1843-1845: Sending out Missionaries

Mission to the Two Guineas

Mgr. Barron, the Irish missionary from the United States who was in charge at Cap des Palmes contacted Francis Libermann through Fr. Desgenettes, the parish priest of Our Lady of Victories. So in 1843, seven missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary, accompanied by three young laymen, sailed from Bordeaux and arrived at Cape Palmas.

During the winter of 1843-1844, two missionaries of the Holy Heart of Mary had died, along with Denis Pindar, the American layman. The second American priest, John Kelly, had lost heart and had returned to the United States.

In all, seven missionaries died of various tropical diseases by the end of the first year. By August 1844, only Fr. Bessieux remained at the mission of Cape Palmas and Brother Gregoire at Grand Bassam.

The two boarded a French ship that was heading for Gabon; when they arrived at Libreville, they decided to stay. That day, September 28, 1844, marks the beginning of the mission in Central Africa. Fr. Bessieux described their aim in a letter: we are here “to work for the salvation of souls and to give them knowledge of a religion which will bring them great joy”.

Difficulties in Haiti

In Haiti, Eugène Tisserant was named Prefect Apostolic, and in May 1845, Rome transferred him to Guinea as Prefect Apostolic . But his ship was wrecked off the coast of Morocco on December 7. All  passengers and crew died, including Eugène Tisserant.

When the news of the deaths in Guinea reached La Neuville, all the members of the community begged Libermann to let them set off at once for Guinea. “Far from discouraging us”, he wrote, “this news made us even more anxious to go”.

So the interest in this mission for the black people gathered pace and a new generation of missionaries offered their services to the Church. Libermann and his brothers were not exceptional men, but simply people who gave themselves totally to the mission, united to Christ through the Holy Heart of Mary.

Animation of the Mission

Libermann continued to direct and encourage the new foundation. He put his whole trust in the God who guides our history, and found his will in events as they happened. He took care to seek advice from those with missionary experience, like Mgr. Luquet and Mother Javouhey.

Libermann’s missions will be built on solid and stable foundations, based on the local conditions. His foundations will eventually follow the basic pattern of other Churches.

“In order to succeed with our very limited resources, we cannot just leave things to chance, with a vague idea of converting non-believers…there must be an overall plan and a timetable for the execution of the detailed steps, which will need much patience and perseverance,” said Libermann.

In his missionary strategy, Libermann realized that there could be no success without an apostolic plan of action. One essential step in this plan had to be the training of a local clergy, as suggested by Fr. Baradére in 1820, a Spiritan and the Prefect Apostolic of Saint Louis in Senegal, Baradére wrote: “The only way to evangelize the black people is to give them their own priests”.

The first were three young men from Senegal, David Boilat, Arsène Fridoil and Jean-Pierre Moussa, who were sent to Paris to study theology at the Seminary of the Holy Spirit and ordained priests on September 19, 1840.

The creation of a local clergy became a permanent priority of Spiritan missions from that time onwards.

The Creoles of Mauritius

The island of Mauritius is a crossroad of nations. In the Indian Ocean, the island is shared by Hindus, Moslems and Christians. In 1721, the French East Indian Company established a sugar cane industry, bringing in many slaves to work on the plantations.

By the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the island was ceded to the British and they expanded the sugar industry. When slavery was abolished in 1834, the planters brought workers from India.

By the middle of the 19th century, 80,000 of the 140,000 inhabitants of the island were living in abject misery. The planters were a small, dominant class who owned the land and employed the Indians to work for them.

The new Mauritian papers newspapers published articles and open letters that either  attacked or defended the Creole population that had recently emerged from slavery. All manner of crimes, drunkenness and laziness were attributed to these ex-slaves.

An English Bishop of Mauritius

The Holy See was unhappy with the situation of the Mauritian Creoles, mostly baptised Catholics. When an English Benedictine, Mgr. William Collier, was appointed Vicar Apostolic, he went in search of priests for this Church that had been put in his care.

He went to St. Sulpice in Paris and the Superior put him in contact with Frédéric Le Vavasseur who recommended Jacques-Désiré Laval. Fr. Laval had told him of his desire “to be the servant of Jesus Christ amongst despised people” and Laval soon left to go to Mauritius to be “a missionary of the poor black people”.

There Fr. Laval found about 80,000 illiterate people who had received no religious instruction, and many of whom had spent time in prison. He received no help from the other priests on the island who seemed to be unconcerned by the plight of these poor Creoles. They simply baptised the children and then left them to sink or swim.

He wrote to Francis Libermann in July 1842:

“Mauritius is in a terrible state…I am working from 9 in the morning until 10 at night, teaching catechism to these poor people and hearing their confessions, I have baptised about 60, married a large number and given first communion to about 40…You have to do everything yourself here; nobody is willing to give you a hand.”