Catholic Tradition in Africa, #10 - Society of St. Pius X

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$(N\2601 March 2012 English) - Society of St. Pius X$

2012 - No 10 4 tholic TR DITION frica in A C OTALIS SA CERD SA I P NCT TIS TA E II D NI CI ER MI AT DI S FR T E R A I C C T I R U F S A - S - IBU CH OMN RIS OMNIA IN TUS the Seminary of Libreville, President Bongo offered him a visit to these former students. He graciously chartered a jet for him so that Archbishop Lefebvre could go see Bishop Felicien Makouaka, Bishop of Franceville in the south of the country. Then a car - a huge Toyota off-road vehicle if you please! - was given to him as a welcoming gift, which allowed the Archbishop to go to N'Djole and Lambarene, where Fr. Marcel had spent several years. What a joy it was for him to see these places where he had spent the first years of his priestly life! When we left, the Archbishop gave the vehicle to Bishop N'Dong . . . the relationship was off to an excellent start! All this seemed to be Providence showing us that we should settle in Gabon. But that is not all, that is just, shall we say, the social and official side of things. There is also the spiritual aspect, which was certainly the most important in our eyes. Here is what happened. Some elders who had known Fr. Marcel wished to organise a Mass in Donguila at the famous old mission boarding school where Fr. Marcel had been the superior. The organiser, Mr. Valentin Obame, along with Mr. Michel N'Dong, both former students of “Donguila,” had announced the visit to their old colleagues of the boarding school. So all those who had known Fr. Marcel were there in Donguila, easily over a hundred people! They organised the Mass for January 17th, the day after the feast of St. Marcel. And wonder of wonders, the Archbishop was able to sing the Mass, even though Michel N'Dong had just come to ask me 15 minutes before what Mass we were going to sing! I asked the Archbishop, and he told me, “we could sing the Mass of the Epiphany,” – since it was only ten days after the feast day. So they opened their old books, had a five-minute practice, and then sang the Mass of the Epiphany, in Latin and in Gregorian chant, as it never would have been sung in Europe! The faithful knew it by heart! So you see, there was also this spiritual aspect, this attachment to the old Mass that they strongly desired and that showed us, yet again, that this was a sign from Providence, telling us the Mission should be founded in Gabon. As for the other countries, in Senegal Archbishop Lefebvre did not want to cause a problem for Cardinal Thiandoum who could help us elsewhere. It was more a diplomatic decision. In Cameroon, in Yaoundé, we had planned to meet an old Holy Ghost Father, but, alas, we were not able to as he had returned to France on sick leave. In the Ivory Coast the Archbishop would have liked to meet with President Houphouët de Boigny. We went to Yamoussoukro for this, but there was a Ministerial Meeting, so the Archbishop was not able to meet him. But those were good times; following the Archbishop along the roads he had travelled for more than 11 years when he was the Apostolic Delegate for all of French-speaking Africa. In Yamoussoukro we met one of the Archbishop's nephews, who was a cameraman in a big training college. But as far as the goal of our trip went, we saw that Providence was waiting for us elsewhere. TCA: After this journey and these first signs from Providence, how did the foundation in Libreville go? Fr. Groche: After this wonderful trip, Archbishop Lefebvre thought that we should start the foundation in Libreville a year later. So I came back to Gabon in August of the same year to take a more practical look at the details and means of our move. Mr. Valentin Obame and I began to look at what real estate agents had to offer; what sort of house we could rent and in which district. I began to organise the preparation of our foundation, since everything, or almost everything, had to be shipped over from Europe. We planned to arrive in Gabon on January 16th, 1986, exactly one year after the Archbishop's trip, which would allow us to place the foundation under the patronage of St. Marcel - I don't think I need to explain why! So there you have it. I arrived on January 14th, 1986, and Professor Sélégny and his wife, the parents of Fr. Arnold Sélégny, who is currently a professor at Ecône, met me at the Libreville airport and put me up in their home. Once I was there, my first job was to find a house, which was not easy, because, relatively speaking, the prices were very high. This was before the devaluation, so everything cost twice as much as it does today. We were to start by renting a place. After looking all over Libreville without finding anything satisfactory, our agent mentioned another house. But she was hesitant, because the owner was apparently a tough man when it came to business, and it would be too much for our budget. Being naturally curious, I asked to see the house anyway. As I toured the two-story house, I saw its great potential. But I had been forewarned: the owner was tough when it came to business. So I said to the agent: “We could always ask him. Maybe he could lower the price a little. I could raise mine a little and we might just end up getting along!” She was not at all convinced, but she played the go-between anyway. So the negotiations began. As it turned out, the owner, Mr. Lubin N'Toutoume, was the Mayor of the City of Libreville – in charge of all the mayors for the districts in Libreville. We would also find out later that he was related to Mgr N'Dong! Thanks to St. Joseph, he agreed to lower his price and I agreed to raise mine. Three weeks later we moved in. And that is where we've been for 25 years! Mr. N'Toutoume was a very colourful and interesting person. He even defended us against the Archbishop of Libreville. When the late Mgr Anguillé found out we were renting from Mr N'Toutoume, he tried to have us evicted. But Mr. N'Toutoume answered him with his habitual outspokenness, “You are ungrateful, it is thanks to Archbishop Lefebvre that you are what you are today.” Yes, he defended us well! TCA: Father, the beginning of a foundation is the time for setting out precise goals; could you tell us what the goal of the mission in Gabon was, and how the mission developed? Fr. Groche: Since the first purpose of the Society is seminaries, and since the Archbishop had received letters from several young men interested in the Society, our first objective, when we arrived in Gabon, was to see how we could develop this seminary work in Africa. We wanted to begin with that, but as soon as we arrived, more and more Librevillese came to see us and to assist at our Masses on Sundays and on weekdays. And the seminarians who seemed interested did not necessarily all come from Gabon: they also came from Togo and the neighbouring countries. Out of prudence, we had to visit them to get a better idea of
Building of the School them before letting them come. It took time to study these vocations and almost all of them were not “ad hoc”! Our first goal did not become secondary, but we had to start by taking care of all those souls who were coming to us at the same time – necessity imposed this priority. For it is there at the mission that the true vocations would be revealed. Here is how it happened. Soon after we arrived, a man showed up, his name was Jean-François. Rev. Mr. Karl Stehlin received him: “Is this the home of the priests of Archbishop Lefebvre?” - “Yes, hello, Sir.” - “Father, I give myself to you!” It was as straightforward as you can get! “Why yes! But who are you, Sir?” - “I'm an old parishioner from the mission. I love the Latin Mass.” This Fang from Oyem had heard of Archbishop Lefebvre, and, next thing you know, he was on our doorstep. On his way back home he stopped at Mr. Daniel Bibang's house and told him, “the Fathers of Archbishop Lefebvre are here with the old Mass like we had before . . .” So, Mr. Daniel Bibang showed up that same afternoon. He was our second parishioner! And since then, he has given the Society its first Gabonese priest. Then more men started to come, and good men at that, but there were only men. One day I asked: “But there are only men here? Aren't there any women?” “Oh yes, Father, just wait a little and they will come.” That was when I understood that in Gabon serious things are taken care of first by the men. Then, afterwards, they send the women and children. Today there are many more women than men. We are overcrowded! All the better. Little by little, we began to have Mass in the house that I had rented from Mr. N'Toutoume. His old office became our oratory. Then the number of faithful started growing, and we had to move the altar to the living room which opened onto a covered porch with full-length windows. This was practical, because even from outside the faithful could follow the Mass. Then we had to open the curtain separating the refectory from the chapel so that the faithful could assist at Mass from our dining room. But things were becoming overcrowded. Then, just before Holy Week 1987, we had the idea to set up tarpaulins over the courtyard. We borrowed the tarpaulins from the French army base and hung them up before the garages, where we had set up the altar. Later on we installed a metal roof to cover that area and that became our first permanent chapel, which we extended once again when we had purchased the property. Rev. Mr. Karl Stehlin, a German deacon, arrived three weeks after me in the beginning of February, with an enormous amount of baggage. So as to be able to fit more into his bags, Pilgrimage to Lourdes he had worn three pairs of trousers for the trip! I cannot begin to tell you how much he suffered from the heat when he arrived at the Libreville airport where the temperature was over 30ºC (86F), with 98% humidity. He almost fainted at the Sélégnys' where we had dinner on the evening of his triumphant arrival. Fr. Loïc Duverger, ordained on the 29th June 1986, by Archbishop Lefebvre, arrived on August 15th of that memorable year. The St. Pius X Mission thus began with two priests and a deacon, and it was great! How fortunate it would be if all priories could start off like that – they would be so good and so strong! It was a real blessing to have two priests and a deacon from the start, especially a gifted deacon who knew how to sing Gregorian chant and who, with his many qualities, could help the priests with catechism, preaching, distributing communion, and baptisms. He was very much appreciated, and even today, the faithful of Libreville have not forgotten Fr. Karl. TCA: Father, many priests have given some time to the Mission in Libreville; why did you concentrate on the Libreville Mission? Couldn't you have sent some elsewhere and thus spread the Society's missionary work? Fr. Groche: We stayed at the Mission because, first of all, the faithful were abundant, as were the children at catechism. It is obvious that if we want to form the faithful and the children well in their catechism, to prepare them well to receive the sacraments – Baptism, Communion, Confirmation – we have to give classes regularly, at least twice a week. If we want to take care of the sick, we have to bring them communion as often as possible. This means that we cannot go everywhere; we cannot flit around from place to place and neglect the apostolate that must be profound if we wish God's grace to truly work for the salvation of souls. What is more, travelling is expensive in Africa, and the climate is so hard that we cannot let ourselves disperse and risk ruining our health in a few short years. I remember a retreat where Fr. Schmidberger said: “It's not martyrs that we need; it's confessors, because they last longer!” We understood what he meant. He was not against martyrdom, but he wanted us to save our strength so that we would last a long time. And I think he was speaking from experience. We needed to be in Libreville often and for a long time in order to accomplish a profound work. Archbishop Lefebvre once said to me: “We need to make a 2012 - No 10 5 tholic TR DITION frica in A C RIS TUS OMNIA IN OMN CH IBU S - - A S F U T I R C C I A R E T FR S DI AT MI ER CI NI E TA II D TIS I P SA NCT CERD OTALIS SA
Page 1 and 2: In this issue: Editorial p 2 Gabon
Page 3: virtues! Our gratitude extends also
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Page 11: The Priestly Society of Saint Pius

Catholic Tradition in Africa, #10 - Society of St. Pius X

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