Missionaries of Africa
Province of Uganda

In the footsteps of Fr. Mapeera Lourdel and Brother Amans

17th February 1879 -130Years- 17th February 2009

Dear confrères and friends,

We are very priviledged to celebrate this year a special event, i.e. 130 years since the arrival of the pioneer missionaries to Uganda, Fr. Mapeera Lourdel and Brother Amans. This important historical event was a call for us, Missionaries of Africa-White Fathers and White Sisters, to trace and even follow the footsteps of the early missionaries.

The occasion brought us back to Ssese Islands, and in particular to Bugoma Islands. It seems to be a firm tradition on the island that Mapeera Lourdel and Brother Amans arrived on that very island some two days before they landed at Kigungu, Entebbe, on 17th February 1879. To honour this event some of our confrères joined the Rev. Bishop of Masaka Diocese, Msgr. Kaggwa and many Christians from the island, to solemnly recall and remember the moment the missionaries set foot on Ugandan soil and also the moment they arrived in the Kingdom of Buganda.

On 17th February 2009 then we embarked on our pilgrimage following the footsteps of Mapeera Lourdel and Brother Amans, this time on the mainland in Kigungu, near Entebbe airport. We joined in the annual pilgrimage of the Archdiocese of Kampala, which this year was organised by the deanery and parish of Entebbe.

The occasion could not have been more festive and beautiful. As we read in the local media: "So this year's 130th anniversary was celebrated with mass led by the Archbishop of Kampala Diocese, Dr. Cyprian Lwanga. The function was graced by Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala, Auxiliary Bishop of Kampala, Christopher Kakooza, Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of Masaka and Bishop Emeritus of Kabale, Robert Gay, M. Afr and many priests from different parishes in the country-not to forget of course the impressive number of Missionaries of Africa-White Fathers, dressed in ghandoura and rosary, who had made their way to Kigungu."

The Missionary Sisters of our Lady of Africa together with many other sisters and nuns and thousand of Christians from near and far had gathered that day in the little fishing village on the shores of Lake Victoria.

May Mapeera Lourdel and Brother Amans accompany us through this Season of Lent,

Rudi Lehnertz, M. Afr.

Some notes related to the historical journey of Fr. Mapeera Lourdel
and Brother Amans from Algiers to Kigungu in Uganda.

19.03.78: Lavigerie's last instructions and blessing to his 10 missionaries at Notre Dame d'Afrique, Algiers. He then left for Europe to look for money, to thank the Pope and interest Leopold, king of Belgium, in the mission...
End of March: Frs. Charmetant and Deniaud leave for Zanzibar to prepare the arrival of the caravan. During that time, the missionaries were reading the expeditions of the first Europeans who had been there: Livingstone, Burton, Cameron, Stanley... and prepared their luggage; they write their last will! (Cf. Lourdel's will)
17.04.78: They leave Algiers for Marseilles.
21.04.78: The 10 missionaries leave Marseilles on the Yang Tse.
30.05.78: They arrive in Zanzibar.
17.06.78: They left Bagamoyo, a little harbour along the Indian Ocean, north of Dar-es- Salaam. They started their journey into the interior of Africa, opening up their way through the wilderness, a long safari of 1120 kilometers, a journey of 7 months. They were: Frs. Leon Livinhac (33 y.), Siméon Lourdel (26 y.), Ludovic Girault (26 y.), Leo Barbot (33 y.) and Bro Delmas Amans (27 y.) They were for the Uganda Mission.
The 5 others will continue towards Lake Tanganyika, Ujiji: Tanganyika Mission.
(Names: Frs. Pascal, Deniaud, Dromaux, Delaunay and Augier.)

With them were 450 men, some were to carry the loads of food, tents, cotton, etc. and a variety of gifts that would be used to pay for their passage through the different small kingdoms and for their kings or rulers. Others would be soldiers to protect them against bandits who may try to loot their goods, or against wild animals.

Every day they walked 15 to 20 kilometers. Some days, fever or other difficulties like rivers, animals, thieves, strikes of porters, etc. prevented them from going ahead or they could walk some 5 kilometers only. They had to send messages to Tabora to get more porters, but they were very expensive.

12.09.78: (after 3 months) they reached Tabora; literally exhausted; they had all them suffered from fever; many of their porters had deserted with their loads (a good half of them!). Joachim Pascal, superior of the Tanganyika group, died during the trip, (19.08.78), and was buried deep in the forest, near Ugogo. Sometimes the Fathers had to be carried in hammocks.
Time-table: 4.30: up! Tents were folded, packed, provisions stores. After a meal, they started walking at 6 am up to midday, where they choose a new site.
The Fathers were studying Swahili, writing letters, diary, and reading the books by Cameron, Stanley, Burton, Speke...

18.11.78: After a few weeks of resting, following the instructions received from their founder, the 5 missionaries chosen for Uganda left their 4 other brothers preparing themselves to leave for Ujiji. They started their safari towards Lake Victoria and finally reached its shores at Kageye, on 30.12.78.

20.01.79: Lourdel and Amans leave for Uganda after some rest. They spent 28 days on the lake together with some rowers. The boat followed the shore of the lake and they would spend the night on an island or on the shore.

17.02.79: They arrive at Kigungu. They spend a night at Kisubi and then some days in Kitebi near Mutundwe, 3 miles from Rubaga, near Wankulukuku stadium.

23.02.79: King Mutesa I gives his consent to their establishment in his kingdom.

07.03.79: They entered the house built by Mukwenda, on the king's order. This is the opening date of the first catholic parish in Uganda, at Nabulagala.

The will of Lourdel: 15th April 1878

"In the name of the most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and under the maternal gaze of Our Lady of Africa. Before leaving for unknown and far away regions, from where I probably will never come back, I want to assert that the only motive which animates me is the desire of giving glory to God through the extension of Jesus Christ's kingdom in the souls; I want to die as a devoted child of the catholic, apostolic and roman Church, faithful to his venerable head, Leo XIII, successor of the glorious Pius IX, offering my poor life for the glory of this Holy Church, and also for the salvation of our poor unhappy France... May God come to my help and always keep me under his protection, and receive me in his eternal house. I end by recommending myself to the prayers of my good brothers, because I really need them."

Siméon Lourdel, M. Afr.

HE WALKED IN THE SHADOW OF MAPEERA LOURDEL AS A HUMBLE, SELF-EFFACING MAN
(Brother Amans Delmas 1852-1895)

" Commenting on the irreplaceable role of the missionary Brother, in October 1879, the editor of "Missions d'Alger" wrote: ‚One of them, Brother Amans, having completed his two years of noviciate, left Algiers for Equatorial Africa. His journey lasted more than one year and was marked with incredible sufferings, at long last he has now reached the term of his journey. It is in the shadows of a forest, in that part of Africa, in front of an altar made of a few tree trunks that this young religious has taken the Oath to dedicate himself until death to the missions of Africa. In that solemn moment few men witnessed the holocaust, but God ratified his promise in heaven. The example of this apostle soon found imitators: hardly a few months later three more Brothers of the same Society requested the honour of following him."

If we put Mapeera Lourdel in the lime light, we must be very conscious of the fact that there was a faithful servant who stood by him night and day, one who bore the brunt of all his enterprises. Mapeera Lourdel was the 'Mukulu' (père or father), the one who bad the responsibility, who went to the court of the Kabaka, who wrote long letters to his superiors, his friends and family. Amans was 'only' a brother but it was he who had to organize all the material side of the new missions to be founded, who took care of the orphans, who was responsible for the gardens and many other things, so that some decent food could be put on the table. He was sent to the south of Lake Victoria on very dangerous trips to ferry people and luggage. . . Without the help of Amans, Mapeera Lourdel could never had done what he did. It takes two hands to wash your fingers clean.

Brother-missionaries more even than father-missionaries feel themselves called to give shape to this dream of universal Brotherhood in union with Him. They do ordinary jobs and exercise ordinary professions in an extra-ordinary way without standing on a pedestal but by working in close collaboration with other people so that God's reign may become a reality among us. In fact, the first African members to join the missionaries of Africa in the 1980ties and 1890ties were brothers. Not only were they Africans, they were Ugandans: Leo Lwanga and Tobbi Kizza. In the Dutch Province of the missionaries of Africa, they had brothers who went to Africa 6 years before the first priest of that province was ordained!

Brothers made an enormous contribution to the growth of the Mission in Africa but their work is sometimes underestimated and that is an injustice. How many of us know for example that a Dutch brother of the Missionaries of Africa, who was trained as a tailor, built the big cathedral on the hill of Lubaga? Every body knows the names of the bishops, archbishops and cardinals who presided in this cathedral, but do we know the name of this brother. The cathedral still stands after almost a century. Experts inspected this church about 20 years ago and were amazed at the solidity of the building. They just could not find any fault with it.

Brothers not only built but they did many other things in order to educate people to become real professionals in many occupations. Yet the distinction between 'father' and 'brother' persists in spite of all that Jesus has said and stood for. How often did it happen that a brother did all the building at a certain mission and yet that mission would be called the foundation of father so and so in spite of the fact that father so and so was not even able to hammer a nail into a wall...? Let this not happen to Amans and Mapeera Lourdel.

Lourdel and Amans were as brothers to one another: they arrived together, worked together to set up their first mission at Nabulagala and later at Nalukolongo. They endured the same hardships and dangers of all kinds. Both fell victim to malaria and fatigue when they were still in the prime of their lives. Why should we now separate them in our quest for their beatification?

(from Jo van de Ven. MAfr)


Cliquer pour agrandir la carte du Vicariat "Victoria-Nyanza" (vers 1890)

From The Uganda Flash March 2009
Leave the mouse abose the picture for reading the legend

For More

* 2008 :The beginning of the Mission in southern Uganda and the organization of the catechumenate 1879-1914 by Marinus Rooijackers

* 12 May 1890 - Death of Father Lourdel (1853-1890) (by Fr. Stefaan Minnaert M.Afr. & photos archives)

* Archbishop Léon Livinhac, (White Father) Founder of the Catholic Church in Buganda, 1846-1922 (by Fr. Stefaan Minnaert M.Afr. & photos archives)

NABULAGALA 1879-1882
Opening of our new parish Mapeera-Nabulagala in Kampala June 24th 2007