’un ton sévère, lui reprocha de montrer peu d’entrain dans son travail d’économe, alors qu’il avait refusé une proposition de travail pastoral. Mais il faut tout de même reconnaître qu’on ne l’avait guère préparé au ministère en paroisse : ce n’est pas en trois ou quatre mois que l’on peut apprendre une langue africaine difficile. Or chaque fois, son apprentissage, en trois langues différentes, avait été brusquement écourté à son corps défendant.

Sa réputation d’expert en économat lui valut encore, le 14 mai 1985, d’être appelé à prendre en charge l’économat local de la Maison généralice de Rome, et il lui fallait faire vite, car on désirait qu’il fût sur place avant le départ de celui qu’il allait remplacer, pour se mettre au courant, et rafraîchir son italien et éventuellement son anglais. Ce séjour romain dura jusqu’au 11 novembre 1991.

Quand il retrouva alors l’Afrique, le Burkina Faso, ce fut encore comme économe local à Kossogen où était la Maison régionale.

En annonçant le retour définitif de Joseph en France, son dernier supérieur régional le décrivait ainsi : “Il a fait un très bon travail à Ouaga, à l’économat et pour le service des billets d’avion. Par caractère, Joseph n’est pas un confrère qui accueille avec joie et spontanéité, mais une fois le visiteur arrivé, il fait le nécessaire pour que celui-ci ne manque de rien”. Ce supérieur le trouvait alors très fatigué : le déménagement de la Maison régionale, quelque temps auparavant, avait été pénible, sous une chaleur accablante. Joseph, malgré l’usure ressentie, avait toujours refusé de consulter un médecin.

Quand mourut de façon inattendue le P. Jacques Seeger, le 9 avril 1998, il en fut très affecté. Aussi sa décision fut sans appel : il rentrerait définitivement en France dès le 17 juillet 1998. Ce qui fut fait. Il n’en avait pourtant pas fini avec le matériel et le service des confrères, car, dès qu’il fut suffisamment remis de sa grosse fatigue, c’est encore pour l’économat qu’il fut nommé à la Procure de Nantes. Il y assura ce service à la satisfaction de tous jusqu’à la fermeture de la maison. Il gagna alors la maison de retraite de Billère le 1er juillet 2002. Il était dans sa 80e année.

Conçut-il quelque amertume devant ces changements répétés qui, alors qu’il amorçait l’étude d’une nouvelle langue, l’entraînaient dans une tout autre contrée et pour un emploi matériel peu propice à l’apostolat de proximité paroissiale ? Nul ne le sait. Joseph était ce que le patois de nos campagnes françaises appelle un “taiseux”, qui n’extériorise guère ses sentiments, ni ne parle plus qu’il ne faut. Mais on doit admirer cette générosité à accepter avec un dévouement sans faille les tâches astreignantes qui furent les siennes, toutes d’oubli de soi pour le bien-être des autres. Aussi pensons-nous que grande sera la récompense de celui que le Seigneur a rappelé à lui, le 5 décembre 2013.

Joseph fut inhumé à Billère dans la chapelle de la communauté, entouré de ses confrères et de quelques parents et amis.

Armand Duval

Père Roland Jeanrenaud

1927 - - 2014

Roland est né à Genève, Suisse, le 24 août 1927. Son Père, Robert, était journaliste. Il a été baptisé le 11 septembre à la paroisse St-François, puis confirmé à la paroisse du Sacré-Cœur qui sera aussi celle de sa première Messe.

Il fit ses études secondaires au petit séminaire Saint-Louis à Genève, et il les poursuivit au collège des Pères Bénédictins à Einsiedeln où il obtint la maturité fédérale. Il étudia alors la philosophie pendant une année à l’université de Fribourg.

Entré au noviciat de Maison-Carrée à 21 ans, il prononça son serment missionnaire à Thibar le 26 juin 1951, et fut ordonné prêtre à Carthage le 12 avril 1952.

En 1952-1953, il fut professeur à l’Institut Lavigerie (St-Maurice). Il put alors partir pour la Rhodésie du Nord (devenue Zambie après l’indépendance). Il commença sa vie missionnaire à Fort-Rosebery (devenue Mansa), puis travailla successivement à Twingi, Lubwe et Chibote. Après 7 ans, il devint secrétaire de l’évêque et, en 1965, économe diocésain adjoint à Mansa.

En 1968, il est économe diocésain et official de deux autres diocèses adjacents. “Ma fonction impliquait que je me charge de toutes les constructions : 3 écoles secondaires, 3 hôpitaux de 100 à 150 lits, des églises et des centres pastoraux, plus quelques modernisations (apport d’eau et d’électricité), en bref toutes les questions matérielles.”

En 1974, il est vicaire général du diocèse, puis administrateur diocésain en l’absence d’un évêque. De 1985 à 1987, il fut secrétaire financier de la conférence épiscopale, avec résidence à Lusaka. Il partit alors à Jérusalem pour la session biblique et la grande Retraite.

A son retour en Zambie, il est official dans le diocèse de Kasama. L’aventure africaine de Roland en Zambie a duré 42 ans. À côté de ses services spécialisés, Roland continuait de collaborer aux activités ordinaires de la pastorale, telles que l’aumônerie ou l’enseignement.

En 1995, il est nommé en Suisse, à Fribourg, d’abord comme économe provincial, puis secrétaire provincial jusqu’en 2000. Sa résidence à Fribourg lui permit d’exercer un ministère très actif auprès de communautés religieuses qui appréciaient beaucoup ses homélies. Il se mit également à renouer avec son vieux démon : l’écriture. Sous sa responsabilité, 50 numéros de Suisse-Afrique (bulletin interne de la Province) ont paru. “Toutes les bêtises que j’y ai écrites ont fait ma réputation”. Roland publiait régulièrement dans ce bulletin une rubrique intitulée “Le coin du ronchonneur” où il donnait libre cours à sa riche imagination. Il écrivit également plusieurs livres. “L’idée de les publier vint de mon Provincial qui m’a encouragé, et d’un coup de cœur des Éditions Saint-Augustin pour le premier d’entre eux “L’Évangile dans le désordre”.

Roland considérait ses livres comme une conséquence de sa vie missionnaire : “J’aime voir le regard de Jésus sur l’homme qui le change ou le regard de l’homme sur Jésus qui le change également”. Écrire était pour Roland sa façon de poursuivre son apostolat à son âge : “Voyez seulement dans ces pages le désir de mettre Dieu dans la vie de notre temps… J’écris pour que Jésus devienne pour nous tous un vrai visage dans notre vie.”

En juillet 2011, il eut la joie de fêter ses 60 ans d’engagement missionnaire. Par la suite, sa santé connut des hauts et des bas, mais sa capacité à rebondir nous a étonnés plus d’une fois. Son avant-dernier livre, le 18e, Joseph, artisan de Nazareth, témoigne que son activité littéraire ne s’est pas arrêtée pour autant.
Sa plus grande difficulté était de se déplacer. On le voyait de plus en plus s’appuyer le long des murs. On insista pour qu’il utilise un déambulateur ; en vain.

Après un séjour à l’hôpital en mai 2013, son état de santé demandait une surveillance et une prise en charge médicalisée impossibles à lui offrir à l’Africanum malgré l’apport des soins à domicile. Le 21 mai, il fut transféré à l’ISRF (Institution de Santé pour Religieux de Fribourg) où une assistance professionnelle lui était assurée ; il pouvait participer à l’Eucharistie au milieu de la matinée.

L’année 2013 se termina sans amélioration notable. Roland parlait de moins en moins et ne quittait plus son lit. Le 9 janvier 2014, il répondait avec peine aux questions de sa nièce venue le visiter. Un confrère lui conféra le sacrement des malades le 20 janvier ; le surlendemain, il eut la visite de son médecin qui ne put que constater la gravité de son état. Le 24 janvier au soir, nous apprenions son décès.

Ses funérailles furent célébrées l’après-midi du 28 janvier dans une chapelle de la paroisse Saint-Pierre ; y participaient ses confrères, sa parenté et quelques amis et connaissances. L’une d’entre elles nous a laissé ce message. “Sa foi était très profonde. Maintenant, il chemine sur la route ensoleillée menant à Dieu qui réserve certainement une place privilégiée à ce fidèle serviteur”.

Autre écho de la part d’un de ses vieux amis : “C’était un ronchonneur fini, mais capable de beaucoup de choses quand on passait par-dessus ses humeurs changeantes”.

Durant ses dernières semaines, Roland pressentait son prochain départ ; il en parlait parfois à ses amis et à ses visiteurs. Dans un de ses livres, il avait écrit : “Si mes soi-disant rhumatismes me rapprochent de l’Éternité, de quoi me plaindrai-je ?” (Propos sans suite d’un curé à moitié gaga, 2011, p. 35).

J.-M. Gabioud

PROFILES

Brother Romeo Pirazzo

1935 - - 2014

On the 6th January 2014, Romeo fell into a coma at the beginning of the afternoon and he died peacefully at around six o’clock in the Sacra Famiglia d’Inzago hospice where he had been for some weeks. During his holidays, the previous September, Romeo suffered from an acute pain in his back. He treated it with the usual medicines. However when there was no improvement on his return to the community at Treviglio, he was admitted to hospital for further detailed tests. These revealed a cancer that was already affecting many organs and a decision was made to transfer him to the hospice.

Romeo was born in Vigodazere (PD) Italy on the 28th August 1935. He had four brothers and five sisters. It was a simple family, united and having a solid faith, a favourable climate for his vocation. Two of his brothers became White Fathers and one sister is a missionary sister.

He spent one year at the Junior Seminary in Padua from 1949 to 1950. He had to leave because he found the studies too difficult. He returned home and began to learn the trade of a tailor in the workshop of his brother Domenico. He was very active in the Parish and was a member of “Catholic Action.” He also served as Sacristan and participated in the liturgical celebrations.

His Parish priest helped to cultivate his desire for religious life. After a long period of reflection, he was admitted as a brother to the postulancy of the White Fathers in Parella in January 1962.

On the 11th September 1962, Romeo began his novitiate in Gap and he took his first Missionary Oath on the 16th August 1964. He went to the Brothers’ training centre in Mours and he stayed there until 1967. He spent a year in Paris training to be a mechanic. He was appointed to Gedi, Bunia in the DR Congo to help a confrere in building work. A stay in the CEC followed this. He took his perpetual Missionary Oath on the 12th July 1971 in Fataki.

Romeo wrote a letter to the Provincial in which he wrote: “I am telling you again of my joy to have given myself to God and His Mission. I ask you to give thanks with me to the Lord for this love and grace with which he has filled me.”

Romeo was a confrere with a sure spiritual life which was not content with some pious practices but which had a profound and sincere friendship with the Lord, nourished with a good religious culture and love for the mission.

He served in Italy from 1972 to 1975 and then returned to Bunia in the DRC as director of a printing works. He then went to Kinshasa where he worked on water projects especially with the water supply and the handling of pumps and of hydraulic materials (Kisenso and Salongo). He returned to Italy for good in 1995.

Romeo was a confrere who was serious, thoughtful and enjoyed easy relationships. He liked to chat but one sometimes did not know he was there. He was simple, discrete and always available. Now that he is no longer there, one notices his absence.

Romeo had a great practical sense of things and a good awareness of what needed to be done. He worked carefully and with precision, even the little details. Everything was important for him.
Certainly one could be frustrated by how slow he worked, but that meant that everything was done carefully. His work was regular and always well done. He was demanding of himself as well as with others when he was entrusted with directing a job.

Romeo was a practical man, with a balanced judgement. He looked for truth. He was open and cheerful and enjoyed easy relationships with his confreres. Simple and ready to be of service, he was always ready to help at anytime and you could rely on him absolutely.

All those who knew him testify to his simplicity and his discrete goodness that was true and sincere. During all the years he passed in Treviglio, Romeo was engaged in the neighbouring parish as a Minister of the Eucharist. Here as well he was careful to give this service as a “good and faithful servant”, a friend of the Lord and happy in his missionary vocation.

Vittorio Bonfanti

Father Adriaan (Ad) van Pinxten
1934 - - 2014

Ad was born in Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands, on the 24th of June 1934. He received his missionary formation in Sterksel, Santpoort, St.Charles near Boxtel, ‘s-Heerenberg, and Totteridge in England, where he took the oath on the 6th of July 1959. He was ordained in Tilburg on the 2nd of February 1960.

Ad had a sound and practical judgement; a kind optimistic disposition and yet he was quite easily discouraged. He was handy, persevering, someone one could count on, ever ready to render a service. He did not disguise his feelings; he loved company. During his study years, he was quite handy in carpentry; he enjoyed all forms of sport and listening to music.

On September the 13th 1960, Ad left for Malawi, for the diocese of Lilongwe, and went to Likuni to learn the Chichewa language and culture. In May 1961, he started in Guillème parish, with 18.000 Catholics (75% of the population). There were 4 Missionaries of Africa and about 50 village churches. A Malawi diocesan priest lived in their community, and was Rector of the minor seminary. In the evenings, they loved to play bridge. Towards the end of the year, he went for some months to Visanza parish, and, in February 1962, he moved to Madisi parish. This had 15 village churches, with 9.000 Catholics and 6.000 “learners.” That year they baptised 1.100 adults. Their parish priest was not too good in administration. He stuffed the forms of those he baptised into a large bag, and when that was full, he would pass it on to Ad who then needed hours to put everything in order and to enter them into the various registers.

Ad enjoyed being with the people and he saw a lot of love and support for one another among them. A social problem was that many men were absent for months to work in the mines of South Africa. The Second Vatican Council changed the manner of doing pastoral work; Ad said, “For us, it became far more interesting and humane, for we started doing things together with the inhabitants, asking them what they thought about it.” A contemporary remembered that for Ad: “it was not so important whether one celebrates the Eucharist facing the people or the other way round; a good contact with the inhabitants was important.” In July 1964, Malawi became independent. At the beginning of 1968, he became parish priest.

Ad had always enjoyed working with his hands and tinkering. When his friend, our confrere Johan Heuves, (+17th August 2013), in the neighbouring diocese of Mzuzu became Rector of the minor seminary, Ad made a shovelboard and a board for table football, which the seminarians used with enthusiasm.
In the course of 1970, Ad became parish priest of Male and in December 1973, he was parish priest of Lodi parish. Two years later, he was appointed as parish priest of Mambuma Parish. Doctors had told him to lose weight, and in October 1977, he proudly wrote, “I have already lost 5 kg”!

In September 1981, Ad moved again and became parish priest in Ludzi. His regional superior wrote at the time, “Steady and regular. He will not get over-excited easily. May grumble, but he can be relied on. Simple, a man of few needs. Good in community”. In July 1991, he moved to his last parish, Chezi, as parish priest.

In March 2000, after 40 years in Malawi, Ad had to return to the Netherlands for good due to heart problems. In an interview later on, he said, “I have been happy there; what more can one require?”

In December of that year, Ad joined two other Missionaries of Africa in the parish of Lage Mierde. He was not expected to work, but just hanging around was not in his nature either, so he visited families. In July 2002, he became chaplain to the “Lindenhof” retirement home. He loved to play a game of cards there. He received radiation treatment for his vocal cords and as a result, his voice was not strong enough to read all the texts of the Eucharist. Two ladies of 84 and 89 helped him! He liked to chat with the residents after Mass sometimes seriously and at other times just passing on titbits of news.

Ad held that, “Laughing half an hour a day is very healthy”! He added, “I want to be among the people, neither superior nor inferior to them. I am of the opinion that we ought to cooperate in finding new ways for radiating our joy of being Christian.”

In 2010, Ad celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priesthood. It was a fine, pleasant feast attended by many relatives and his friends from Lage Mierde. A parishioner described him as “somebody with a sense of humour who had a positive and clear vision regarding faith and church.” One song sung by the choir was, “Quite lonely I am lying here tonight, I am waiting. Only, it is overpowering me, agitation is scaring me, the agitation is too much. The waiting is lasting too long. I am worrying, tossing about, floating… Give me a sign of life”. He often received these signs of life and attention in his final months particularly from those who visited him and gave him practical help. It was something to be grateful for.

On the 1st July 2012, he moved from the presbytery to the “Lindenhof”. He was allowed to continue using his hobby room in the presbytery for making his little mills and nesting boxes. His health was deteriorating gradually and on the 8th January 2014, he was admitted to a nursing home in Bladel. After a few days, he was transferred to a hospital in Tilburg, where he died on the 27th January 2014. On the 1st February 2014, we buried him in Heythuysen in the presence of his relatives and friends.

Marien van den Eijnden

Father Ugo Ceccon

1930 - - 2013

Ugo Ceccon left us on the 14th August 2013 to join the house of the Father. Fr. Alberto Rovelli, 1st councillor of the Italian Sector took up a passage from the spiritual testament of Fr. Ugo: “I would like to finish my spiritual testament by remembering first of all my family, the White Fathers, the communities of Africa and Italy where I lived. All the friends that I have felt close to and in particular the community that welcomed me on my return from Africa. One word comes to my mind at this moment, a word that has always been present in my life: Thank you! I have always considered myself happy in life and I have always known joy, the true joy that of feeling loved and to love in return. I owe all that to the Lord who has always been at my side, but I also think that I owe a lot to my family, my parish community, to seminary staff and, truth to tell, all those who became my big family”.

Ugo was born in Solagna, province of Vicenza, Diocese of Padua on the 27th July 1930 into a large family of four brothers and three sisters. As a young boy, he went to the Junior Seminary of Padua. He entered the White Fathers Seminary in Parella in 1946. His brother Mariano followed him a few years later.

He did his Spiritual Year in Maison-Carrée from 1950 to 1951. He completed his Theological studies in Thibar and took the Missionary Oath on the 29th June 1953. He was ordained priest in Carthage on the 18th April 1954. During his training, one appreciated Ugo for his availability, and his manual dexterity. One of his confreres wrote: “Ugo was mild mannered, and friendly, polite and gentle, joyful and cheerful, simple and talkative… and he was good company.”

After his ordination, Ugo was appointed to the White Fathers seminary in Treviglio which had been opened the previous year. He was only 24 years old but he brought with him all the enthusiasm of youth but above all the joy of being a Missionary of Africa, a White Father. He remained at Treviglio until 1965 as Spiritual Director to the young seminarians. One of them testified: “For us students he was a very resourceful person, capable of managing himself in any situation. He had all tools necessary for any need even if he lacked a bit of order. One day, he wanted to give me a prayer book that he had promised me but on opening the cupboard, hammers, screwdrivers and other tools fell out. Ugo just said, ‘the books are on the shelf on the other side of the room”

In 1965, Ugo finally left for Africa. He was appointed to the Congo. He was to spend 39 years there in the region of Lubumbashi except for two periods in Italy in Treviglio, Comiso, and Naples for promotion and vocational work. He worked in the big Parishes as well as bursar in the Diocese of Kalemie-Kirungu. He also worked at the Centre for Catechetics in Sola from 1968 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1978. He had good health and a strong constitution and he spared no effort when it was a question of helping or giving some service. Many people appreciated his energy, his kindness, and his availability. He helped many people, lay, seminarians, catechists to finish their studies and he promoted many projects to improve the life of the people. Ugo also had common sense and was realistic. On the 21st December 2001, he was hospitalised following heart and breathing problems. The doctors told him to stop smoking.

Ugo recovered his health, but his breathing continued to give him problems. He returned to the Parish and began working again. However, he was aware that he was getting older. At Christmas 2003, he wrote to the Provincial of Italy: “Fifty years of priesthood, fifty years of an intense and marvellous missionary life.

However fatigue and wear and tear are present and I think it is time to think about other activities and leave the responsibility of a flourishing parish to younger confreres.” A couple of months later, he added: “How has my decision to quit Africa matured? Over the past three years, I have seen confreres return home in such a state of health that they can do nothing once they get there. Why wait to be useless?”

On the 19th June 2004, he left Africa after celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his ordination in the Parish of St. Kizito in Katuba. On the 11th July when he was in his native village of Valstagna, he wrote: “This year I celebrated with my community in Africa my 50th Anniversary of ordination, an event that I remember as extraordinary. The fact that the Church chose as protectors of the mission, St. Francis-Xavier who travelled all over the world proclaiming the Gospel and baptising and St. Theresa who converted more people by her prayers and her immense love had always made an impression on me. I know now that I am going to continue to be a missionary for the Africans. For fifty years, I have followed the example of St. Francis and the time has now come to follow the example of St. Theresa. Love created the universe and in loving without discrimination we should be able to make it more human and a little bit happier.”

A couple of months later Ugo joined the community in Castelfranco. For a time he was able to contribute to the missionary promotion activities until he felt that his heart was getting weaker as well as his strength. He was still having problems with his breathing and little by little, he was obliged to give up all activities. This did not prevent him from keeping his joyful spirit, his vitality, his availability, his kindness, and his faithfulness to community life and prayer.

In mid-July 2013, Ugo fell in his room and broke his thighbone. He was hospitalised and a few days later, the doctors operated. Because of his breathing difficulties, they had to do it under oxygen. Friends of the community of Castelfranco and his nephews were constantly present at his bedside. Fr. Ugo died on the 14th August 2013. The funeral took place in Church of Pieve de Castelfranco in the presence of a large crowd and about twenty priests. His calm, his joy, his kindness, his vitality and his availability for service were the fruit of a joy of knowing that Jesus loved him and consequently he was able to love others in return.

Vittorio Bonfanti

Father Max Tertrais

1930 - - 2013

Max was born on the 1st November 1930, at Vertou near Nantes, France, into a large Christian family of eleven children. His father was an industrialist. Max did his secondary schooling in a Catholic day school in Nantes. When he was 15, he heard a talk given by a missionary from Gabon and took the decision to become a missionary. His teacher advised him to apply to the White Fathers. So, he studied Philosophy in Kerlois followed by the Spiritual Year in Maison-Carrée (September 1951) and then three years of theology in Carthage. Although he had many excellent qualities, he was advised to take a year out and he spent a probationary year teaching young Muslims in Ain-Sefra. He did this to the satisfaction of the Fathers, although one of them judged him very stubborn regarding his ideas.

This father was right, because this character trait cost him a lot of suffering and misunderstanding. However, his zeal, deep piety, and supernatural spirit were also admired and he was admitted to the Oath, which he took at Carthage on the 15th April 1957. He was ordained priest six days later, on the 21st April 1957. It was noted: “he has to be careful of the way he assesses and likes things, he makes enthusiastic judgements too easily, and he should be careful not to make himself a chief too easily.” Max wrote later on that, since Kerlois, his models were the Curé d’Ars, St. Vincent de Paul, and Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit, who was so misunderstood in his time and who was only rehabilitated in the 20th century. In remembrance of Ricci, he wanted a chalice that was a copy of a bronze Kou vase destined for libations to the ancestors, about 1,200 years BC.

Max’s missionary life falls into two parts. The first part in the DR Congo from the 1st January 1958 to the end of 1975 and, after a brief interlude in the French Province and in Rome, in Tanzania from the 1st January 1980 to June 2013. He began in Kalima in the Diocese of Kasongo, DRC. He taught at the Junior Seminary of Mungombe from the 19th December 1959 to 1st January 1961. The assassination of Patrice Lubumba provoked a deep crisis and Max along with other Fathers was very badly treated. He returned to France with a burst eardrum. He only got his hearing back after two operations. He returned to the Congo and he was appointed to the college of Kasongo and then in June 1962, to Kalima. The initiation customs of the Warega fascinated him, but according to him, his confreres paid too little attention to this traditional step toward adulthood.

Max was in Wamaza in September 1963 when the Mulelist rebellion broke out. As two fathers and many diocesan priests had already been assassinated, the Assistant Regional for the diocese of Kasongo ordered all the Fathers to withdraw to Kabinda in Kasaî. They had to leave everything behind, including books, habits, and personal souvenirs. They nearly all left by lorry, but Max made the long journey on his motorbike despite the sandy tracks of the savannah. As with many of his confreres, he went to Burundi and was temporarily appointed to Karusi in the Diocese of Ngozi. He was made bursar and was well appreciated. He also began to study Kirundi.

The Church population suffered a lot during the Muletist rebellion. When it was snuffed out, Max returned to Bukavu in January 1965 and the following September, he was appointed to Kalima. There, he became unduly involved in the tensions between local clergy from different ethnic backgrounds and he returned to France to recruit fidei donum priests and lay volunteers. This was to fill the gap left by the religious who had been forced to leave because of the rebellion. He took advantage of this little break to make the long retreat in Villa Cavaletti in September 1968.

Max returned to Wamaza in March 1969, but he started a sabbatical year at the Institute Catholique in Paris in October 1970. He said he devoured the Documents of Vatican II and his studies helped him to “decode” the cultures of the people who welcomed him. He also became a disciple of Marcel Légaut, the academic turned peasant philosopher.

In October 1971, after his sabbatical, he returned to Lusaka in the Diocese of Kalemie, as curate. In March 1975, he moved to Kala. The language of the apostolate was Kiswahili but Max was keen to study Kitabwa and he translated the Bible for his own personal use. Through the intermediary of the late Bishop Mulolwa, he bought 500 forgotten copies of a Kitabwa dictionary from the Tervuren Museum in Belgium. They were the work of past missionaries but it was something that did not please the Treasurer of the Diocese.

The Regional said of him at this time: “very zealous, pleasant in community but he is a bit stubborn when it comes to defending his ideas which are often not well thought out.” He was appointed to the French Province for Missionary Promotion in January 1976. He lived in Versailles outside of community but worked part time in a Parish. In September 1979, he finished this three-year interlude which, he said, was very beneficial, with a three-month course in Pastoral Theology (in English) at the Angelicum University in Rome.

As it was made clear that he was not welcome back in the Congo, Max accepted an appointment to Tanzania. It was something that hurt him a lot. In January 1980, he started work in the Diocese of Mwanza. Firstly at Magu, where he was curate for 10 years and then at Muhingo, for another 10 years.

There were some health problems and he had to be hospitalised in France in 1981. Before he did the Session/ Retreat in Jerusalem in September 1988, he had an operation for a hernia. He did a language course and initiated himself into Sukuma culture thus following in the footsteps of Fr. David Clement (+ 1986). He even wrote a book with a foreword by Bishop Mayala entitled. “Imani za Jadi za Kisukuma katika misemo, hadithi, methali, na desturi za maisha”. It was a synthesis of the myths, proverbs, and legends of the Wasukuma and showed that they had an innate thirst for “Baraka” or blessing. Six thousand copies were printed and he was told that they would only feed the rats but over the course of 10 years, they were all sold.

He was also interested in development and he began a project with the help of a French technician and the local people to make wind turbines and to dig wells in Magu in order to combat drought. Later on, he began a plant for making tricycles for the handicapped at Buhindo. Six hundred were made in 9 years.

However, his non-conformity meant he got into trouble. In 1999, he was accused of confusing the faith of the people by giving too much attention to old customs. He never got the chance to explain himself. In May 2000, he accepted an appointment as curate in Kaniha in the Diocese of Kahama with two African diocesan priests. An operation for prostate cancer in 2003 interrupted his stay there. In September 2007, he transferred to Igunga in the Diocese of Tabora after he had done the session for the 70+ in Rome.

In his later years, Max recognised that he had put a large distance between himself and the preconciliar, traditional and clerical moulds. Sometimes, he certainly felt he was precariously balanced but as his mentor, Marcel Légaut put it: “You follow Jesus at your own risk. There are, of course, twists and turns, advances and setbacks in your journey but that can become, after hard ordeals, a trampoline to jump up again.”

Perhaps because of overwork, Max had a number of strokes during his last years in Tanzania. He was repatriated to France and arrived in apparently good form. He was admitted to the Hopital Saint-Joseph and he died a few days later on the 10th June 2013. He was buried after the funeral Mass in the Chapel of Saint-Paul in the presence of his brother Régis and other members of his family as well as many confreres.

This is what he said about his life as an apostle, which was sometimes confrontational but always lived in a generous spirit: “I am not a saint. My humanness had dragged me down. I have fallen. I had to look for my support, the best, Jesus. He, however, never tires of telling me, “Walk, my grace is enough.” It has happened that I have rowed in the same canoe as He, but it is not Golgotha! I do hope to enter by the side door to Paradise if his Mother gives me a little help” We can be sure that Mary was there to greet him with a big smile.

Armand Duval

 

Father Joseph Robert

19323 - - 2013

Jean-Joseph was born on the 23rd February 1923 in the hamlet of Les Terres de Chaux, Doubs in the Diocese of Besançon, France, not far from the Swiss border. The hamlet is well known because of the famous “Grosse Maison de Neuvier” which is a historical monument and dates from the 16th and 17th centuries. Joseph did his secondary schooling in the Diocesan Junior Seminary in Maiche. He studied Philosophy in the Senior Seminary of Faverny also in the Diocese of Besançon. He volunteered for the French First Army in 1944 but he unfortunately did not leave us any account of this period of his life.

After his demobilisation, he studied Theology for one year in the Senior Seminary of Besançon. However, when he declared his intention of joining the White Fathers, the Diocese obliged him to spend one year as a monitor in the Junior Seminary of Maiche before authorising his transfer. This was a bad habit of many dioceses at the time and was known as a year of purgatory or S.T.O. (Compulsory Work Service of the war years).

It was only in September 1948 that Joseph was able to do his Spiritual Year in Maison-Carrée. He went to Canada for Theological studies and he took his Missionary Oath in Eastview on the 23rd June 1951. He was also ordained priest there on the 17th January 1952. His first appointment was to Rome as bursar and for studies. He had many fond memories of this first stay in Rome, even though he was practically a full time bursar. There was a good atmosphere among the students and the Superior, Fr. Devriendt, who was an open minded and cordial man. The occupation of bursar would often be the job of this silent man who was very serious about everything he undertook.

Joseph left Rome in 1954 for the Scolasticate of Thibar where he served as Professor and bursar until it closed in 1957. When he heard of this appointment, he was sorry that he had not been given the opportunity in Rome to follow some courses in Liturgy, Missiology and other relevant subjects that were well within his capabilities. Probably, he thought that he would be asked to give some minor courses at Thibar while doing the job of bursar but, in effect, he had to give courses in Liturgy and Homiletics for which he had no preparation at all. Later on, he did appreciate the talks of Fr. Devriendt that he was able to follow in Rome on the directions to be given to White Father aspirants.

Joseph was appointed to Mali in 1958. He began by studying Bambara in Kita in the Diocese of Kays when he arrived on the 17th February 1958. However, he was transferred to Sagabari in July and he had to study Malinke. This did not last long either because his reputation as a bursar had preceded him and he was asked to undertake this job in the Senior Seminary of Koumi in Upper Volta beginning in September 1958. He had a well-deserved home leave in 1963 and on the 1st September of that year, he began work in the new Theology House of the Society in Vals near Le Puys.

Joseph was very happy to return to Mali in 1966, and he got down to the study of Dioula at Sikasso. Once more however, he was given the task of bursar and teacher in the Junior Seminary of Tionkuy, Diocese of Nouna in Upper Volta at the end of March 1967. He was to stay there for 17 years, except for some home leaves and the Session/Retreat in Jerusalem in 1982. The beginnings in Tionkuy were difficult. One day the Regional told him off in a severe tone of voice because he was showing a distinct lack of enthusiasm for his job of bursar whereas he had turned down the opportunity of pastoral work. However, it should be remembered, that he had had scarcely any preparation for parish ministry as it takes more than three or four months to learn a difficult African language. In Joseph’s case, and very much against his will, his language studies in three different languages were abruptly cut short.

Joseph’s reputation as a bursar stood to him in good stead and on the 14th May 1985, he was called to Rome to serve as local bursar in the Generalate. He had to come as quickly as possible because they wanted him there before the departure of the person he was going to replace and to make sure that the handover went smoothly. He also needed to freshen up his Italian and eventually his English. His stay in Rome was to last until November 1991.

He eventually got back to Africa to Burkina Faso. His was appointed again as local bursar in the Regional House in Kossogen. When he announced that he was returning to France for good, his last Regional Superior wrote of him: “He did great work in Ouaga as bursar and for airline tickets. By temperament, Joseph was not a confrere who gave you a joyful and spontaneous welcome, but once the visitor arrived, he made sure that he lacked for nothing.”

This same Superior had also noted that Joseph was exhausted. The move of the Regional House had been difficult in the overwhelming heat. Joseph, despite his obvious weakness, refused to see a doctor.

However, the sudden death of Fr. Jacques Seeger on the 9th April 1998 affected him very much. Therefore, he made an irrevocable decision to go home on the 17th July 1998. This is what he did. However, he was not yet finished with material things and to be at the service of the confreres. As soon as he had his strength back, he was appointed bursar in our house in Nantes. He assured this service to the satisfaction of all until the closure of the house. He then went to the Retirement House in Billère on the 1st July 2002. He was in his 80th year.

Did he ever feel any bitterness about these repeated changes that often happened just as he was about to get down to learning a new language and which meant going to a completely different country, involving material work which had little to do with a parish apostolate? Nobody knows. Joseph was the type of person whom country people would call “taciturn” and he seldom let his feelings show. Neither did he speak more than he had to. However, one had to admire his generosity in accepting, without fail, demanding tasks in a spirit of self-forgetfulness and for the good of others.

The Lord called him to Himself on the 5th December 2013. He was buried in Billère after his Funeral Mass was celebrated in the chapel of the community surrounded by his confreres, some relatives, and friends.

Armand Duval

 

Father Roland Jeanrenaud

1927 - - 2014

Roland was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 24th August 1927. His father, Robert, was a journalist. He was baptised on the 11th September 1927, in the parish of St. Francis. He received Confirmation in the Parish of the Sacred Heart which is where he also said his first Mass.

He did his secondary school studies in the Minor Seminary of St. Louis, Geneva and finished them in the Benedictine College in Einsiedeln where he passed his final federal state exams. He then studied philosophy for one year at the University of Fribourg.

He entered the novitiate of Maison-Carrée at the age of 21. He took his Missionary Oath on the 26th June 1951 in Thibar and he was ordained priest in Carthage on the 12th April 1952.

From 1952-1953, Roland was a teacher at the Institute Lavigerie in St. Maurice, Switzerland. He was then able to leave for Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). His missionary life began in Fort Rosebery (Mansa) and he worked successively in Twingi, Lubwe, and Chibote. After seven years, he was appointed Bishop’s Secretary and in 1965, he became the Assistant Diocesan Treasurer at Mansa. He became Diocesan Treasurer in 1968 and also worked as an Ecclesiastical Judge in two other adjacent dioceses. He reported that his job entailed the supervision of all construction work including three secondary schools, three hospitals of between 100 and 150 beds, churches and pastoral centres and modernising works such as the provision of water and electricity. In short all the material affairs of the Diocese

Roland was named Vicar General of the Diocese and eventually Diocesan Administrator when the Bishop was absent. From 1985 to 1987, he was the Financial Secretary of the Bishop’s conference residing in Lusaka after which he left for Jerusalem for the Bible session and Long Retreat.

After his return to Zambia, he was appointed Ecclesiastical Judge in the Diocese of Kasama. The African adventure of Roland in Zambia lasted 42 years. Besides his specialists’ services, he continued to carry out ordinary pastoral activities such as chaplaincy work and teaching.

Roland returned to Switzerland in 1995. He worked initially as Provincial Treasurer and then as Provincial Secretary until 2000. He had a very active pastoral ministry in Fribourg in the religious communities who appreciated his sermons very much. He was also able to indulge in his passion for writing. Under his responsibility, 50 issues of Suisse-Afrique (the internal newsletter of the Province) appeared. He wrote: “All the nonsense that I wrote made my reputation.” He wrote a column regularly for this publication called “Grouser’s corner” where he gave free reign to his rich imagination. He also wrote many books declaring: “The idea of publishing came from a supportive Provincial and a push from the publishers Editions Saint-Augustine who liked the first of them, “l’Évangile dans le désordre”.

Roland considered his books as flowing from his missionary life. “I like to see the gaze of Jesus on man which transforms him or the look on man for Jesus which changes him also”. Writing was for Roland his way of fulfilling his Apostolate in keeping with his age. “See in these pages the desire to put God in the life of our times. I write so that Jesus becomes, for us all, a true face in our lives.”

Roland celebrated 60 years of his Oath in July 2011. His health was inclined to go up and down, but his capacity to bounce back surprised his confreres more than once. His 18th book, the one before his last called “Joseph, artisan de Nazareth” showed us that his literary activity had not been affected.
Roland’s biggest problem was getting about. One saw him holding on to the walls when he was moving about. It was suggested he use a zimmer frame but he refused.

He was hospitalised in May 2013 and his state of health meant that he needed specialised care that could not be provided at the Africanum despite the availability of home help. On the 21st May, he was transferred to ISFR (Institution de Santé pour Religieux de Fribourg) where professional assistance was assured. He was able to participate at the Eucharist in the middle of the morning.

The year 2013 finished without him showing any sign of visible improvement. He spoke less and less and became bedridden. On the 9th January 2014, he could hardly reply to the questions put to him by his niece who had come to visit him. A confrere gave him the Sacrament of the Sick on the 20th January and two days later, the doctor visited him and could only confirm the seriousness of his illness. On the night of 24th January, we heard that he had died.

Roland’s funeral was celebrated in the afternoon of the 28th January in the Parish Church of Saint-Pierre and was attended by confreres, relatives and some friends and acquaintances. One of them left us this message: “He had a very deep faith. Now, he is travelling on a sunny road leading to God who has certainly reserved a privileged place for this faithful servant”. Another of his old friends said: He was a real grouch but was well able to do many things when you overlooked his changeable moods.”

In his last weeks, Roland felt that the end was near. He spoke about it sometimes to his friends and visitors. In one of his books he had written: “If my so called rheumatisms bring me closer to eternity, who am I to complain”? (Propos sans suite d’un curé à moitié gaga, 2011, p. 35).

J.-M. Gabioud