Southern Sudan: a failed independence (Africana nr. 192 – 2018/06)

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Southern Sudan: a failed independence

Seven years after the declaration of independence, the situation in Southern Sudan is catastrophic: an obvious case of a failed country. Perhaps the enthusiasm did not take into account the endemic shortcomings affecting the country, but the ideal has also been betrayed and battered by its leaders.

Southern Sudan was at war with the North since 1955, a year before the independence of the Anglo-Egyptian protectorate from Sudan. Since then, North and South have been at war with a 10-year break, between 1972 and 1982, when a fragile peace reigned between the contenders. When the referendum was held in June 2011, which was a choice between unity and independence, 98.83% of South Sudanese who went to the polls voted enthusiastically in favour of independence. Southern Sudan became the youngest country on the planet. The abundance of oil and other natural resources held out hope for rapid and continued development, which has not taken place.

Demonstrators during the referendum that led to the independence of Southern Sudan.

A little bit of history

The information prior to the 18th century is based above all on oral traditions according to which the Nilotic peoples (Dinka, Nuer, Shiluk…) entered the present territory of the South around the 10th century, while the Azande people entered it around the 15th century; and later, the Avungara people. Gradually, these peoples settled down until they occupied their present territories. Each of them organized themselves politically and socially according to their own structures until, in 1899, the United Kingdom and Egypt abolished their independence, establishing the Anglo-Egyptian Protectorate in Sudan. The protectorate, although unique, was administered as different territories: the North was Muslim and Arabic-speaking, while the South was animist and encouraged the use of English.

Pre-independence electoral propaganda

In 1953, the British and Egyptians decided to give independence to Sudan as a single country. Egypt hoped that, after independence, Sudan would form a federation with Egypt, thus securing the waters of the Nile. The unitary independence, however, upset many Southerners; they were particularly upset by the fact that Khartoum defined the country as Arab and Muslim. Hence, from 1955, one year before independence, a civil war began, which lasted until 1972. A peace agreement was reached at the time, giving the South an autonomous government, but the discovery of abundant oil in the south sharpened Khartoum’s desire for control. Its president, Yaafar al-Numeiry, dissolved the autonomy of the South and introduced Charía, or Islamic law, throughout the country, although the South was exempted from observing some of its precepts, such as the prohibition on drinking alcohol. This triggered the peace treaty signed in 1972 and began the second stage of the war of independence.

A new peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army, signed in January 2005, ended a 40-year conflict. This agreement re-established the autonomous government of Southern Sudan and provided for a referendum in 2011, in which the South Sudanese people would decide on the unity of the country or the independence of the South. The choice for independence was overwhelming and, on 9 July 2011, Southern Sudan was proclaimed independent. Despite Sudan’s acceptance of Southern independence, tensions and skirmishes between the two countries continued for opposing interests.

The country

Southern Sudan has considerable natural resources, particularly oil. A World Bank report indicates that oil revenues would have been sufficient to reduce poverty in the country and improve the living conditions of its people. Today, however, it is not only among the poorest countries in the world, but its traditional economy is completely destroyed by the new intestinal conflict affecting the country. Southern Sudan could have a population of about 12 million. I say it could be because a couple of millions have been forced to take refuge in neighbouring countries. We will come back to that later. By ethnic group, the Dinka are the largest community, with some three million members.

Although the current constitution of 2011 recognizes all “indigenous languages” as national languages, it considers English as the “official working language in the Republic of Southern Sudan, as well as the language of instruction at all levels of education”. Yuba Arabic (a pidgin or macaroni language) is a lingua franca used, along with English. The most widely spoken indigenous languages are Bari, Dinka, Luo, Murle, Nuer, Pojulu and Zande. In addition, 60 other languages are spoken throughout the country.

In August 2011, the Ambassador of Southern Sudan to Kenya stated that Swahili would be introduced in Southern Sudan to replace the Arab, thus orienting the country towards the East African Community instead of the Arab bloc. In July 2017, the government of South Sudan asked teachers of Swahili from Tanzania to introduce this language into the school curriculum of South Sudan, thus preparing for the adoption of Swahili as the official language.

The independence of Southern Sudan has not led to the reconciliation of its inhabitants.

Resources

The economic situation in the country at the time of independence (2011) was encouraging. But it was a poor state, with basic infrastructure and a largely illiterate population. According to the World Bank, only 27 per cent of the population over the age of 15 was literate: 40 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women. Both infant and maternal mortality are high. Only half the population has access to safe drinking water and 80 per cent have no access to sanitation facilities.

However, Southern Sudan has a sufficient basis for considerable economic progress. Although its economy is based mainly on oil, it also has other natural resources: iron mineral, copper, chromium metal, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver and gold. The White Nile River crosses the country and many of its tributaries have their sources there, with possibilities of producing hydroelectric energy. It also has two natural parks: Bandingilo and Boma.

One of the riches of Southern Sudan is cattle.

The basic means of livelihood are low-production family farming (78% of the population) and grazing in bobbins. Cotton, peanuts, sorghum, millet, wheat, sugar cane, tapioca, mangoes, papayas, bananas, sweet potatoes and sesame are grown. It also produces gum arabic. Although Southern Sudan has vast tracts of unused farmland and pasture, it currently imports food from Uganda, Kenya and Northern Sudan. Fishing is up to 37,000 tonnes per year. According to the World Bank, the agricultural sector accounts for only 15% of the Gross Domestic Product.

Oil, on the other hand, would be its greatest asset for the time being. Southern Sudan is the most oil-dependent country in the world. This constitutes almost all of its exports and approximately 60% of its Gross Domestic Product.

Infrastructures

Today, Southern Sudan has a 192 km paved road linking Yuba to Uganda; the rest of the roads are dirt roads. It also has 248 km of single track railway.

Yuba International Airport connects the capital of Southern Sudan with Entebbe, Nairobi, Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum. Malakal airport connects with the main towns in the country.

Telephone communications are reduced to mobile phones with 2,853,000 connections in the country. The press has seven daily newspapers and one periodical. Four radio stations and one television station continue to operate, although freedom of expression is very limited.

Religion

According to the 2011 census and some studies conducted later, between 60% and 70% of the population would profess Christianity. Of these, 39.6% are Catholics; 20.90% are non-Catholic Christians, belonging to the Anglican Church of Sudan, the Coptic Church and several Protestant churches. 6.20% profess Islam and the rest, about 33%, profess traditional religions.

Conflict and its causes

The conflict in Southern Sudan has ethnic components, but it is not its only cause; political ambitions and access to the country’s wealth, especially oil, are part of it. The many peace agreements are short-lived on the ground.

At first glance, the clash appears to be an ethnic conflict, and this is the version reported by the media: Dinkas and Nuers, the two majority tribes, are fighting each other. The head of state, Salva Kiir, is Dinka, while the then vice-president, Riek Machar, is Nuer; their respective ethnic groups support them in the conflict. However, the real explanation seems to be more complex and, of course, control of the country’s power and wealth is, to a large extent, the reason for the confrontation.

Widespread corruption was soon introduced into the conduct of the classes close to power, to the extent that Salva Kiir accused them of embezzlement of 4 billion. Soon after the independence of Southern Sudan, the Minister of Culture, Jok Madut, pointed to several problems afflicting the government: the army did not function as a disciplined military force; civil society was severely weakened; the government’s service delivery was inadequate, unable to provide security and, finally, political unity deteriorated.

The head of state, Salva Kiir, wanted to remedy the first of these shortcomings by trying to reorganise the army, but his attempt was not well received. Kiir had hinted that some of his rivals were trying to rekindle old disagreements. For the presidential elections to be held in 2013, Riek Machar announced his candidacy. This led Salva Kiir to purge his government of dissent and, in July of the same year, to remove Riek Machar and the entire cabinet from his post as Vice-President.
Since then, tensions have become apparent and the head of state’s style of government has become authoritarian.

On December 15, by order of General Paul Malong (the president’s trusted man), Dinka soldiers tried to disarm the Nuer soldiers stationed in Yuba. They resisted, but the rebellion was crushed and the government-affiliated troops, mostly Dinkas, killed as many Nuer as they could find in the city of Yuba and its environs. The Kiir government tried to justify the killing by saying that Machar and the Nuer soldiers had planned a coup d’état. This alleged attempted coup d’état was reported in the press and accepted by much of the international community.

The result of the massacre, which could have caused more than 6,000 victims, immediately led to the uprising of all the Nuer soldiers in the various garrisons stationed in the provinces. Riek Machar, who had managed to escape, took the lead in the rebellion. Over time, other ethnic groups rose up against the Dinka monopoly and the Yuba government, while government soldiers and opposition militias massacred those they considered enemies in the villages. Thousands of civilians sought asylum at UN headquarters and in churches; those who could sought refuge in neighbouring countries. This chaotic situation has weakened the government and made a possible dialogue for peace more difficult.

Riek Machar (left) and Salva Kirr represent the two warring factions.

However, on 17 August 2015, under pressure from the UN and the US, which continue to regard the established regime as legitimate and Riak Machar as guilty, a peace agreement was signed between the parties. Riek Machar, who feared for his life, asked for assurances to return to Yuba, where he was about to be killed on July 8, 2016. Fleeing on foot, he took refuge in the DR of Congo and was eventually arrested in Addis Ababa, where he had come hoping to find the support of the African Union, which is based there. Since then, he has been under house arrest in South Africa, despite not having been tried.

Contrary to the expectations of the international community, which assumed that the arrest of Machar would help to resolve the conflict, the situation has only worsened. In December 2017, the various groups of contenders agreed to a cessation of hostilities; the agreement was signed in Addis Ababa on 23 December 2017 and was due to enter into force on 24 December. Riek Machar, the former vice president and leader of the largest opposition faction, ordered his rebel forces to cease all hostilities. However, since this pact was signed, both the government and the opposition have continued to accuse each other of violations of the agreement.

In spite of everything, President Kiir launched a process of dialogue in May 2018, most of which is ignored by the contenders. Kiir also announced elections for 2018, although the African Union warns that in the current conditions of conflict, such elections would be impracticable.

The deepest roots of the conflict should be found in the colonial policies of the protectorate that benefited the North while the South remained underdeveloped and uneducated. After independence, the Christian and animist South continued to be colonized by the Muslim North, with greater determination when oil was discovered in the southern part of the country.

The arms trade underpins the continuation of the war.

The fact that the conflict is motivated by political and economic interests is evidenced by the primordial role played by oil. When the fighting began in December 2013, the fighting was particularly violent in the oil states. For its part, the international community is not unaware of these calculations. Both the South Sudanese government and the rebels have continued to arm themselves without an international arms embargo. Interest in South Sudanese oil from countries such as China, Russia and the US explains why this is so passive. Russia and China have been reluctant when the possibility of sanctions or an arms embargo has been mentioned in the United Nations. Five per cent of China’s oil imports come from Southern Sudan, with whose government it has signed beneficial oil development agreements.

Added to this is the fact that the military in Southern Sudan is profiting from the benefits of oil, despite the famine in the country. One organization, which is dedicated to tracking money flowing around armed conflicts and crimes against humanity, has shown how a senior military officer in the South Sudanese army has 2.7 million euros in his personal account from the Kenya Commercial Bank, an amount that could never be explained by the salary he receives. According to the same organization, the President and his relatives have used the state oil company, Nilepet, to obtain funds, avoiding processes and controls on military spending during the civil conflict. Added to all this are other more than dubious businesses.

One of the peace accords that began with a prayer.

The human rights abuses and corruption of senior army officials are corroborated by Alberto Rojas’ article, published in the World on August 25, 2017.

What role does ethnicity play in this conflict?

Undoubtedly, ethnicity plays a role in these clashes. In Southern Sudan, ethnic affiliation has been a source of tension and division for a long time: even during the long years of struggle for independence, the liberation front was divided into ethnic factions: the Nuer, led by Machar and the Shiluk, led by Lam Akol, sometimes opposed each other instead of fighting the Northern army. They even came to accept arms and economic aid from the government of Khartoum, which was using them to weaken the political and military movement of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, led by John Garang.

The war in Sudan has ethnic components.

The betrayal of a great ideal

The conflict has caused several hundred deaths and nearly three million refugees and displaced persons, as well as severe famine throughout the country. Faced with the powerlessness of the political pacts, civil society is beginning to demand an end to the war.

The conflict, which began in August 2012 and continues to the present day, has caused 1,792,000 refugees in neighbouring countries and 2 million internally displaced persons in southern Sudan, in addition to 5 million people in a situation of severe food insecurity. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Uganda has been forced to host 928,000 South Sudanese refugees; Ethiopia 320,000; DR Congo 72,300; Sudan 400,000; Kenya 70,000 and the Central African Republic some 2,000. UNHCR estimates that about 60,000 South Sudanese flee abroad every month.

The exact number of victims is unknown, although it is estimated at some 300 thousand, most of them due to disease and famine, although some 50 thousand would be victims of fighting and killing by both sides. To this must be added the untold rape of women and the unrestrained trampling of human rights.

According to a 2016 UNHCR report, when Kiir and Machar’s forces entered an “enemy” locality, they systematically martyred civilians and raped women.

According to a UN Human Rights Commission, violence in some areas of the country amounts to a process of ethnic cleansing.

Of the nearly two million internally displaced people, 220 thousand have sought refuge in the UN protection camps in Southern Sudan, protected by most of the 12 thousand members of these troops. This does not prevent women from being raped in these camps.

Conflict and drought have added famine to the suffering of the people. According to UNICEF, nearly 5 million people across the country depend on food aid. More than 1.1 million children suffer from acute malnutrition. The fear of being attacked keeps families from going out to farm. Because of food shortages, inflation has reached 800%, preventing families from buying food.

The Churches, some charities, such as International Mercy Corps, and United Nations agencies (UNICEF, UNHCR, FAO and the World Food Programme) are working to alleviate the catastrophic situation of the South Sudanese people, but the means at their disposal are clearly insufficient. Human rights abuses and violations are perpetuated to the present day.

Government investigations rarely lead to prosecutions and convictions. A court martial investigates collective rapes of a group of soldiers. The outcome of this judicial process remains to be seen. UN investigators claim to have identified more than 40 Southern Sudanese army officers suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include eight lieutenants general and governors from three states.

UN troops are watching to control the conflict.

Looking for solutions

There is only one solution: peace. We have already mentioned the ceasefire’ agreements, which have so far been ineffective. Stronger national dialogue and vigorous and sustained international pressure must be established to achieve a political solution to the conflict.

The NGO, PeaceTech Lab Africa, is running a campaign to eradicate the hate language that inflames social networks on the Internet. A UN expert report (November 2016) warned that “members of all parties to the conflict, including senior government officials, have used social networks to exaggerate incidents, disseminate falsehoods and covert threats or post messages of incitement to violence. Much of the hate speech is generated in the diaspora and spread through family and personal networks: an SMS or a simple phone call.

A good number of South Sudanese are convinced that it is their responsibility to find a solution to the conflict that afflicts them. On May 12, 2017, a group of students from the University of Yuba and activists, calling themselves the New Society, organized demonstrations against government policies. According to the group’s secretary general, who was speaking from Nairobi, dozens of participants have been arrested and are unaccounted for. He also denounced torture, which is unconstitutional and deserves the condemnation of civil society. The pro-government “The Down” newspaper justified the arrests as politically motivated. Theoretically, the right to demonstrate is guaranteed by the constitution of the country.

AnaTaban activists – I’m Tired, in Arabic – have launched Blood Shed Free2017, in which they use artistic expressions such as hip-hop, poetry and graffiti, participatory theatre and street murals to mobilize their countrymen and promote a culture of peace. The campaign takes place in the streets and on social networks. They want to raise awareness among young people and promote dialogue instead of violence. Here is part of AnaTaban’s manifesto: “We are fed up, tired of war and all the suffering it brings with it. Tired of sitting around while our country burns. Tired of having a country with enormous natural resources but a collapsed economy. We are tired of our precious cultural diversity – 64 ethnic groups – being destroyed by tribal animosity. Tired of having a population dying of hunger, even though we have fertile land. We are tired of being used to kill each other for the benefit of a few.

Conflict and sacking make external help necessary.

The manifesto could not be more explicit or eloquent. They call for a permanent ceasefire, a halt to ethnic violence and an end to the insecurity that has turned roads into lethal traps, as well as respect for human rights and press freedom, which is non-existent in Southern Sudan. They also insist on being the ones to settle their disputes: “If the South Sudanese do not resolve their disputes, no one will do it for them”.

Specifically, four clear messages are sent to the entire population, but especially to young people:

  • Ask forgiveness and grant it.
  • Settle disagreements peacefully.
  • Accept tolerance as indispensable.
  • Every South Sudanese has a role to play in laying the foundations of peace.

Against the betrayal of a great ideal and the hopelessness that betrayal engenders, there are those who do not resign themselves, and are still able to wait.

Bartolomé Burgos, M.Afr.
From “Africana” nr. 192, June 2018 – M.Afr. Madrid
Translation with the help of www.Deepl.com

Southern Sudan, hope betrayed (Africana nr. 192 – 2018/06)

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On a trial basis, we publish on the international website some articles from the magazine of the Missionaries of Africa of Spain “Africana”. We use the excellent online translator www.deepl.com. Please post your feedback.

Many of us are concerned about the catastrophic situation in Southern Sudan during these first six years of political independence.
The title – “Southern Sudan, hope betrayed” – of this issue’s report, written by Father Bartolomé Burgos, an eyewitness for several years to the desire for independence of the Southern Sudanese, perfectly reflects the feelings of disappointment of many of us. The initial journey of this young country along the road to independence leads to the conclusion that we are facing a failed country: an economy that is disappearing for the benefit of those who are waging war, a political life poisoned by the ambition of power, a coexistence wounded by ethnic hatred, famine, the exodus of several million displaced people, the death of 300,000 people and the total failure of some basic indicators of development, such as education and health. In short, the betrayal of the hopes of 12 million Southern Sudanese.

The causes of this situation, as always, are complex.
Our report points to the ethnic aspects, the ambition for power, the poor political, social and religious development of the country in the years leading up to the declaration of independence. With the author of the report, I personally think that, in Southern Sudan, there has always been a lack of a sense of belonging to a nation. The south of the country is made up of a multitude of different ethnic groups and languages, perhaps more than a hundred, aware only of their tribal personality. The people of the South never had the same national sentiment. Some ethnic groups, such as the Dinkas and Nuers, have been hating each other for centuries. This ethnic hostility is perceived even within Christian communities, to the extent that it is sometimes difficult to preach the precept of love in some of their assemblies.

However, there is some hope on the horizon: Civil society is concerned about the endemic nature of the war in the country. One movement, called “Ana taban”, which means “I’m tired” in local Arabic, expresses the feeling of weariness of much of society.

The celebration of “Nelson Mandela International Day”, promoted by the UN on 18 July each year, is an example of a politician who has combined the virtues necessary for good governance: a sense of the common good, the capacity for dialogue, respect for the equality of all, the search for reconciliation and the inclusion of all sensibilities. Without them, it is impossible to live together.

Agustín Arteche Gorostegui, M.Afr.
Madrid – “Africana” – nr. 192 – June 2018

Gerard Reynaert, R.I.P. (1925-2018) (EAP Flashes – 2018/08)

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Fr. Gerard Reynaert (1925-2018) popularly known as “mukulu” passed away on 03.05.2018 at Nsambya Hospital in Kampala. He lived 67 years of Missionary Life and almost all of them in Uganda. At 93, he was still the local bursar/guest master at lourdel house-vocations centre and chaplain to a community of Little Sisters of Saint Francis at Nsambya. The following was written about him in the Order of Mass celebrating his life:

Gerard’s faithfulness and commitment to the apostolate up to the last drop of his life and strength remain for us a powerful reminder of the strong recommendation of our founder, Cardinal Lavigerie: “My dear children, you are not explorers or ordinary travelers… You are apostles and only apostles. All your other interests must derive from that fundamental fact. I beseech you, revive within yourselves these great thoughts of the apostolate.”

This reminder is even more meaningful when put in the context of the 150th Jubilee of the foundation of the Missionaries of Africa and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (Msola). Fr. Gerard’s faith has been ‘a down-to-earth and practical faith’. It is, therefore, not by chance that he passed on, on the day when we were celebrating the feast of St. James, whose teaching strongly emphasizes such a faith: “Faith without good deeds is dead”. (James, 2:26)

Gerard’s way of life corresponded well to the life that all Missionaries of Africa are invited to embrace: ‘Simple way of life’. He was a real Biblical Job: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will depart.” (1:21) He departed from this earthly life “naked”; he left behind almost nothing! What a powerful message and legacy in a world full of greed of all sorts of earthly things! What a powerful message and legacy in a world where the “culture of grabbing” is on the increase everyday! Jokingly, Fr. Gerard used to speak of himself as “Ow’empisa ennungi” (someone with good manners). May we too, in spite of our human weaknesses, always aspire to be ‘abantu ab’empisa ennungi’ (people of good manners).

Fr. Gerard was laid to rest at Nabulagala parish where he helped out for masses until his dead. The faithful together with some confreres kept vigil and celebrated several masses throughout the night praying for Gerard. The Archbishop of Kampala, his grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga celebrated the funeral mass surrounded by a great crowd of people that came to bid farewell to jjaja (grandfather).

MAY FR. GERARD REST IN PEACE!naert (1925-2018)

Ordinations to the priesthood (EAP Flashes – 2018/08)

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This is a special year for our Kenya Sector. It is not just the increase in  the number of members but also the blessing of God shown through the ordination of three confreres and another one expected in the near future. It all started in Meru, on 9th June 2018 where Bishop Salesius Mugambi, bishop of Meru, ordained Deacon Robert Muthamia to the priesthood. Robert Muthamia was ordained together with another priest of the Franciscan Conventuals and 6 diocesan deacons. Several confreres, a good number of Msola sisters and several friends (Lavigerie family) made the journey to Meru to support Robert. The bishop was so happy to present Robert to the Society of the Missionaries of Africa and to send him off on mission. However, he reminded us that Meru is also in Africa. Fr. Robert Muthamia celebrated his thanksgiving mass at Kangeta Parish where he comes from.

On 26th July 2018 all roads led to Machakos where Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri Archdiocese and administrator of Machakos diocese ordained our deacons Simon Chege Njuguna and Nicholas Mulinge. They were ordained together with 4 diocesan deacons and 8 priests in a colorful and rather long ceremony. The archbishop took the occasion to do vocation animation not only for the diocese but also for religious congregations. He too reminded us not just to milk the cow but also remember to feed it. Missionaries still have their place in the local Church.

We wish our new priests a happy and fruitful missionary life.
HONGERENI!!!!

from stagiaire UWAGBOE Daniel Pio (EAP Flashes – 2018/08)

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WORD OF THANKS from UWAGBOE Daniel Pio
Stagiaire at Kabanga, Tanzania

In the lines of William Arthur Ward, it reads; “feeling gratitude without expressing it, is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” I write as a result of the accident I had on the 11th June, 2018 and sustained an open fracture on my right tibia and fibula bones. First, I had an external fixation surgery and other medications for about three weeks to treat all infection markers before having another surgery – internal fixation on the 9th of July. A ‘titanium intramedullary rod’ was fixed in my tibia bone so I could walk again and in order to help facilitate my healing process. Though I am still on medication, I am recovering and feeling better day after day.

My special thanks goes to my Parish Priest—Berthrand Dakyie, who painstakingly ensured that I got the right medical attention. His care, concern, motivation, patience, and effort during this period of challenge are worth acknowledging. To my beloved brothers, Elvis Ng’andwe, Fidelis Damana, Ernest Osei and John Slinger; my life will remain a gratitude to you for not being complacent in your love, care and support towards me. I am very grateful for your love, to say the least and to all Missionaries of Africa of EAP and my Province of origin Ghana/Nigeria; for their goodwill messages and prayers. I sincerely appreciate your fraternity. Thanks to you all / Merci à vous tous / Asanteni sana. (Sent on the 28th of July, 2018).

EAP : Be Apostles, nothing but Apostles (EAP link 2018/08)

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Editorial

During this period, many confreres go for home leave and then return refreshed to continue with their mission. There are also several ordinations taking place which means that our young confreres will soon join us in the mission. Most of our communities will be receiving stagiaires. This means that most of our communities are being reconstituted and they will be discussing their community project. I find it an opportune moment to remind ourselves of the Chapter 2016 and its guidelines for our life and mission. The document “New Wine in New Wineskins” of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life notes that, “With the passing of time, some entanglements have become increasingly complex and paralyzing for the consecrated life and its institutions. The state of accelerated change risks ensnaring the consecrated life, forcing it to live in emergency mode rather than keeping the horizon in sight. It seems at times that the consecrated life is almost completely wrapped up in day-to-day management or in merely surviving. Such a way of facing reality is Detrimental to a life that is full of meaning and capable of prophetic witness. The continuous management of increasingly compelling emergencies consumes more energy than one might think. Unfortunately, it runs the risk of becoming fully absorbed in containing problems rather than in envisioning itineraries.” (#8)

The observation above is true for our province where we are working hard to fulfil the mission entrusted to us with the risk of feeling satisfied with doing the routine things for the flock already in our Christian communities. We are afraid or seem to resist taking the risk of trying out new things that are being proposed to us in the name of being too few and too busy. It is important to pause in our missionary activity to discern whether we are answering the questions that the people and the world of today are asking. An apostle is someone sent with a mission for a people and our founder sent us to be apostles and nothing else. What is our mission today?

In order to discover the mission entrusted to us today we need to listen to the Chapter 2016. The Chapter observed that: “The ideals of community life and teamwork that drew many of us to become Missionaries of Africa. These ideals have since the beginning proved to be strength, support and source of richness for our apostolate. The Lord himself sent his disciples out in groups (Lk. 10:1). The Chapter praised God for this grace and commits us to bringing it to fruition over the next six years, at the service of a truly prophetic mission characterized by care for those who are discarded by society. In a modern and changing world, the Chapter invites us to be creative in our missionary approach and commitments, bearing in mind the need to adapt to new realities. We are invited to make use of today’s tools and modern means of communication used by our contemporaries. In doing so, we should always remember that we are apostles.”

It is time to thank God for what we are doing until now but also to ask for the gift of his Spirit to liberate us from the paralyzing fear and empower us to be more daring in opening up to the new realities proposed to us. We need to pay particular attention to the “Existential Peripheries” as an essential criterion for our community project. These peripheries can be found wherever we live and work. This should also be considered in proposing the apostolic project to our stagiaires and collaborators in mission. I take this opportunity to thank you all for the work being done in spite of our reduced numbers. Let us pray that the Spirit of God will continue to inspire and strengthen us to be truly prophetic apostles in Eastern Africa.

Aloysius Ssekamatte, M.Afr.
Provincial of East African Province

Some testimonies after the death of Herman Bastijns

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The Provincial Delegate of Belgium published some testimonies received at the announcement of the death of Father Herman Bastijns. We thought we should share them with you.

It is with emotion that we receive here the news of Herman’s unexpected death. The news reached us just at the time of the Eucharistic celebration of the community at 6:15 pm. We thanked the Lord for his presence among us and for his contribution to the Society and beyond. During the meal that followed, with Stan, we talked about Herman, his family bond, the ways he marked us, his place in the history of the Society. His contributions in the fields of initial and ongoing formation have enriched many. And later his retreats, and also his recollections published on the web. His life and legacy are an encouragement to us all. In communion of prayer, while we also think of his own.

Fraternally,
André-Léon SIMONART, General House – Rome

Bethlehem, 09/08/2018

Thank you for informing me of Herman’s death. He was one of the formators when I came into contact with the White Fathers in Leuven. Since then, he has always inspired me with his deep prayer life and dedication. My deepest condolences.

 +Jan De Groef, M.Afr.

I am very touched by the return to the Father of Herman Bastijns with whom I had started the Ruzizi seminary and whom I had even had for a time as a formator at the Vital Decoster in the past. He also prepared me to succeed him for the Roman sessions 8 years ago. He had become for me a brother, a friend and a spiritual advisor. I can’t measure everything I owe him. May the Lord welcome him in his tenderness.

Fraternally,
Bernard Ugeux (Bukavu)

Thank you! I immediately transmitted the announcement to all our sisters. This is a death that will surprise many, for Herman was well known to many! We pray with you and with the confreres of Varsenare. Two deaths in a few days is hard to live with. Courage to manage all this…

Friendly regards, Suzy Haderman (MSOLA)

Receive my condolences for the death of Herman Bastijns, the great philosopher. I spent a good year with him in Kahangala in 1989 and learned a lot. I appreciated his intellectual, material, liturgical and spiritual talents. I will be in union of prayers with you at his funeral.

 Fraternally,
Patrick Bataille, Provincial delegate for France

Herman Konings 1937 – 2018 (PE nr. 1093 – 2018/07)

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Herman was born on the 7th March 1937 at Essen in the Province of Antwerp very close to the Dutch border. His parents were farmers and over the course of the years they had ten children. After secondary school at the Junior Seminary of Hoogstraten, Herman entered the White Fathers at Boechout in September 1956. It was the same year that his older brother René (+2017) left for Burundi. After the novitiate in Varsenare, Herman went to Heverlee to study Theology. He took his Missionary Oath there on the 28th June 1962 followed by priestly ordination on the 29th June 1963. Herman was described as a modest, helpful, friendly and very sociable person. He was not very talkative, but was interested in others. He was an unobtrusive man, always in the same good mood. He radiated benevolence and kindness. He did not get mad, but one should not push him too hard. He was pretty unshakeable, a little sceptical perhaps. He had practical common sense and he had undeniable artistic gifts.

Herman was appointed to Burundi. He left on the 22nd December 1963. He studied Kirundi at Muhanga. Fr. Michel Braekers (+1979), the Regional wrote, “He is a happy man who likes making people laugh. He loves making puns. He’s pretty good in Kirundi.” He was put in charge of the catechetical programme and youth work. Quite early on, it was noted that he did not enjoy great health and he had to rest a lot. In September 1965, Herman was sent to Giheta then to Bukirasazi (1966). After his first home leave in 1968, he became curate and bursar at Kibumbu. Fr. Louis Quintard (+2012) the Assistant Regional wrote, “As bursar of the post, he has never enough money, and he quarrels with the Treasurer of the Diocese over it.”

At the end of 1972, the Hutu rebellion was put down in what has been called the Hutu genocide in Burundi. In January 1973, Herman returned to Belgium traumatised by these events. He taught religion in a secondary school in Borgerhout and lived in our community in Berchem. He went to Greece with a group of young people. He took some sabbatical time following a Bible course and studying catechesis always with a view to teaching. After the Session/Retreat in Jerusalem in 1980, he was ready to return to Africa.

Herman arrived in Ituri, Zaire (now the DRC) at the end of 1980. He taught religion in Bunia College. He had a full timetable and was much appreciated. However, at the end of the academic year in 1983, he decided to leave. He wrote to Jan Lenssen, Provincial of Belgium,” I still teach with the same enthusiasm but the mentality here is much too different from my own.” For some unknown

reason, because he had never been expelled, his application to return to Burundi was turned down. Maybe Rwanda?  The Regional Council of Rwanda agreed to accept him only after a long discussion. Herman had a reputation for being “progressive”. He arrived in Kigali in January 1984. After studying the language at the Language Centre, he was appointed curate at Kaduha in the Diocese of Butare. Herman dreamed of forming authentic Small Christian Communities. So he was allowed to join the parish of Rusumo in the Diocese of Kibungo, where Father Stany de Jamblinne worked along the same lines in the Eglise-Monde movement. Herman felt comfortable in this pastoral ministry. He painted tableaux and decorated churches. He supported local artists, who made decorative panels in bas-relief, characteristic of the region.

In April 1994, the genocide exploded in Rusumo and with other confreres, Herman was evacuated to Brussels on the 13th April. In September 1994, he spent many months at CREC-AVEX (Centre for Research and Communication) in Lyon, France. He was being thought of for the Audio-Visual Centre in Burundi. This projected appointment did not come to anything.  In September-December 1995, he followed the Discipleship course in Jerusalem and he returned there in March 1996 to work in the Archaeological Service and the Museum where, among other things, he highlighted the famous collection of oil lamps. His only complaint; “For four years, I had to manage without a budget!”

In October 2000, Herman was appointed to Rome in charge of Ongoing Formation and the organization of the Mid-Life Renewal programme.  He took on several administrative tasks in the city or in the Vatican and collaborated with Brother Karl Stärk in the photo library. He underwent heart surgery but made a complete recovery.

In July 2006, he returned definitively to Belgium where he joined the community in Namur and helped Gus Beeckmans in the Photo-Service restoring old historical photos. He stayed there for 10 years, always as thin as a rake, true to himself and a bit of a joker. He was a tad special, a critical observer of events who never raised his voice. However, he began to have serious breathing problems that required respiratory physiotherapy.

In October 2016, Herman asked to go to Antwerp. The Photo Service was being transferred and he wanted to be closer to his older brother René who was seriously ill. At the beginning of 2018 his breathing problems got worse and on the 9th March, he joined the ‘Avondrust’ community in Varsenare.

Herman was very grateful for the prodigious care he received and enjoyed breathing the pure air.  He joyfully pored over his art albums while preparing himself for the inevitable. He immersed himself into Carlos Mesters’ commentary on the Suffering Servant. In a notebook, he wrote, “Yes, the inevitable suffering of man, projected onto one person, Christ, in me”. He suffered terrible crises of suffocation. Towards the middle of April, he felt that the end was near. He noted, “Resurrection does not follow death, it takes place the moment of death itself. It is this beginning of a ‘different life’ that I am looking forward to.” He died on the 20th April 2018 at the hospital of Saint-Jean in Bruges. Marc De Wulf, superior of Varsenare was at his bedside.

On the 26th April 2018, we laid Herman to rest in Varsenare, surrounded by his family and many confreres. May he rest in peace.

Jef Vleugels, M.Afr.

 

Marcel Peeters 1925 – 2017 (PE nr. 1093 – 2018/07)

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Marcel was born on the 5th July 1925 at Vremde in the Province of Antwerp, Belgium. He attended primary school in Boechout where his parents had settled. His father worked in the big port of Antwerp. He went to the Junior Seminary of Hoogstraten for his secondary schooling. In September 1943, Marcel entered the White Fathers at Boechout and followed the usual White Father training programme at the time, novitiate in Varsenare and Theology in Heverlee. On the 21th July 1949, he took his Missionary Oath in Heverlee and he was ordained priest in the parish church of Heverlee on the 8th April 1950. His professors underlined his solid devotion, his dedicated character. He liked order and cleanliness! He was not a great intellectual but he was a hard worker. He had a lot of practical knowledge. He was not considered a leader; in fact, he needed to be supported as he lacked self-confidence. He had a nervous disposition and often spoke without thinking, criticising things readily. One little fact, which made him stand out, was that during the scholasticate he began to study Kiswahili quite seriously.

Marcel was appointed to Burundi. First of all, in order to fulfil military service requirements, he had to follow a course at Louvain University. In April 1951, he became Warrant Officer-Nurse First Class in the reserve of the colonial Force Publique in the Congo. He left for Bujumbura on the 17th April 1951 with the now defunct Sobelair. He first went to Gatara and a few months later to Musenyi in the Diocese of Ngozi. He courageously got down to learning Kirundi but his shyness did not help. His first real appointment was to the new foundation of Buraniro where he was put in charge of schools. It was a parish with a lot of schoolchildren and endless sessions in the confession box. At the beginning of 1960, Marcel went on his first home leave during which he did the Long Retreat at Villa Cavalletti, near Rome. In December of 1961, on his return to Burundi, he became Superior of Buraniro. The Regional, Fr. François Thevenon (+1991) noted that Marcel was hanging in there despite the political tensions afflicting the country in 1961-62. Indeed, Marcel was falsely accused of playing politics and he was obliged to quit Buraniro. He stayed for some months in Muramba and Kisanze before returning to Katara, a place he did not particularly like. In January 1965, he was appointed bursar at Kasenyi.  He complained about its penury and the high cost of living. According to him, his books were always in the red which was not the case at all. His Regional commented, “He’s a born beggar; he knows how to get everything by his doggedness,” When he learnt about big expenses somewhere else, he could not stop himself from being extra critical. Yet the way he reacted scarcely troubled the confreres. It was his style and the confreres went along with it. In fact, on the contrary, they greatly appreciated him for his thriftiness. All over the country, Marcel was known and teased as being the “rich priest…”

Appointments followed one another. In July 1965, Marcel was Superior in Muhanga and in June 1968, he returned to Gatara but was on his way again after a few months, this time to Ijene, who’s Superior he became in 1970. He was always the devoted and caring pastor but was never the leader in a community. However, he was always ready to render a service. A confrere remarked, “In Ijene, he was a man of peace, loved and respected. The local authorities were afraid that he would be appointed elsewhere. Why? Why? Because he was the building block of peace and unity in the village community and throughout the district.” Much to his disappointment, Marcel was transferred to Buraniro in 1978. The parish now counted 42,000 Christians. As part of the catechumenate, the fathers organised reading and writing classes as well as some basic arithmetic with a view to improving the lot of the people. Bishop Kaburungu wanted to start “hill councils” so as to prepare for an eventual diocesan synod. At the end of 1979, Marcel did the Session/Retreat in Jerusalem. When he returned to Burundi, he was appointed curate in Gatara. No matter where he was, Marcel could count on the support of his family, and especially on the organization in Boechout called “Bricks for God” which helped him build churches and schools, construct bridges and reservoirs and buy school materials. In 1985, when tension mounted between President Bagaza and the Catholic Church, Marcel was one of the many confreres who received from the Government “permission to stay at home”. On the occasion of his departure, the Flash Burundi spoke of a “wise man, a fine connoisseur, an informed observer of so many things in the country, a charming man in community who could stand being teased constantly by his confreres, the White Father who for 35 years patiently built the Church of Burundi by accompanying thousands of young people on the path of faith”

On his return to Belgium, Marcel joined the community running the parish of the Sacred Heart in Antwerp. This meant that he was able to visit his old mother frequently. She died in 1987 at the age of 92 years. However in September 1988, Waly Neven, the regional in Burundi wrote to the Belgian Provincial,  “As for Marcel Peeters, the confreres are practically unanimous in saying that he would still do very well around here and that we would all be very happy to receive him among us.” Marcel still needed time to digest the events in Burundi and did not reply straight away. However, in December 1990, at the age of 65, he decided to go back to Africa. He returned to Ijene as curate. Apart from a short interim period in Giharo in the Diocese of Ruyigi, he was to stay there until 1997. His last appointment in Burundi was as chaplain to the community of Contemplative Dominicans at Rweza where he assured the pastoral services with the late Alex Verpoort (+2005) and Theo Neven (+2016). In 2003 the region decided to end this project and Marcel and the two confreres returned definitively to Belgium. Marcel joined the community in Antwerp. He always remained true to himself, the eternal but happy grumbler. Until the end of his life, he continued to financially support the nuns of Rweza…

At the beginning of 2016, his health declined significantly and he moved to the Nursing home of “Our Lady of Antwerp” a few streets away from our community house. He died of a heart attack on Friday 12th May 2017. The Liturgy of the Resurrection took place in the Parish church of St. Charles Borromeo in Antwerp on Saturday 20th May 2017 followed by burial in our cemetery of Varsenare.

Jef Vleugels, M.Afr.

150th Anniversary: Father Maurice Bellière (PE nr. 1093 – 2018/07)

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

His tombstone, neglected and covered with moss, a bit sunken and at an angle, was discovered in 1975 in French Normandy. Once cleaned up, a dual entry was discovered: “Madame Barthélemy, born Louvel, 1841-1907” with below the name of our confrere: “Maurice Bellière, priest, Missionary of Africa”. In our necrology, we do indeed find the name of Father Maurice Bellière, formerly a missionary to Nyasaland (today’s Malawi). He died on the 14th July, 1907, at Caen. Who was he? Forgotten? Then rediscovered? Here is the story of a life both tragic and moving.

His youth   

Maurice Bellière was born on the 10th of June, 1874, in Normandy, a region in north-western France. A week after his birth, his mother died. The father entrusted the baby to his sister-in-law, Mrs Barthélemy, and from then onward, disappeared from his life. The Barthélemy couple, being childless, brought him up as their own child. It was only when Maurice was eleven years old that he discovered who his real parents were. This discovery very much affected that still fragile young man and left traces on his soul for the rest of his life. After a hard and short missionary life, he passed away in Caen, aged 32, out of touch with the White Fathers; he died in a home for the mentally ill, and was buried in the same family vault as his beloved ‘second mother’ at Langrune-sur-Mer.

Contact with Therese at the Carmelite convent.

After his childhood years, he found little support during the time he spent at the seminary. During his youth he had to overcome many trials, and – as he says himself – “rode out many a storm”. He believed that he would have to live the rest of his life with the thought of having wasted his best years. Called up for military service and aware of his own frailty, he feared the worst for his priestly vocation. Bowed down under the weight of his sinful past and doubting his ability to stick it out, he wrote a letter to the Prioress of the Carmelite Convent at Lisieux begging her to – as he said – “entrust to the prayers of one of your sisters the salvation of my soul and to obtain for me the grace of remaining faithful to the vocation which I have received from God.” Young Therese, who had joined the Carmel at the age of 15, was chosen by the mother superior for that undertaking while doing the weekly laundry of the convent, indeed the humblest of daily tasks. In this way, Maurice, who was in his second year of theology at the Diocesan Seminary, received a lifebelt thrown to him by this Carmelite nun. That is how a spiritual friendship began between a moderately gifted man and an exceptionally gifted young contemplative sister. This simple young sister was soon to be known throughout the world by the name of “Little Flower” (1873-1897).

Father Maurice Bellière and Sister Therese of the Child Jesus

Maurice and Therese never met, but their destiny united them very profoundly. Their correspondence, which started two years before the death of Therese, amounts to 21 letters and made an important addition to her spiritual autobiography, famous worldwide, as “The Story of a Soul,” which was published after her death in 1898. Maurice wanted to become a missionary and was accepted by the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, the White Fathers. His vocation generated a missionary desire in Therese also. Because of that missionary enthusiasm and no doubt also because of that exchange of letters with a missionary, – and one of us at that – the Church declared her Patron Saint of the Missions. We, White Fathers, can be rightly proud of that.  

Maurice was a man who, in many aspects, resembles each one of us, with his easily recognizable anxieties and his individual human limited abilities. At the same time, we discover in her ten letters that Therese is a saint within everyone’s reach, but also that she is a truly mystical person, capable of spiritual friendship. Their friendship was formed around their common ideal, a shared desire for Christ’s love, simplicity and warmth. The friendship between a Doctor of the Church in spirituality and this young aspirant to the priesthood shows a mutual affection which does not shy away from words of tenderness. They call one another “little brother” and “little sister”. “Nothing profane disturbs the secret of our intimacy,” they themselves would say. He becomes for her the brother whom she never had, and she became for him the sister whom he missed. The story that emerges here deserves, in our opinion, to be known by all of Therese’s “little brothers” today, whether they are Missionaries of Africa already or aspirant-missionaries. They surely need these encouraging words.

Therese was already seriously ill; the tuberculosis from which she suffered was already in an advanced stage and no remedy was yet available. In spite of that, she wrote magnificent letters to her unsure ‘little brother’ to encourage him in his vocation. The last word she sent him was a laborious scribble on the back of a communion certificate: “Final souvenir of a soul which is near.“ From her very first letter, she recalls the law which will dominate his future life, that is to say, the temptations and the trials, which necessarily accompany each apostle. He will have to learn to accept them. In this respect, Maurice’s letters sometimes express apt words and noble feelings, but Therese will try to take him further. He will have to let go of everything, following the example of Jesus:  “You will have to suffer much”, she says. Her words carry a prophetic ring.

Therese had realized very early on that priests were “men both frail and weak”. This seemed to be especially true in the case of Maurice, her brother/priest who, according to his own words: “had to regret many unheard-of stumbles and much foolishness”. But, as she writes: “No human frailty can be an obstacle to the preaching of the Gospel as long as the flame of love will burn at the heart of the Church”. Later on Maurice will reread these letters repeatedly and will even make a collection of its choice passages when studying in Carthage. Later on still, in Malawi, when already sick and rather discouraged, he certainly found in its message the remedy against despair.  

His formation to missionary life

On the 30th September, 1897, Maurice embarked at Marseille to cross the Mediterranean to enter the novitiate of the White Fathers in North Africa. The same evening, Therese’s agony started after a long struggle against her illness. She too was now making her own crossing towards another life. Maurice and Therese “left together”. At this point, she fired the starting shot for a worldwide missionary expansion, the effects of which are still visible today all over Africa and the world. Possibly, Maurice did not perceive the prophetic significance of it, but their friendship remained for him “a great strength and a source of confidence…; from heaven, she watches over me; this, I feel clearly” he writes. When, at Carthage, in November 1898, he managed to be one of the first in the world to lay hands on Therese’s autobiography “The Story of a Soul”; he was elated. He had hardly completed reading the first part when he exclaimed: “Dieu est ici” (God is here!) He was to meditate on it for a long time and, in this way, from her writings, he will understand her better, she and “her Little Way”.  

Long before Maurice arrived in Africa, the White Fathers had courageously attempted to reach West Africa across the Sahara, where they had, as early as 1872, established their first outstation at Laghouat. In North Africa, Touareg guides had massacred six White Fathers. In Central Africa, in 1886, the first Christian communities emerged from the blood shed by the Uganda martyrs, after caravans of White Fathers reached that region by way of the Red Sea and Zanzibar. The Society at that time was still very young and with few members, but eleven of its members had already been murdered, and fifty-six had died prematurely because of sickness, fever and depravations of all kinds. In all they represented 29% of its young missionaries, only 19 years after the Society had been founded. The missionary undertakings of Cardinal Lavigerie could only happen under the sign of the cross.

At the Noviciate, at Maison-Carrée

It is in this context that Maurice started his training: one year at the novitiate at Maison-Carrée in 1887 and three years of theology at Carthage (1898-1901). The atmosphere was that of generosity and saintliness. Lavigerie had always pressed upon his men: “For an apostle there is no middle way between total holiness and absolute perversion.”

Therese of Lisieux would instil in him the same warning in her letter of June 1897, saying that with all his anxieties and contradictions, he could not be a half saint: “You are a saint fully and completely or you are not a saint at all!” She knew his desire for holiness and even for martyrdom and would not think that this desire was presumptuous.

The novitiate of Maison-Carrée was ten kilometres away from the port of Algiers. This is where Maurice lived until August 1898. He almost instantly fell in love with Africa and was at ease with his fifty co-novices coming from several countries. Bishop Livinhac, the Superior General, whom he met there, was goodness itself and displayed a profound humanity. He had been a member of the first heroic caravans towards the Great Lakes and he had founded the first mission in Uganda in 1879. He became the first White Father Bishop in 1884 and the first Vicar General of the Society in 1889. Maurice worked alongside him as his first private secretary because of his knowledge of English. Later, at the time of his dark hours from 1905-1906, he found in Livinhac an understanding father.

His novice master was Father Paul Voillard, 37 years old, quite a different type of man to Livinhac; he had sharp and piercing eyes with a fiery temperament. In spite of that, he would make a profound impression on people. Inspired by the spirituality of St Ignatius, he would lead his little flock seriously with encouraging words and with contagious enthusiasm. At that time, Voillard was also contacted by the Blessed Charles de Foucauld to be his spiritual counsellor. This is how Maurice could stand alongside this ‘Hermit of the Sahara’ for a full week. Sometime later, in 1916, de Foucauld was murdered by Bedouins at Tamanrasset. Father Voillard became the second Superior General of the Society. In North Africa, close to Livinhac and Voillard, Maurice was in good hands.

Departure for Nyasaland

Maurice received his appointment for Nyasaland and became one of the founders of the new mission there. A photograph of Maurice, taken around that time, shows a smiling young man who seems to look to the future with confidence. On the 29th July 1902, he boarded ship at Marseille to start off with ten other missionaries on a long journey of 67 days. The journey saw them pass through Port Said, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and then Aden in Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, round the most Eastern tip of Africa, to sail finally into the Indian Ocean. They reached Chiwamba in Nyasaland on October 4th 1902, where the new mission station was to be founded and where he spent the first nine months of his missionary life in conditions of great insecurity. Apostolic life appeared to be much harder than he had anticipated, but that could only excite his romantic dreams of sacrifices and spiritual conquests. He started work at Chiwamba, together with Fathers Georges Guyard (+1903), Alfred Honoré (+1950), and Brother Sebastian (aka Albert Scholte +1952) and Fr. Alphonse Perrot (did not return to the Society in 1918 after serving in the French Army in World War I). Maurice had always been in need of friendship and affection and was not made to live alone. Already in North Africa, his superiors had described him as “open and full of life”, endowed with a “cordial understanding”. The “rule of three”, so dear to the White Fathers, suited him well and, clearly, he had landed well. In spite of frequent and lasting bouts of fever and a poor diet, the missionaries started their pastoral activities straightaway, such as celebrating the Eucharist and teaching the catechism. Maurice could not devote enough time to learn the language because of recurring health problems. Many year before, Therese, in her Carmel, had heard of the difficulties encountered and she wrote: “Over there, far away, there is an apostle who exerts himself and – to enlighten his tiredness – I offer mine to God”, and further on she says: “I made an agreement with God, so that He gives a bit of time off to these poor sick missionaries so that they find a bit of time to take care of themselves.”

In 1902, the British Colonial Administration was transferred to Lilongwe, and consequently the mission post of Chiwamba was closed because it was thought to be a good thing if the mission were sufficiently near the colonial administration. Thus the new post of Likuni was founded in November 1904, about eight kilometres from Lilongwe. Maurice, because of his knowledge of English, was appointed superior of this new post.

The same year, Bishop Joseph Dupont (+1930) returned from France and soon started to visit the various posts of his Nyasa Vicariate, in the company of Maurice, his secretary. The nickname ‘Motomoto,’ which Bishop Dupont had been given by the Africans, was apt: ‘moto’ means ‘fire’ and to double up the word meant a superlative, ‘a blazing fire.’ ‘Accendatur’ meaning, ‘may it burn’ was, in fact, the motto of Bishop Dupont. Later on, Maurice would have to suffer quite a bit from that fiery character. He travelled with his Bishop through the land of the Bemba people, Lake Bangweolo and the Luangwa valley which Father (later Bishop) Mathurin Guillemé (+1942) described as ‘a country without much appeal’. He reports that he and his colleagues were exhausted by the intense heat and dehydrated by thirst… clouds of mosquitoes gave them no respite… they were woken by the laugh of hyenas and the roar of the lions. Under those trying circumstances, daily efforts would cost those missionaries a lot.  

Threatened by deadly fevers

In 1903, Maurice wrote a letter to a priest-friend in France. He told him that he was suffering from black-water fever, a reduced but most dangerous kind of malaria; the urine becomes dark and death follows quickly. Maurice knew this and expected to die. However, he survived, because it was diagnosed in time and he got the necessary drugs that were available at the time. Soon he was active again, though in the diaries one does not find much information about his daily pastoral activities. Moreover, Maurice himself does not write much on that subject. Opinions from Nyasaland concerning him were fragmentary. We know that he clashed with a confrère who, himself, had serious health problems and was suffering from depression. On the contrary, the Dutch brother, Sebastian, who was keeping the diary of Likuni, was always full of praises for Maurice. Maurice himself was divided between, on the one hand, the humility which Theresa had instilled in him and, on the other, his pride in speaking English and of his worldly ambitions, dating back to his military career. He did not get on well with his confrères. Bishop Dupont himself was not an easy man because of his bouts of gout and was a demanding and severe superior. He could be very hard on Maurice and demanded much from his men. That, as well as his clashes with his confreres led Maurice to the brink of total discouragement.

Early departure from Nyasaland

After eight years, in October 1905, Maurice decided to leave Africa, a broken man. He went to Maison-Carrée to “lay down his arms” at the feet of his old Superior and good friend Bishop Livinhac. He had all the letters of Therese with him, and also the first version of ‘L’Histoire d’une Âme’ with a photograph of her in an oval frame. On the reverse, he had written out a prayer which he had received from Therese: “I ask of you, O Jesus, a heart that loves you, a heart that cannot be overcome, prepared to resume the fight after each storm, a heart that is free and does not allow itself to be seduced, a heart that is straight and does not follow crooked ways.” He was about to enter a dead end. Therese – and also Cardinal Lavigerie – had predicted it, he was about to ascend his own Calvary.

Father Maurice and compagnons preparing for departure to Nyassaland

Already in 1903, he had caught black-water fever and sleeping sickness and he had suffered from kidney problems which, possibly, affected his brain and sometimes left him confused. Because of all that, his confreres thought that he was no longer fully responsible for his actions. Moreover, because he had left his field of apostolate without the permission of his superiors, he was called to come and report to the General Council after his arrival in Europe. His answers did not satisfy them, but he was not severely punished. On the contrary, he received the order to go back to his mission. However, because he continued to suffer from bouts of fever, his doctor thought that a return to his mission would constitute a serious health hazard.

He was sent to Autreppe, in Belgium, to a rest house for sick missionaries, but soon after, the doctor decided that it would be better for him to go and breathe the fresh air of Langrune, in his home country of Normandy. It is not easy to know after that, who was responsible for him after he left the White Fathers. One thing is certain, his beloved adoptive mother died five months later. After her death, he became even more confused and from that moment, he soon deteriorated physically as well as mentally. He would lose his mind more and more; he

wandered around aimlessly and one day was found by his priest-friend, Father Adam, who placed him in an institute for the mentally ill in Caen. This is where he died on the 14th July 1907, five weeks after his 33rd birthday.  

In the old days, these institutions were cruelly called: ‘madhouses”. For Therese, this word would also be a knife blow to her heart. Indeed, it is in such an institution that her own father was admitted and died after three-and-a-half years. How much more would she have suffered had she known about the last days of her beloved little brother Maurice?

A man like us

There is a gap in the details about his last days. It is certain that he must have suffered greatly, even though we do not know the precise nature of his illness. In the diary of Likuni it is written that he suffered from sleeping sickness, caused by tsetse fly bites. It is also suggested that, maybe, he had a brain tumour. In any case, the sick Maurice was not the Maurice that the White Fathers had known in North Africa: “A young man open and full of life”, who had a “warm relationship with others”. The unfolding of the life of Maurice brings to our memory the words that Therese wrote in 1897: “When I enter into the Life, the suffering of my little brother will be transformed into peace and joy.”

The tombstone formerly sunken at an angle and covered with moss, at Langrune-sur-Mer, has given way to a beautiful funerary monument on which one can read the entry:”Maurice Bellière, spiritual brother and protégé of Saint Therese.” It is a moving epitaph! The exchange of letters between him and Theresa has taken him out of oblivion and has made him worthy of a title of precious greatness.

Little Saint Therese has revealed to us that God does not ask for more than what we can give. To entrust oneself to God who is “nothing but Love and Tenderness”, this is what she asked from Maurice. His life may have seemed to end in apparent failure; his ideal was great and his dreams boundless. All things considered, his end was certainly not a failure.

Piet van der Pas, M.Afr.