The History of the Luxemburg-Walloon Province Dehoniana 1978/1, 130-149
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DENIS, M. The History of the Luxemburg-Walloon Province Dehoniana 1978/1, 130-149 Per la citazione: DEH1978-12-EN The History of the Luxemburg-Walloon Province Marcel Denis, scj 1. THE PROVINCE 1 On the 13th April 1929 the General Council decided to apply to the Sacred Congregation for religious to have the Franco-Belgian province divided into two parts. The rescript was granted on the 25th May 1929 and the General Council fixed the 1st of October 1930 as the day when requested division would come into force. In the meantime all the members of the Franco-Belgian province were notified to opt for one or other of the two future provinces, before the 1st August 1930. 2 The headquarters of the Belgio-Luxemburg provincialate was in Brussels, as was the Procure for the mission to the Congo and the community who were responsible for the important public church of Rue E. Cattoir. The first provincial superior was Fr. Victor Pauly (1889-1953), who had already been provincial counsellor from 1923 to 1930. His term as provincial lasted from 1930 to 1937 and in the meantime he carried out the functions of Procurator for the Congo missions, which he held until the year 1953, when he died. 3 The first provincial counsellors were Frs. Gengler, Delgoffe, Veerkamp and Peffer. Fr. Max De Wulf was elected provincial bursar. At the beginning the new province was composed of the houses of Brussels, the novitiate of Brugelette-Fresignies, the scholasticate of Louvain, the house of administration at Quévy, the three apostolic schools of Clairefontaine, Tervuren and Lanaken. 4 In 1947, during the General Chapter, held from the 16th to the 19th of July, a further division of the Province was proposed, in such a way that Luxemburg would become autonomous. The proposal was defeated. 5 In 1953, in the much different context of the North-South division, the proposal was taken up again at the Chapter held at Howald from the 1st to the © Copyright riservato Centro Studi Dehoniani Roma – Sacerdoti Sacro Cuore di Gesù. Consentita la riproduzione integrale in fotocopia e libera circolazione senza fine di lucro. È vietato il plagio e la copiatura integrale o parziale di testi e disegni a firma degli autori – a qualunque fine – senza citare la fonte (Repubblica italiana, legge 18/08/2000 nº 248). Dehoniana 4th of June 1953. The thirteenth General Chapter, which started on the 7th of January 1954 in Rome, examined the proposal to divide the province. A committee comprised of members from the General Council and delegates from the province was elected and having carried out an on the spot investigation, they decided that the General Council should apply to the Holy See for the erection of two vice-provinces. As a result on the 1st December 1954 the Luxemburg-Walloon province came into existence. It was composed of the houses of Burnot, Charleroi, Clairefontaine, Howald, Luxemburg and Quévy, with a total of 129 religious. Louvain was declared provisionally utriusque provinciae, while Brussels depended directly on the General Curia. 6 The direction of the new vice-province was entrusted to Fr. Thomas Kaschten, assisted by Frs. Wirtz and Gindt. 7 In August 1955 the novices were transferred from Loppem to Cinqfontaines. 8 In 1960 the vice-province which had a total of 124 religious, became a province and the provincial superior became Fr. Jean Pierre Gindt, assisted by Frs. Kaschten, Trossen Wirtz and Adam. Fr. May was elected provincial bursar. 9 On the 1st of July 1964 the province of Zaire was erected. Many of the missionaries from the Luxemburg-Walloon province transferred to the new province. Some months later some of these missionaries were massacred by the Simba. 10 On the 1st May 1965 the scholasticate of Louvain was attributed to the Flemmish province. 2. THE HOUSES OF THE PROVINCE 11 Clairefontaine: The history of Clairefontaine was written by Fr. N. Kayser to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the house1. In this well documented work, one can find the history of the valley from the Gallic-Roman epoch up to the present day. 12 Fr. Rasset (1843-1905) wrote to his sister, a missionary sister, on the 23rd May 1889: “Our Father Superior is leaving for Luxemburg, where they have invited him to set up a house. Fr. Dehon notes in his Diary some days earlier: Visit of the Rev. Professor Hengesch of Luxemburg. Project of a foundation at our Lady of Clairefontaine, to recruit missionaries. We are praying. This project presents itself under favourable auspices” (NQ IV, 84v: 12-15 May 1889). 1 N. KAYSER, “Clairefontaine”. Ed. Heimat und Mission, Clairefontaine. 2 Dehoniana 13 There existed at Clairefontaine during the 18th and 19th centuries an artisan foundry. It belonged to the Simonet family and in the year 1860 there were still 80 workers employed there. But as a result of the advent of bigger industries, the foundry closed after the death of the last owner, Francis Simonet. In 1882, some priests from Luxemburg, professors at the major seminary, Frs. Berthel and Hengesch, bought a part of the Simonet property in order to set up a convent for the newly founded Congregation of Dominican Sisters, founded by Mother Clare Moes. The Dominicans did not stay there very long. In 1886 the anticlerical protest spread also to the province of Luxemburg and to the Arlon region, from where bullies came to molest the sisters. As a result the sisters felt too isolated and decided to return to the city of Luxemburg where they set up house at Limpertsberg. 14 Faced with the task of occupying the deserted convent of Clairefontaine Professor Hengesch thought of setting up a centre of spiritual assistance to the emigrants who were leaving for South America, many of them from Anversa. At Clairefontaine priests would be trained, and some would come from Italy, at the decision of Mons. Scalabrin, bishop of Piacenza. A young priest, who came from Italy, Rev. Henri Degrenne, initiated in 1888 at the abbey of Clairefontaine, the apostolate for the evangelisation of European emigrants. He succeeded in recruiting some candidates for the priesthood and he hoped to found a missionary congregation, which would be called the Congregation of Saint Peter Claver. At the end of the academic year the founder was taken ill and he did not see through his aim of founding a congregation which would have had contact with the priests of different dioceses. The candidates dispersed. 15 The Rev. Hengesch who, at the beginning of 1889, had spoken to one of our members on his way to Luxemburg, about Fr. Dehon (known as a stenographer at Vatican Council 1) thought of our Founder as someone who would continue the work at Clairefontaine. 16 This was the occasion of the journey of Fr. Dehon to Luxemburg. He wished to take note of the possibilities. He notes in his diary: “21-23 May. Journey to Luxemburg. Providence has granted us a great favour. We are going to Clairefontaine. Hopefully we will have a seminary there for missionaries for the territories of South America and Scandinavia. This journey to a Christian country is like a dream for a poor native of St. Quentin. What devotion these people have as I see them crowding to the pilgrimage of Our Lady of Consolation. The bishops of Luxemburg and Namur give me a very cordial reception” (NQ IV, 84v - 85r). 17 There was at that time a great zeal for the missions among the people of Luxemburg, especially for the territories of Norway and South America. Some seminarians from Ecuador were training in the Seminary at Luxemburg, intending to devote themselves to the apostolate in the republic 3 Dehoniana of legendary Garcia Moreno. Frs. Gabriel Grison and Irénée Blanc had left for Ecuador on the 10th of November 1888. There was then, a happy coincidence between this missionary project, the first of the Congregation, and the offer of the Rev. Hengesch. 18 Fr. Dehon speaks of his journey to Luxemburg in a letter to Mother Mary of the Sacred Heart, dated the 24th May 1889: “I had a very good trip to Luxemburg. All the arrangements have been made. We will start on the 13th of June (Saint Anthony of Padua). Send me two sisters to help us to set up house, two who can speak German. I am writing to Mons. Thibaudier to get permission. The house is called Clairefontaine. It is beside the station of Eischen, in Luxemburg. All of this seems providential to me. It is a very sacred place being an old monastery founded by Saint Bernard. People make pilgrimages there and there is also a miraculous fountain. All is ready. The sisters will find on their arrival that there are two cows, a poultry-pen, etc. A Dominican sister will remain with them for some weeks in order to help them. The House is dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Mater Misericordiae). The building is very beautiful. It will be a house for seminarians for service in Scandinavia and South America. The foundress of the Dominicans, with whom I have dealt, is a soul who has extraordinary graces”. 19 Fr. Dehon wrote to the “chere Mere”, the foundress of the handmaids, who at that time was in Dauendorf in Alsace. At the end of the letter he makes the following reflection: “Doesn’t it seem to you that the terrible dates of the 28th November and the 4th of December 1883 (the suppression of the Oblates by Rome) the date of Calvary, has changed for us to being a date of gratitude… I am happy now to accept the famous decree” (AD, B 18/3).