MEMOMARANDUM

On the Missions of the Blacks in general and that of Guinea in particular, presented to

the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, by Father Libermann, Superior of the Missionaries

of the Holy Heart of Mary.

Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lords,

The Sacred Congregation has deigned to do us the singular favor of accepting our

services for the salvation of black people, especially for those in Haiti, Guinea, etc. It is

therefore our duty, and as a matter of principle, to render account to her with regards to

anything that might contribute to the advancement and stability of our holy religion among

these people, regardless of questions of detail that would interest Your Eminences also. The

Sacred Congregation shall order what the spirit of God, which enlightens her, will inspire her

on all these points. We, in exact obedience to the orders we shall receive, will march with

courage in the path of the apostolate, assured of assistance from the grace of Jesus Christ, in

fulfilling his divine will.

In order not to abuse of the precious moments that Your Eminences commit with so

much glory to the expansion of our holy faith in the world, we will simply draw your attention

almost exclusively to a few matters of principle, whose prompt solution is for us of utmost

importance.

After recalling rapidly to Your Eminences the special purpose of our nascent society

and the circumstances in which our Lord has given rise to it in his Church, we will expose to

you the difficulties of our work and the means we appeal to you to bless so as to help us

overcome them.

General condition of the Black population

When you consider black people, on any point on earth that you see them, it is

tempting to believe that a curse from God has been following their race since its inception and

has kept it bent under the weight of shame and sorrow.

Everywhere, up till now, they live in poverty, in stupid ignorance, in ridiculous

superstitions, in corruption, and everywhere they are neglected; no one holds out a helping

hand to snatch them from the hellish power, which manacled them under its yoke.

For many centuries, legions of apostles sent by the “mother of the Churches” in the

conquest of souls fly to the ends of the world with this divine zeal that the grace of Jesus

Christ alone can provide, while at the door of the Europe, millions of people languish in

ignorance and misery, and nobody thinks of removing them from it. However, these men are

made in the image of God as others, and are disposed to receive the treasure of the Faith they

do not know.

In the countries where some merciful Providence seems to have led them so as to free

their souls, subjecting their bodies to a cruel bondage, in those countries where they ought to

find riches and the consolations of grace, their souls perish in misery in the midst of

abundance, with no one to rescue them.

Origin of the Society of the Holy Heart of Mary

These reflections have made a deep and very vivid impression on us. While

acknowledging the hand of God in this almost universal neglect, we felt a continual longing to

come to the rescue of these so unhappy people. We looked at this desire as divine inspiration

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and strengthened in our design by the encouragement of the Sacred Congregation, we

conceived the consoling hope that, the time of salvation being finally here for those poor

people, they too will finally be asked to take their share of the grace of Jesus Christ and their

place in the Holy Church.

We were more and more confirmed in this hope by the blessings that the Divine

Mercy poured on us, as soon as we got down to work, enabling us within a few years to

undertake and pursue missions so important as those which the Sacred Congregation has

deigned to entrust to our care.

We saw, on the other hand, throughout Europe, a spontaneous movement to rescue the

black race, and to raise it up from its lowliness. We saw several companies, both commercial

and humanitarian, engage actively with it, and the most powerful governments of Europe

undertake its civilization using considerable resources.

We saw this universal movement as the action of God himself, and we admired the

divine providence, which, after leaving these poor people for so long in darkness and misery,

suddenly put in motion so many dynamics to get them out.

We did not hide from the fact that this movement aiming for their happiness could

become pernicious and disastrous for their souls. Government employees, commercial agents,

henchmen of humanitarian organisations, almost all the scum of European nations and

enemies of the Church, spreading among the people, could only bring devastation on the

souls, while providing some relief to the miseries of the body.

This line of thought, with all it had to discourage us, animated us to the contrary to

continue our action with greater fervour. We saw with admiration that in the midst of this

movement so dangerous to the souls, the paternal Providence of God had wanted the Holy

Church to take her place, to shine among these nations with the light of faith and the grace

salvation, while the world seeks to provide them with material well-being.

One single thought grieved us when we took a critical look at ourselves; we could

hardly see how the Divine Master could have chosen men so weak and so devoid of any

physical, moral and intellectual means to fight so tremendous enemies, children to conquer

giants. We would have liked our Holy Mother to be with represented more dignity. We were

ashamed for her and for us; however we thought that the will of God was made manifest and

we could not disobey it. We trust that the favour of Jesus Christ will always be our force, and

that the Sacred Congregation will always deign to support us by her advice, her

encouragement and her orders. With these means, we hope to work efficiently for the glory of

God and for the exaltation of his Holy Church.

Objections to our work

However, several persons have tried in the beginning to distract us from our

enterprise; they wanted to persuade us that our zeal and our efforts would be used to no avail,

and that we would never achieve positive results. “Those people, we were told, in speaking of

the Negroes, will never learn to behave themselves, or persevere in the good feelings that we

seek to inspire in them. They are stupid, incompetent, with no heart, they are thieves and

unruly to the point that we cannot do anything good with them, even by the dint of the lash;

they are corrupt and vicious nature. It is therefore unnecessary to exhaust your energy for

nothing.”

Although we had then no experimental knowledge of the people about whom we were

given such a gloomy picture, we were not shocked by this language; we could not believe that

the wisdom and goodness of God would exclude so many people from the immense benefit of

Redemption. We understood that those who spoke thus felt things superficially and greatly

exaggerated the difficulties they saw.

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Weakness of these objections as shown by experience

Now that we have had the experience of things, we are able to put forward a formal

and complete refutation of these assertions.

We are happy to be able to affirm to Your Eminences that, in all the countries where

our missionaries have seen them, the Blacks in general are naturally kind, gentle, sensitive

and grateful; easy to lead when they are treated with kindness and charity.

One obtains from them everything one wants, whenever they are given the grounds of

religion. The principles of the faith enter easily in their minds and cannot be easily wiped

away; religious feelings produce deep impressions in their heart. Their sensitive nature seems

to be made for Catholic truths, and Christian virtues strike and attract them. Our missionaries

on the coast of Senegambia, though not knowing the language of the natives, have made, right

from the beginning, a deep impression on their souls by visible religiosity and some charitable

deeds they have had the occasion to practice. “The white marabous are good, they said, we

must give them everything they want, because they love God and men.”

The intelligence of Blacks

Blacks are not less intelligent than other people. My confreres in the island of Bourbon

and in Guinea assure me that you will find a great number of them capable of doing classical

studies and succeeding at it.

Blacks, numbering more than six thousand, whom my confreres have in their

catechisms in the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, generally learn the Christian doctrine

very well and with ease. Often, they give answers full of clarity, wisdom and intelligence.

One must teach them, indeed, in a simple way and speak their uncouth language; the absolute

lack of any sort of education would make a higher language incomprehensible to them. But

they understand perfectly the crux of the matter and recast it with intelligence and fidelity.

Now, if in the state of neglect where they are and the stupid ignorance in which they are

raised, they are able to understand and develop fully the truths contained in the Christian

doctrine, is it credible that these same men being civilized, well educated from childhood, and

receiving a good education, cannot be good fathers, cannot be placed in different classes of

society and produce priests who can do good in the Church? One of our missionaries from

Bourbon said that many blacks in his catechism of perseverance would be able to compete for

the prize in the early catechisms in Paris, notwithstanding their manner of expression – the

lack of instruction renders them incapable, but not as to the knowledge of the crux of the

matter.

Four or five years ago, a man of excellent understanding, born in the colonies, often

assured me that there were among them even some transcendent spirits. He recounted to me

two facts to which proved it.

He knew a Black man who, not knowing to read nor count, with all his rough

upbringing of a slave, was an excellent mechanic. One day, he showed him a very

complicated steam engine. After considering all the details of the mechanism, he explained it

with the most punctual accuracy.

The second fact: about thirty slaves conspired for their deliverance. The plans were so

well thought out that, had they not been betrayed, in less than six hours they would have had

thousands of black people under their command, well before the whites could have been able

to notice anything at all. The secret was well kept until when, just some hours before the time

of execution, one of them was touched with remorse at the sight of the massacre was to result

from the success of the plan and warned his masters who were designated as the first victims.

Without doubt these unfortunate wretches were doing something detestable, but they proved

by this that the African race counts people capable of leadership and resolution.

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In America, where blacks are treated with contempt and where they are in such

degradation that we hardly dare to add any emphasis what one tells us, there are, in spite of

this degree of degradation, many among the emancipated who have acquired considerable

fortunes. It follows that they must have some development of intelligence and industry to

acquire their fortunes in such a situation.

We could cite many other facts to support our assertion. One would object to these

arguments that it has to do with some exceptional cases, and so one should not draw any

conclusion for the masses among whom little intelligence is perceptible.

We respond that in the situation where the black race all over the globe is, only

transcendental minds can break through and become known. Even for these, the

circumstances have to be in their favour. But how many solid minds remain buried in the

ignorance and the degradation that cover them? Moreover, when we see among them those

with more than ordinary intelligence, it seems plausible that we should not have any difficulty

in believing the missionaries constantly occupied with them when they assure us there are a

lot of them with an open mind capable of accommodating development.

Depravity of Blacks and its causes

It is unfortunately only too true that there is a great demoralization among the black

slaves in general and among blacks in some savage coasts of Africa.

In the last case, this demoralization comes almost entirely from the contact with

Europeans. Several people, including a native, have assured us that this corruption does not

exist in the interior.

Besides, even on the coasts, we have not heard them make the reproach of being

corrupt among themselves, but of surrendering themselves to the discretion of the Europeans.

This situation is common with the savages of Oceania and all other maritime countries in

contact with Europeans.

The black slaves are perverted among themselves, but there is nothing there that

should surprise anybody. It would be rather much surprising and morally impossible for it to

be otherwise. People who were born in the most abject misery, left to themselves from

childhood, raised in the most degrading ignorance, receiving no lessons in morality and virtue

during their youthful age, later overwhelmed with labour and hardship, lacking any kind of

bodily, intellectual or moral pleasures, fed constantly with gall and bitterness, humiliated,

degraded, treated like animals; these ruined, unfortunate and withered souls, however have

lively passions and find themselves in a situation that encourages them. These passions

happen to be the only enjoyment that is within their power to procure. Yet sensible people

would make the world believe that we must wonder at and be discouraged by this corruption!

It could be that these people judge things superficially, or their authority is worthless. It could

well be that they are steeped in prejudice, and thus are no longer worthy of any credence.

If at least in the midst of so many misfortunes the poor slaves had in them the strong

principle of faith enlightened by a solid education and sustained by the practices of religion,

they would have had a barrier to oppose the powerful drives of passions rendered formidable

by the force of circumstances.

If one considers the six thousand blacks who attend our catechisms in Bourbon and

Mauritius, one will notice to what extent one was wrong to judge so lightly and with such

severity so unfortunate a people that ought to excite compassion. One will appreciate that it

would have been better to seriously begin to pull them out from the distressing condition in

which their souls are than to be discouraged at the sight difficulties. These six thousand blacks

behave like devout Christians. They are the consolation of the missionaries. A good number

of them live very innocent lives to the point that many do not have any reason for absolution

in the Holy tribunal.

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The biggest obstacle facing our missionaries for the restoration of morality comes

from a measure taken by teachers with good intentions. This measure consists in preventing

categorically every slave to marry a black woman from a household other than his own.

It is known that blacks, once married in the Church, remain faithful to their conjugal

duty, take care of their household, look after their children, become role models for their peers

and are respected for that. But one cannot marry them against the wishes of their masters

when these disapprove of the relationship in which they engage. The evil is incurable and so,

more often than not, the passion outweighs the efforts of missionaries.

As for those who are not married yet, one has seen among the black women models of

innocence and piety, martyrs of chastity. Rather than consent to evil, they had been enduring

with angelic constancy the most inhuman treatment for a considerable time without the hope

of relief. These examples are not rare.

Several of these pure souls are willing to consecrate themselves to God.

Tendency for theft

As for theft, the charge is true; it remains only to explain the motivation.

In the colonies, it is the same as that which drives them into impurity, and it seems to

us that with any degree of logic, it is clear that no absolute conclusion can be drawn from it

against this very unfortunate people. The Blacks whom our missionaries are taking care of

correct this defect well, despite the state of misery in which they are. Why would the others

not do as much, if one should take them out of the misery, the ignorance and the absolute

neglect in which they are?

In the savage countries, the propensity for theft is a result of the childhood of this

people. The wealth that the Europeans carry to their land is for them the object of curiosity

that we cannot be fully aware of in our customs. It excites in them an extraordinary interest.

They covet it intensely and nothing stops the effect of this envy, neither religion nor

education. Moreover, as the Europeans are to them beings of a different nature than their own,

it is natural that they are being lured to desire to possess these objects.

But let one instruct them, let one civilize them, let one give them the principles of the

faith, let one teach them to evaluate the items brought by the Europeans; let one make them

understand that these Europeans are their brothers, that they are children of one God; let one

teach them to love and serve God, and you will see that these poor people can correct much of

their greed.

Reproach of fickleness

It therefore remains to fight one last complaint: fickleness; the Blacks will not

persevere.

Example of Haiti

We have against this assertion, first of all, seven hundred thousand witnesses on the

island of Haiti. This people were born slaves. They were, therefore, neglected from the outset

in every respect. Since fifty years, they no longer receive any religious instruction. The only

thing they have to look up to is the public scandals of their priests, of whom the vast majority

are mercenaries who, without hiding, turn the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the most sacred

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things into objects of traffic. The Protestants are making desperate efforts to take control of

minds and Government policy is helping them with all its might. One employs every means

to deceive and to seduce the people; but this people, otherwise so ignorant of the principles of

the faith, resist everything and remain committed to the Church with admirable perseverance.

Let one carry this state of affairs into any European country that one would wish, and

one will judge whether the Blacks have less perseverance than the Europeans in the faith of

their fathers.

The same constancy, the same attachment to the Catholic faith, with roughly similar

circumstances, exists among African people in almost all the British West Indies.

We must note that almost all the Blacks spread all over the Caribbean in general are

from the coast of Guinea. So there is reason to hope that religion, once established on the

coasts, will remain implanted forever.

It is true that in Haiti, the majority of the Blacks are Catholic in name only and by

some external practices; that even their religion is mixed with a multitude of superstitious and,

in some areas, idolatrous, practices.

But one must consider that it is morally impossible for it to be otherwise. Let one

imagine a nation of slaves derived from the savage and idolatrous lands of Africa, receiving

an education and leading a life of slavery, that is to say, living in constant work, in ignorance,

degradation, debasement, neglected in all respects in intellectual, moral and religious terms.

Imagine a similar people suddenly freed from the yoke that had been oppressing them,

delivered from the tyrants who mistreated them, left alone to themselves and to a freedom

with no brakes and no limits. Add to that the fear of falling back again under the power of

these masters, and one will understand all the phases of misery and horror that have

developed in that unfortunate island.

Moreover, the same people, amid such political and social tumult, received no notion

of the principles of our holy religion, especially the people of the mountains. Now, how in

such a situation, can one conclude not only against this people, but against the whole race to

which they belong?

Reproach of indolence

But we are told again, the Blacks are lazy; they like idleness. Once they are freed, they

do nothing, in their homeland, they no longer do anything. How can we expect the

perseverance of a people lazy?

Here is what we have to answer these charges.

In the colonies, one gives to the unfortunate Negroes so heinous and so disgusting

work that they drop it as soon as the whip no longer forces them. In the days immediately

following their release, it is not laziness that keeps them in idleness but the distaste for work

and the wrong idea that they have given themselves of it right from childhood.

Take the revulsion, first of all. People who were obliged from childhood to work as

beasts of burden, by the force of blows and abuse, working ruthlessly and relentlessly and not

deriving any personal gain or satisfaction: is it any wonder that such people should have much

distaste for work right from childhood? A slave continuously overwhelmed with fatigue,

condemned to do all the time the hardest work and threatened with severe punishment for the

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least break taken, must consider it a supreme happiness to live without doing anything. This

impression follows him when he becomes free. He grows accustomed gradually, his children

alike, to reprehensible idleness.

The loathsome concept of work comes from the fault of Whites.

In the colonies, never do the Whites work. They hold the least manual work in

contempt; that sort of work must be done by slaves. Accordingly, work and slavery are

synonymous. The slave is identified with this idea and sees in his work the stamp of his

degradation. Having become free, it is only natural that he has a strong aversion to what he

had up till then considered as shackles and as a sign of his servitude. To prove that his horror

for work comes from two reasons, one needs only to consider the answer given by an

emancipated Black when asked why he does not work: “Me free, me no work”. Freedom and

no work are synonymous in his mind.

Let one raise him up from the degradation, let one handle with interest his civilization,

his education, to make a good Christian of him, and perhaps he could work more actively than

Europeans could do in these hot climates.

As for the Blacks in their homeland, they are like all savage people who have always

and everywhere detested work. Why do we despair of Blacks rather than others?

The example of Angola

One might object to our feeling by citing the example of the Mission of Angola.

Religion has flourished there in the past. There was even a beginning of civilization,

but now this country has slipped back into his former state of barbarism. Are the Blacks

therefore inconsistent and attached to their state of barbarism?

We are not well informed about of the situation of this country to respond positively to

this difficulty. However, we believe that one should not attribute the relapse of this country to

causes inherent to the nature of the people, but rather the approach that was followed in the

course of this mission.

The missionaries that the Sacred Congregation sent to this country were full of the zeal

and dedication proper to the venerable religious societies to which they belonged. Finding the

people well disposed, they did make many conquests for Christ and his Holy Church. Looking

at the success they achieved, they did work with more courage and perseverance, and their

work did produce numerous Christian communities, perhaps even without such fervent

missionaries taking sufficient steps to consolidate the fruits of their work by giving these

communities the stable form of a church.

The Sacred Congregation, in her wisdom usual, has established the episcopacy in these

churches to consolidate and ensure their future. But this was only good in principle. The lofty

intentions of the Holy See needed to be well understood and felt by the missionaries. The

newly established Bishop no longer had to be satisfied with simply having a band of ambulant

missionaries. He was to form a native clergy attached to the country, an indigenous hierarchy.

If he did not try it, the decline of these churches is easily explained. If he made the attempt, it

appears then that he was not able to employ the effective means to train local clergy.

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The White priests were probably necessary for him in the beginning, but if keeping an

exclusively white clergy was a rule of conduct that was intended for good, or for too long a

time, the decline became necessary.

In all cases, there was no natural clergy. With time, the mission was obliged to accept

all those who came along, often priests mediocre in learning and weak in piety; sometimes

even scandalous priests, as seen in the colonies. This clergy even decreased substantially,

becoming almost entirely unavailable.

The people, already neglected for some time in terms of religious instruction, were

finally abandoned and necessarily had to fall to the lowest level.

Civilization, on its part, was very weak. Even at the most flourishing era, it had

perhaps never properly penetrated the people. In addition, a civilization that is not

accompanied with sufficiently developed education can only be sketchy, a beginning of

civilization that will certainly fall and be lost with the decline of faith and lack of the care of

foreign priests. This civilization could typically consist only in a very poor knowledge of

agriculture, crafts and petty trading; knowledge that had hardly taken root among the peoples

and which has provided them with very little comfort. Now, under a burning sun like that of

the Congo where one is drawn to lethargy, civilization must fall if it does not enter into the

people, if it is not taken to a certain degree of perfection, if it is not accompanied by study and

the exercise of science, and if it is not supported by the practice of religion.

Real shortcomings of the Blacks

The defects we have found in the Blacks, as being natural to them, are a certain

weakness of character, a temperament inclined to lassitude like all barbarians, especially those

living in hot countries; an inclination to vanity once they are come out of their savage

condition, an excessive sensitivity which demands that they must be treated with moderation,

gentleness and encouragement. Finally they have a certain way of familiarizing themselves

easily with the missionaries.

These defects may give way to difficulties, but not insurmountable ones, much as

there are many among them who hold some promise in terms of energy and activity.

Key challenges of our missions. Ways of overcoming them

I - Unhealthy climate

The first difficulty, the greatest of all that we have to overcome, is the unhealthy

climate. We only find the Black people in the tropics and tropical countries in general,

especially the areas inhabited by the Blacks, are unhealthy, sometimes to the extent that

Europeans hardly escape death there. The danger is at its greatest particularly during certain

bad seasons which last four and sometimes five months.

The trouble is born out of the fact that the European who arrives on these coasts has to

undergo a crisis for the transformation of his temperament. This in itself already requires great

precautions. One of the first is not to come during the seasons which hasten this

transformation and make the crisis too sudden.

Added to this initial disadvantage is the inconvenience of fogs produced primarily on

the coasts and river shores by swamps, humidity and unhealthy air which comes from certain

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parts of its interior. These causes exist more or less on one coast than on the other, and that is

what makes the difference in the sanitary conditions between them.

The diseases caused by these bad discharges are hepatic fevers, deadly fevers, typhoid

and cerebral fevers as well as dysenteries. Of the five missionaries that we have had the

misfortune of losing under the Bishop Eucarpia, Vicar Apostolic of Guinea, two died of

deadly fever, one of hepatic fever, another of typhoid-cerebral fever and the fifth of apoplexy,

a disease to which his temperament disposed him.

The cause to which we must attribute these disasters is that the missionaries arrived on

the coast at a bad season. They put themselves up in unpleasant places, not taking enough

precautions before getting sick and having no proper treatment for their diseases.

Sunburns are also extremely dangerous in these countries. An Irish Brother, already

well acclimatized, having exposed himself to the sun without taking precautions, suddenly

dropped dead, struck by one of these burning rays of the tropical sun.

The means of ensuring oneself against disease are as follows:

Arrive in the country at the beginning of the favourable season.

This season varies depending on whether the coasts are more or less distant from the

equinoctial line. Establish oneself in a place known for its cleanliness; spend there the good

and the following bad season. During this time, the change in temperament gradually occurs.

When the good season comes round again, one can go to the unhealthy coasts safely and

attempt to stay there the next bad season.

During acclimatization, work with moderation, eat properly and protect oneself against

the strong heat of the midday sun and against the transitions from warm to cold. This last

precaution is required at all times and in all places. Despite these precautions, some will fall

when the bad season comes, but usually the disease is much less dangerous.

When one is attacked by the disease, immediately take all the curative precautions. If

they fail, change the environment of the sick person. Take him to a healthier place. Usually,

one who has acclimatized gets cured. If this change does not help, as it sometimes happens,

the sick person should be sent to Europe and the recovery will be certain. If he then returns to

Africa, he no longer has to fear falling sick of the same disease. That is what I have been

assured of concerning several and the most dangerous of these fevers.

From these data, we can draw two conclusions:

The first is that the full force of the difficulty posed by lack of hygiene exists only at

the beginning. Once we have a certain number of older and well acclimatized missionaries,

we can give greater extension to the work and act with greater confidence. Experience, by the

way, will come to our assistance and provide us with the effective means to overcome this

difficulty.

Secondly, we learn from this that we must choose an absolutely safe place for the

acclimatization of the missionary. Without this we would unceasingly have great losses to

bemoan. Missionaries would end up discouraged and the success of the mission would

become almost impossible.

Second difficulty: the polygamy of chiefs

The information we have received on this subject tells us that the chiefs alone are

suffering from this vice. This difficulty is not unique to Blacks. Rather, it is very widespread

among savages. It is hoped that once the principles of Christianity take root among the

peoples of Africa, this abuse will die away gradually. It is a fact that Islam in Senegambia has

managed to limit it significantly. Now, if the Koran could bring about change in this area,

what can the Holy Gospel not be capable of?

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Third difficulty: the efforts of Protestantism

Protestantism will make on the coasts of Africa and elsewhere among the Black

population the same efforts that it is making in other missions. It will employ the same

resources to prevent the establishment of the Catholic Church.

The means which are used most often by ministers involves giving money and gifts to

the locals and discrediting Catholic missionaries.

These difficulties are real. The Protestants possess considerable material resources.

We cannot compete with them on this point. However, it would be necessary that we too give

out gifts. Divine Providence will come to our rescue. Our presents will be lesser than theirs,

but we will have this advantage over them, in that the grace of Jesus Christ will be with us

and we will communicate it to the people. Moreover, the beauty of Catholic worship, which

they lack, will certainly make a deep impression on the Blacks. The dedication, zeal and

charity that we will make sure to show to the savages will undoubtedly touch their sensitive

souls. Against the wonderful Catholic doctrine and the gifts that God spreads among the

people through his servants, Protestantism opposes a dry, rationalist, teaching that leaves no

impression in the hearts of the savages.

We have the proof of this from what happened in Gabon, a French trading post in the

south of Guinea. Our only remaining missionary from the first shipment went to this post. He

met three American Methodists there who had a subvention of three hundred and fifty

thousand francs. Having tried to instigate a revolt of the natives against the French, they were

forced to leave after two years of residence. After their departure the Catholic missionary

found the people in complete ignorance of all the fundamental principles of Christianity, and

yet willing to accept the truths of the Catholic faith.

The importance of laying the foundations of the work on a solid base that

time will consolidate rather than shaking

We have spoken to Your Eminences so far on the situation of the people we must

evangelize. We now come with greater and filial confidence to present to Their Eminences the

means of putting together a permanent work in our missions. Participating fully in the wisdom

and power with which Jesus Christ has endowed His Vicar here on earth, you will surely give

the orders, and your orders will be for us a source of grace, light and strength for the

execution and management of our ventures. Whereas abandoned to ourselves we walk in the

dark without support.

Our Lord Jesus Christ knows our intentions and desires, and he knows we are ready to

sacrifice everything for his glory, for the salvation of souls and for the expansion of his

Church. We would like the little we do to have some stability that can comfort her for the

continual losses that her enemies are trying to make her suffer every day.

Everywhere, this holy Church wants to win souls through her prayers and

lamentations, by the work, sweat, hardship, sacrifices and even the blood of her pastoral

agents. But she also wants the sweat and blood to produce something really solid, stable and

assured. Yet we notice with pain, with respect to many of these missions, that seemingly a

simple breath would be enough destroy everything. Even many of these brilliant achievements

have fallen at different periods, even though they were the most flourishing ones.

The necessity for an early and stable organization, based on factors

inherent to the context, for the future of a mission

Considering these things, we were frightened. We said to ourselves: if so many

eminently enlightened men of apostolic virtues were not able to give their great works the

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stability and the strength needed, what can we expect, we who are so weak and so devoid of

all that shined so brightly in them? We have more to fear that our missions present special

difficulties, perhaps unknown elsewhere.

Thoroughly convinced that our successes would remain below those of other

missionaries, we would at least like to structure securely and permanently the little that it will

please the Divine Goodness to enable us to undertake.

However, to achieve this, the only course that seems feasible is to rely, right from the

beginning, on an organization that is stable and natural to the context that we want to develop.

We are already aware enough of the state of the country and the population in the major areas

which occupy us now to design a plan that will suit them. Besides, there are some these

general rules that apply to all the missions and can suffice for an entire organization, even

though one would not know in detail the situation of each mission.

We have already said it, but we cannot help repeating the idea that to succeed with the

weakness of our resources, we certainly do not have to go at random with the general idea of

converting the infidels. We must offer from the outset a more serious, more positive and more

determined result. To obtain this result, it is necessary right from the outset to fix a totality of

means which, as a whole and by their range, tend effectively to establish our holy religion

invariably on the ground. For that, we need a thought-out plan and a very powerful

hierarchical organisation.

Obtaining a stable result calls for a future-oriented thinking that presides over projects

and a philosophy of time, for the execution of details, which requires great patience and

perseverance.

It takes a long time, so one has to get at it from the beginning. The sooner you start,

the sooner you reach the desired and so desirable results. One never begins too early, but

often too late, or rather one will not begin at all, if nothing is done to achieve this end right

from the beginning.

If this theory is true of all missions, it becomes practical in ours. In the present state of

things, all circumstances favour the execution of the plan and the organization which we

humbly propose to Your Most Illustrious Eminences. If we wait again, these circumstances

will disappear, others will replace them and the putting in practice of this project could

become untenable. It takes patience and perseverance in the use of resources. Now if there is

no plan and no prior organisation, there will be no perseverance in the use of these resources.

These means are many, varied, and not always consistent with taste of missionaries. They

sometimes present great difficulties in implementation. If they are not regulated in advance by

a plan and a positive organization, how will the missionaries persevere?

For example, we propose to form a native clergy and we tell everyone to do his best to

get one. In the initial heat of our desires, we will work at it with courage. Then difficulties

will arise, perhaps greater than the impatience of the missionary dared predict, and the saddest

discouragement will be the result of this haste without foresight, without any rule or scope.

Moreover, with no plan and no organization there is no order. And where there is no

order, perseverance is impossible as well as success.

In addition, if we do not start from the beginning, the missionaries will warm up to it

softly when later we would like to start. They will engage in it first by duty, but soon they will

let go, because it will be against their taste and their previous habits. They will obey, but will

not act out of conviction because they will see the effect of their efforts in the distance, and

this effect appear very uncertain, whereas the first course of action was producing immediate

effects.

They need to be nurtured, fed with these ideas right from the beginning of their work,

even from the time of their novitiate.

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Heads of missions and the superiors of our society could themselves become an

obstacle to a successful organization, on grounds that it is unnecessary to outline here. But if

from the first step we take in the career, we have a plan and an organization approved by the

Sacred Congregation, all, superiors as well as confreres will walk this path without protest

and without difficulty.

Besides, having studied in depth the memorable instruction issued by the Sacred

Congregation and bearing the authority of the August Pontiff, who, before finishing his

glorious career, still wanted to give this last mark of his zeal, full of insight and papal charity

for the missions; having investigated this beautiful instruction, we found in it the whole plan

and the most important points of the organization that we have the trust to propose to Your

Eminences.

We do not claim to seek a complete organization. We only propose some measures

that suit the current situation, which we believe absolutely necessary to put our mission on

solid and stable bases designed to give it thereafter the regular form of other churches.

This organization includes: I. The approach that the missionaries will have to follow in

their work; II. The stipulation of the nature and power of their leaders with the regulations for

local governments; III. Finally, special propositions for the most urgent needs of the mission

in Guinea.

I. The approach that we propose to follow

Wherever we establish ourselves, we will employ the ordinary means in use in all the

other missions.

Schools and central houses in the missions

Besides these ordinary means we will take the following measures: we will build

schools in each location. Here we will provide training to all who are come there, but most

importantly, we will regroup there a certain number of children who are still young, whom we

will keep in the interior of the house. There we will begin their instruction in religion and

science.

For their livelihood, we will have in each institution some land that we will cultivate.

This farming will give us a triple gain: by that we will provide food for children, food which

is indeed very rudimentary in these savage countries. We will give the example to the locals

in cultivating the land, and we will gradually provide ourselves with a means of subsistence

for the future.

We find this last point very important because one cannot know to what extent one

will need this resource. Right now, the funds provided by the Propaganda for the support of so

many missions are far from being sufficient.

In these initial houses, we will only give an introductory course to the education that

children will have to receive. We will only for smoothen out their rough edges to make them

susceptible to some serious training. When we will see them capable of it, we will make a

selection that we will send to a central house. There, one will give them a complete primary

education.

Formation of a native clergy - Civilization

Why we want to confer minor orders on catechists

In this house, we will aim to form three classes of men.

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The first class will be those in whom we will recognize the ability to study and the

character necessary for the practice of priestly virtues. In the same house, we will drill them in

the study of Latin to prepare them for Philosophy and Theology.

In the beginning the number of those whom we can take to the priesthood will

probably be small, but once the country is civilized, minds will develop more and the number

of priestly vocations will increase.

Once becoming priests, they will completely be at the disposal of the Bishop in charge

of the Mission.

It is unnecessary to base this approach on the grounds that make it necessary. Your

Eminences make of it a duty for us in the wise and precious instruction that the Sacred

Congregation recently addressed to the missionaries, in which the reasons for the measures

that your solicitude has taken for the good of many souls are so perfectly summarized.

Catechists and Teachers of Schools

Among these children, there will be some with talent and ability who will even show

same marks of a sincere piety, and yet may not be promoted to the priesthood either because

they cannot remain continent, or for some other reasons. These will be given a solid training.

They will learn sacred music and Church ceremonies and we will make of them servant-

clergy, catechists and schoolmasters. They will be of immense assistance to missionaries,

especially in the new churches.

Such is the second class of persons that we will train in this institution.

Minor Orders

In support thereof, we propose to Your Eminences the approval of a measure perhaps

unusual in other missions, but which could produce some fortunate results in ours. It has to do

with giving bishops the power confer on catechists tonsure and minor orders, although not for

the priesthood, with power to wear clerical dress in the church and for clerical duties. We will

obtain several benefits from that.

These men would be strongly encouraged in their hard work to obtain the spiritual

welfare of their countrymen. They will be obliged to have an exemplary conduct in their

families and among their fellow citizens. They will be respected more and thus will be able to

do more good. Finally, in some localities too unhealthy to house an European priest and

during the time we will not have enough local priests to fill all positions, these men as minor

clerics could replace priests to some extent, presiding over the assemblies, looking after

public prayers in the morning and evening, singing the offices on Feast days, and providing

proper instruction to the people.

We thought not to be acting rashly in making this proposal to your Eminences and

following the mind of the Church which has followed this practice in the beginning, as long as

the status of Christians was as it is now in the countries that we are supposed to evangelize.

We will have to proceed with caution and reserve in these promotions to the clerical

state and to the functions of catechists.

Students for agriculture, arts and crafts

The third class of persons that we will train in this central house will be those whom

the lack of taste, virtue or ability to keep away from holy functions.

We will divide them into two categories: that of labourers to whom we will try to

teach agriculture as it may be practiced in their country and the profit they could later derive

from it for their families.

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The second category is that of arts and crafts. It seems to us difficult, almost

impossible, to teach them on site, due to lack of practical work to apply the theory of the

master and the practice of the student. We propose to found for them a house in a warm

country in Europe where their health will not be exposed. We will look after them to keep

them in piety and good behaviour.

The basis of civilization independent of the presence of missionaries

This entire approach is based on two correlative principles:

The first: - We believe that faith will not take a stable form among these peoples, nor

will the emerging churches have a secure future, except by the help of civilization developed

to some extent.

Moreover, it seems to us that the formation and consolidation of our churches in

Europe is due to the establishment of a complete civilization. We believe that, without this

civilization, our churches would have been hardly able to receive, let alone maintain, the

canonical organization so vital to the Catholic Church and so necessary to ensure its

perpetuity.

We call advanced civilization one that has as foundation, besides religion, science and

work.

The crude civilization which only teaches how to poorly handle a spade and

implements has a very small scope for achieving change in the habits of people, and can only

be short termed. It is not enough to show these new people practical work. We must gradually

teach them the theories of things in order to gradually put them in a state of having no need of

help from missionaries to continue the work. Otherwise these people will always remain in

their infancy and when the missionaries will no longer be there, they will fall back into their

barbarism. Faith will then not survive civilization.

It will probably take considerable time to get the desired result, but one would not be

sure of ever obtaining it, if one does not aim at it right from the beginning while things are

done imperfectly at first.

The second principle is that civilization is impossible without faith. Hence it is the task

of the missionary and his duty to work at it, not only on the moral aspect, but also the

intellectual and physical aspects, that is to say on instruction, agriculture and crafts. He alone,

by his supernatural authority as messenger of God, through his charity and his priestly zeal, is

able to produce a complete effect. Therefore the work relies on him alone.

Moreover, if the missionary is responsible only for the moral part, ignoring the rest,

others will do that, and they will often destroy in a short time what he has tried to build with a

lot of trouble and work.

II. Determination of the nature of the Head of the Mission and mode of

local administration

For the determination of the character of head of mission your instruction, with its

principled precision and wisdom, rules too positively and too absolutely over the rank that the

head should be hold in the priesthood for us to have to invoke a new decision. When the time

comes in each of our missions for the establishment of the Episcopate, the Sacred

Congregation will consent to listen to our demands with the indulgent kindness which is

proper to her. We content ourselves for the time being with discussing this issue in the special

case of Guinea.

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Mode of local administration

With regards to local administration, if nothing is settled on this article, severe

disorders will often arise with significant obstacles to the success of missions.

The source of evil usually comes from two principles.

The first is the double interest that exists in the missions. This dual interest is

represented by two authorities: that of the Bishop, head of the missionaries in their capacity as

missionaries, and that of religious superiors as the leaders of the missionaries in their capacity

as members of the community. If there is unity between these two representatives, the two

interests help each other in no mean way. Otherwise they tend to destroy each other, with

great evils resulting from it.

Regulations shall be stipulated to reconcile these two interests in maintaining the

integrity of the Bishop’s power in his mission and, nevertheless, in giving to the community

sufficient guarantees for the preservation of its rules and its spirit.

The second principle of evil comes from the fact that sometimes the Bishops, though

perfect missionaries and very capable in everything related to the management of their

mission, have no skills for temporal administration. It may often happen that a missionary

Bishop is passionate, enterprising, but without enough foresight regarding all that is material,

to the extent that he does not calculate well the scope of his needs, nor compare them with the

resources that he may have in hand. Often he may not make good use of his funds. He may

commit too much to present needs and have nothing left for more important future needs.

Besides, his duties are too numerous. They absorb too much of his work and his

attention for him to be able to properly manage temporal goods.

What will happen from that? Missionaries will often find themselves in distress. They

will lack the bare necessities. They will know that the source of evil is the absence of good

management. Much trouble and disorder will follow and the authority of the Bishop

compromised.

We therefore appeal to the Sacred Congregation to urge the heads of our missions and

the superiors of our society to agree on the preservation of unity and harmony and to strike an

accord together, in order to obtain this desirable result, on certain regulations which maintain

at the same time the integrity of the Bishop’s authority in his mission, allow adequate security

for the community in the conservation of its religious spirit, and provide as much as possible

for the well-being of missionaries.

We will outline to Your Eminences the main regulations we will try to seek an

agreement upon with the leaders of our missions, not to obtain an approval, but to clarify our

intentions with the Sacred Congregation and thus enable her to respond appropriately,

according to her usual wisdom, to the request we just made. This will be the subject of two

articles.

Article I. Rules for the relationship of the Bishop with his missionaries

1. - The Bishop may not impose rules or establish practices for the internal life of

communities. The leadership of communities, for the spiritual welfare of missionaries and for

good order, belongs to the superior of the society.

2. - When the Bishop wants to take a measure or give a directive which would tend to abolish

or seriously infringe, for a considerable time, on one of the society’s rules, he can do so only

after consulting with the Superior of the same society, and in urgent matter with the particular

superiors of the concerned communities.

In case of disagreement between the Bishop and the superior, the question must be

brought amicably by both parties before the Sacred Congregation.

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The reason for this important regulation is to prevent disagreements between the head

of the mission and the head of the society, and the discord among the missionaries who could

be caught up partly between the Bishop and partly between their rule and their superior. The

harm that results from a situation like this can easily be guessed.

Moreover, it is urgent that the missionaries respect their rules. Now, if the Bishop was

to release them from it, their observance would soon weaken, the virtue of the missionaries

would diminish and souls could only lose out on it.

3.-To maintain harmony between the Bishop and particular superiors, when the bishop wants

to give the job to a missionary or to move him, it would be good that he makes his directives

known to him by the superior of the community to which the missionary belongs. He should

at least notify him.

In this way, the Bishop will often be informed about the worthiness of the missionary,

whom he might not know as much as the superior, for the job he wants give him or where he

wants to put him.

4.-When the house of acclimatization has to receive missionaries destined for several

missions, the local Bishop will have no right to use these missionaries outside or to regulate

their activities inside the house. If he needs the help of these missionaries he must apply to the

superior of the house, to whom alone ought to belong the management of these young

clergymen.

The distribution of missionaries to the various missions should be done by a council

made up of the superior and one representative for each of these missions.

These representatives must be determined by the Superior General.

5.-The houses of studies or civilization intended for several missions will be under the

independent direction of the superior of the house and his council.

No particular Bishop can introduce changes or amendments to it, not even for the

young people of his mission.

If there was any change or amendment to be imposed on the superior of the house, it

would require a general directive of all the Bishops who will participate in the work.

The appointment of the Superior and directors of this house belong to the Superior

General.

The local Bishop cannot dispose of any person employed in this house without the

consent of the superior of the house.

6. -The Superior of the Society shall have power to send visitors to the missions. All their

power will consist in examining whether the community rules are followed, and whether the

life of the missionaries is consistent with the spirit of their vocation. He may make regulations

and prescribe measures to repress abuses, but only within the community and for the private

life of the missionaries. He can do nothing touching the sacred ministry: the Bishop alone has

this power.

Article II. Temporal administration

1. - In each mission, there will be a bursar appointed to manage the funds of the mission. This

bursar will be appointed by the Bishop and his council.

The bursar cannot have an absolute over the property of the mission, but only by the

determination of the Bishop and his council. However, one could allow him more or less

flexibility to facilitate the management, according to the demands of the circumstances.

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The Bursar should at least present an annual report of his management of assets and

liabilities to the Bishop and his council, and whenever the Bishop will ask him.

2. - The council will consist of one member appointed by the Bishop, a member appointed by

the Superior of the society and a third member appointed by the Bishop and the first two.

When there will be a number of indigenous priests, the third member will be chosen

from them. If there is a serious drawback to this, they should at least be represented by the

third member of the board to support their interests.

If circumstances do not allow for three councillors, there will be at least two.

3. -The object of the deliberations will be: 1. Every year, a prudent distribution of annual

funding to the various needs of the mission.

The Bishop should have, for his personal upkeep, a sufficient sum for the preservation

of his dignity, in proportion to the general resources and the requirements and needs of the

mission.

In addition, one must leave at the disposal of the Bishop, an adequate reserve for

extraordinary needs and emergencies. The second subject of discussion is when, during the

year, the Bishop considers it useful to divert a substantial amount allocated for a particular

need to apply it to another. Finally, the third subject arises whenever it will be question of

disposing of or moving permanent funds of the mission.

In serious and urgent cases, the bursar will be allowed to effect a change in the

investment of funds on condition that he notifies the Bishop before doing so, if possible, or as

soon as the has done it, if time allows him. Furthermore, he will report on his conduct at the

first council meeting afterwards.

4. - When we might have acquired the property intended to support the work of training

indigenous clergy and the civilization of the people in our missions, these assets or the income

from it cannot be diverted from their purpose except by the consent of all the Bishops who are

concerned and their councils, as well as the Superior General and his council.

III. Special proposals for Guinea

The question we are putting here to Your Eminences pertains particularly to the

organization of the mission in Guinea. We will add to it the reasons that support the demand

that we confidently address to your fatherly care for the urgent needs of this mission.

Before getting to the bottom of the question, we believe it necessary to present some

topographic details intended to clarify one of the important points that to be made.

Topographic details about Nigritia

Nigritia is divided into four main regions: Sudan, Senegambia, Upper or Northern

Guinea and Lower or Southern Guinea, also called the Congo.

I. - Sudan.

We will say very little about Soudan. There is little data on this vast country and what

is said is not guaranteed.

It covers all the interior part of Africa. Its boundaries are the Sahara to the north,

Guinea to the south, Senegambia in the west and the region of Nile to the east. It is occupied

by a large number of tribes whose religion is Mohammedanism and idolatry. Sudan is

between seven and eight hundred miles long.

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II. - Senegambia

Senegambia is located between Sudan and the sea. It has the Western Sahara on one

side and Sierra Leone on the other.

Senegambia is inhabited by many powerful nations. There are also quite a number of

small and relatively free groups. Among these, there is Dakar which we have chosen to create

one of our major institutions, because of the convenience of its location and its healthy

environment. Dakar is situated on the tip of Cape Verde at a short distance from Gorée.

The religion of the Blacks of Senegambia

The religion of the inhabitants of Dakar and almost the entire population of

Senegambia is Muslim. But they do not have against Christianity the hatred of Eastern

Mohammedans nor their religious fanaticism.

Our missionaries who have arrived on the coast of Africa have experienced no

difficulty getting in touch with them. They even made friends among the Marabous (or

religious leaders), not by any gifts – they have not given any to anyone – but with sweet and

friendly words.

Having settled in Dakar, they were loved and respected from the beginning. As soon

they arrived, they asked permission to settle there and establish a school. The king and chiefs,

after deliberating together, granted them permission by consensus. The marabous, the chiefs

and the people were all enthusiastic when they saw that the missionaries were going to build a

church with a house for the school. They all promised to send their children there to get them

educated.

The king and chiefs sold land to the missionaries and freely supplied them gravel and

part of the workforce.

The state of Christianity in Senegambia

Although Senegambia could almost be generally regarded as Mohammedan, there are

however a small number of Christians in French and English settlements.

Catholics are completely abandoned in almost all these settlements. Some of these

places are visited, albeit rarely, by the priests of Senegal who are based in Saint-Louis and

Gorée.

Saint-Louis is located on an island of the same name at the mouth of the Senegal

River. It is a town of about 12,000 people. We do not know the exact number of Catholics in

this town. It is the residence of the Apostolic Prefect and the three priests serving the parish.

Gorée is a rock forming an island almost at the tip of Cape Verde. This rock is about

three quarters of a mile in circumference. Half of it is occupied by a fort. The rest is inhabited

by 5,800 souls, according to the report of one of our missionaries, of whom about 1,200 are

Christians, the rest being Mohammedans. In Gorée, there is a priest, pastor of the parish.

The clergy of Senegal has up till now not concerned itself with anything beyond the

proper object of its mission. All the non-Christian areas have always remained as they are

now and the good news of the Gospel has never been announced to them. However, a few

years ago, the appointment of a young black and two coloured priests to the clergy of Senegal

led to a burst of enthusiasm in the country. Many young infidels in the kingdom of Cayor

seemed willing to receive the faith. The young African priests were filled with zeal. But

things have remained there, and nothing has been done.

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Upper Guinea

The Upper or Northern Guinea stretches from Sierra Leone to the Congo inclusively.

We cannot determine exactly what its boundaries are on the Sudanese side. Geographers do

not agree on this point.

The coasts that make up this part of Nigritia are very numerous, but as the

geographical descriptions that we were able to obtain do not agree either on the names or the

exact determination of the boundaries of each coast, we thought more about clarifying some

key aspect of the countries to which we want to draw the attention of Your Eminences.

From Senegambia to the mouth of the Cavally river located on the windward coast,

which according to some is the beginning of the Ivory Coast, two Protestant establishments

are located. The first is Sierra Leone, a thriving British colony. It appears, according to a

newspaper, that they will shortly establish an Anglican diocese there.

The second Protestant settlement is that of Liberia and Cape Palmas. It is a Protestant

colony of 2,000 inhabitants that came from America and are very hostile to Catholicism.

From the mouth of the Cavally River to that of the Volta, located between the Gold

Coast and the Gulf of Benin, there is, besides smaller tribes, the very powerful kingdom

called Ashanti, whose capital is 30 or 40 miles from the coast. The kingdom gives some hope

for the future. France has two posts on this coast, Assinie and Grand Bassam. Assinie is

situated on a river that bears the same name. This river is navigable for 80 miles into the

interior, and even to the heart of the Ashanti kingdom.

From the Volta River to the mouth of the Niger, which lies on the coast of Calabar

between the Gulf of Benin and that of Biafra, is located another very powerful kingdom

whose capital is about 60 miles from the coast: the kingdom of Dahomey.

Human sacrifices

A mission on this coast would seem very timely, especially in this kingdom where

superstition perpetrates untold cruelty. A navy captain who found himself in the capital of the

kingdom at a time the king was celebrating the feast of his ancestors, confirmed to us to have

seen more than 1,200 men sacrificed during the two months that he spent there. These

sacrifices are renewed every year at such times.

The mouth of the Niger will again give a certain importance to this coast. This river

will later facilitate our penetration into the hinterland.

Moreover, we have facilities for setting up an establishment at Ouidah located in the

kingdom of Dahomey. There exists on this coast a trading post belonging to very Christian

French traders, who are making attractive proposals to us to obtain missionaries. The French

government protects the trading post.

From the mouth of the Niger to the Congo, there is the Bight of Biafra about which we

have yet no remark to make, and the coast of Gabon, where we have an establishment in a

place renowned for being very hygienic, though just three or four miles off the line. The

territory belongs to the French and will acquire a great importance in the future.

The people in the interior of this coast are renowned for being ferocious. However,

they received very well one of our missionaries who visited them. Not knowing their language

and having no interpreter, he could not preach the Holy Gospel to them.

The religions of the people of Guinea

Religion among the numerous people of Guinea consists of a ridiculous fetishism. In

some groups, the fetish is a snake. Among others, it is a wild beast. Others worship a

waterfall. There are some who go as far as considering their own shadow as a divinity. They

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are not satisfied with a national god or a god of the tribe; each person also has his particular

fetish.

In addition to their material gods, they still worship two gods who are spirit, one good

and one bad. They have no liturgy and don not worry themselves in any way about paying

tribute to the good god. He is too good, they say, to do us harm. It is unnecessary to do

something for him. It is quite different for the evil spirit. They engage in all kinds of

superstitions, even cruelties, to appease him.

Superstitious cruelties

When an event happens which they regard as a public calamity, they attribute it to the

fact that the bad god was dissatisfied with one of them. They sacrifice the unfortunate

individual to the wrath of their god, saying he is the cause of the misfortune.

Our confreres who were in Assinie and Grand Bassam saw one of those scenes of

horror. We do not know what misfortune had occurred. One of the chiefs pointed to a man of

the tribe as the cause of the god’s anger. Almost immediately, the general public uttered cries

of rage, seized the man indicated, tied him to a tree and made him swallow poison. The poor

man died in despair. In their superstitious idea, they strongly believe that if the man had not

angered their god, the poison would not harm him. It so happens sometimes that the patient

does not die from it. That is when he has the time to swallow a certain quantity of palm oil,

before taking the poison. This oil absorbs the action of the poison.

Lower Guinea

We will say just a few words about Lower Guinea, which some also call Congo, from

the name of an important kingdom located in that area. Several kingdoms make up this part of

Guinea. The main ones are Luango, which comes immediately after the Cape Lopez, Congo,

Angola and Benguela, where the Portuguese have got colonies. In one part of this country the

faith has already been preached. The rest is idolatrous.

The population of Nigritia

Geographers are much divided on the statistics of Nigritia. They usually give for the

population a figure which is significantly lower than the reality. It seems impossible to

establish even an approximate calculation on this point. The country is too little known, and

all geographers admit their ignorance on this subject.

The few travellers who have entered it could visit but only some principal points

where masses of people are clustered such as Timbuktu, Segou, etc. It was not possible for

them to travel through the forests to account for all the scattered tribes which fill up those vast

regions.

It is even difficult to imagine that they were able to get to know the population of

major cities where they stayed. The people were not in a situation to give them, even in a

vague manner, sufficient indications of the number of their fellow citizens, let alone the whole

kingdom. The vast majority of these savage people did not know how to count. They do not

know the numbers thousand, twenty thousand, one hundred thousand, etc.

But even if they knew the value of these numbers, what means would they have had to

know the strength of the entire population of a kingdom?

If we stop thinking in general, we must conclude that these populations are high, given

the time since when they occupy this part of the world. This time must be very remote, since

they are scattered over all parts of the land, from one end to the other.

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The general occupation of the territory from corner to corner, in the interior of the land

as well as on the coasts, requires, it seems, a considerable time. Yet during all that time they

might have increased in proportion to other men. We see no serious reason for decline, if not

the slave trade. The climate so unhealthy for Europeans is good for the natives. Usually their

nature is not cruel. They do fight against one another, but we do not see these wars of

extermination. They are not cannibals. When they take prisoners, these become the slaves of

the victors, or are sold to Whites. There are many wars many among them because of the

slave trade.

If one wants to rely on other data for a rough calculation of this population, one could

take as its starting point the number of Blacks moved out of their country by the slave trade.

According to the calculation of the most distinguished geographers, the number of

Blacks imported into the new world since the beginning of the slave trade until the year 1826

is approximately 14 million. Add to this number the average of 70,000 per year (*1), since

1826 until today, which would give the sum of 1,400,000. Add those who died in crowds

before arriving at their destination, estimated to at least one million. That would make 16

million. Now, out this number, two thirds were drawn from Nigritia, the mainstay of the slave

trade, which would make about 10 to 11millions. There would have been therefore at least 10

million Blacks extracted from Nigritia. Let us suppose that a quarter of the population was

transported and reduced to slavery; 30 million would still remain in the country. If one wants

to raise the number of men captured by the slave trade to a third of the population, there

would still remain at least 20 million. It should also be noted that the slave trade has meted

out its ravages only on Senegambia, Guinea and Congo, and some small parts of Sudan which

are in their reach. The more interior parts of this vast country were too remote to have been

subject to this infamous traffic. As a result, the 20 or 30 million generated by our calculation

will be found only in the three parts of Nigritia adjoining the sea, and in a very small portion

of Sudan.

This simple outline, whose accuracy the observations of missionaries will probably

support, shows the importance of the mission entrusted to our care in this part of the African

continent. We must therefore take the most effective measures to firmly establish Catholicism

there and solicit from the Sacred Congregation all the help we need to get this happy result.

After these topographical details, we will present to Your Eminences the issues

involved in this part of our memorandum. They contain two proposals. The first is for the

delimitation of the mission; the second for the institution of the Episcopate.

First Proposal: Determination of boundaries

The topographical details that we have had the honour to present earlier already clarify

this issue to a great extent. We now just need to propose to Your Eminences the boundaries

such as we believe necessary in the current state of the country, in order to achieve success in

our work. We will wait with perfect submission the decision that you will deign to give to this

question, perhaps the most important for our mission, and we will accept it in advance with

gratitude, whatever it may be.

The mission is bounded on one side by the sea on its entire fringes, therefore, no

difficulty on that side. It remains to set the limits of the other three sides.

Jurisdiction of Senegambia

Our first observation falls on the Senegambia. The solution to the question concerning

this country will have the greatest influence on the success of the whole mission. We do not

1 (*) An English newspaper, The Times, raises the number to 75 000.

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come before Your Eminences to formulate a request in our favour. We only want to depict the

state of things, to highlight the needs of our mission with regards to the issue at hand. We will

argue for the necessity that the jurisdiction of our missionaries should extend at least to a

certain part of pagan Senegambia, and for the ease of things, that we should be responsible for

the whole. The Sacred Congregation will deliver judgement on purpose.

The abandonment of Senegambia: absence of direct jurisdiction

To date, the jurisdiction over Senegambia has not been clearly determined. This vague

situation is borne out of the fact that there never was a mission undertaken on these shores, or

on those which form the first part of Upper Guinea.

We assume that the priests from Senegal could exercise in this country the sacred

ministry, for the reason that there was no ecclesiastical jurisdiction and not by some direct

power they may have received. The decree of the Sacred Congregation which creates the

Apostolic Prefects of Senegal does not speak of this general jurisdiction over Senegambia.

Moreover, it seems certain that the clergy of Senegal had never considered the pagan

areas of Senegambia as the object of their mission, because if they had regarded it as a portion

of the vineyard entrusted to their zeal, how could they have abandoned it without any care?

On the contrary, it is quite certain that the priests of Senegal did not care for all these people

who surrounded them, though the harvest is so abundant there. If Senegambia was not

entrusted to the Prefects of Senegal, the conduct of the clergy could be understandable. They

wanted above all to work where their duty required it. Besides, would it be possible that the

Prefects Apostolic of Senegal, charged with a mission as important as that of Senegambia,

had been satisfied with having four or five priests who were barely enough for Saint-Louis

and Gorée? Could they not have done their utmost to obtain others whose destination would

have been the pagan regions? If they lacked resources they could have appealed to the work

of the Propagation of the Faith. It seems therefore clear that they never believed they were

responsible for the Senegambia.

If the Sacred Congregation has made no mention of Senegambia in the powers it gave

to Bishop Barron, Vicar Apostolic of the Two Guineas, it is not because the jurisdiction

thereof was determined in favour of the clergy of Senegal. Rather there was a special

circumstance: an American colony having been founded at Cape Palmas, the Sacred

Congregation had wished use the zeal of Catholic missionaries to counter the Protestantism

which was poised to establish itself on the coasts of Africa. She named Bishop Barron Vicar

Apostolic and naturally extended his mission on either side of the coast from Liberia where

the Protestants were to be reckoned with.

Even though his terms of reference mentioned only the Two Guineas and Sierra

Leone, Bishop Barron was convinced that he indirectly had power over Senegambia as over a

country where there was no established jurisdiction. He wanted so much to undertake a

mission in the kingdom of Cayor and Joal, both located in Senegambia, and we have never

heard of any complaints made about it, though the venerable Bishop never spoke of carrying

out these missions until after the consultation he made on the subject with the clergy of

Senegal.

The needs of Guinea require the incorporation of Senegambia

The lack of direct jurisdiction established in Senegambia seems to leave no objection

to the Sacred Congregation conferring on us its care. To that we will add a presentation of

reasons that seem to make such a measure necessary to the success of the mission of Guinea.

The Mission of Guinea has absolute need of a central house located in a place that is

hygienic and makes it easy to communicate with the other points of the coast. This house

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must serve as a place of acclimatization to missionaries and be at the same time the central

house of education for young Blacks whom we will bring from the different coasts. If we do

not have such a house ideally located in our mission, success would seem almost impossible.

In fact, if our missionaries were obliged to go directly to the unhealthy coasts of Guinea, half

would die each time.

The central house of education has the same need, because it is of utmost importance

to this house that the missionaries attend to it with the greatest care, which could not be the

case if it was not located in a clean environment. The missionaries will often feel

uncomfortable. Quite often, they would have to be absent for a time in order to take fresh air.

It is therefore urgent that this central house be situated in a clean place. Now, all along the

coast we have found only one spot that is hygienic: Dakar, on the coast of Senegambia. This

coast has the further advantage of being the focal point throughout Guinea, to facilitate

relations with the other coasts. It is therefore in Dakar that the central house must necessarily

be located, if we are to succeed. However, this central house could be located in Dakar if this

little kingdom is not under the jurisdiction of our missionaries. On cannot locate outside the

territory of one’s mission a house that is so central to the mission, which contains all its

resources, upon which rests all its hopes; a house destined to be a meeting place for

missionaries whose health is broken – something that will happen very often – and where will

gather for their annual retreat; a house where the head of the mission must necessarily stay

quite often to monitor the education of young people, only hope of salvation for his mission.

This institution has nothing to do with those of other missionary communities in

Macau. The difference is absolute. The houses in Macau are only houses for immediate

preparation where missionaries get themselves in shape to directly enter the country which

will be indicated to them. There no difficulty in placing such a house under a foreign

jurisdiction. It is quite different with our facility in Dakar. All alone it summarizes, as it were,

the entire Mission of Guinea. A house like this cannot survive in a locality foreign to this

mission. Our confreres had started this institution, when, due to the persuasion of Bishop

Barron, they believed that their jurisdiction in Senegambia would face no challenge. Since

doubts have arisen about this, they are worried. If they had known this doubtful situation, the

institution in Dakar would not have been started.

It therefore appears certain that the success of the Mission of Guinea, there is urgent

need that the head of this Mission has jurisdiction over this part of Senegambia, one on whose

territory is situated the central house to this mission, is to say the kingdom of Dakar.

But as much as it is necessary for the success of the mission of Guinea that we have a

partial jurisdiction in Senegambia, the benefit of Senegambia itself would call for the

responsibility of our missionaries for the entire country. Having located our house of

education on its shores, Senegambia naturally would derive from it the greatest benefit.

Spiritual wealth will be more abundant there than in other parts of West Africa, and the

missionaries would have much more ease in exercising their zeal there more than elsewhere,

having an important institution on this coast.

If the Sacred Congregation only gives us responsibility for the area where our central

house is located, naturally the head of the mission of Guinea will use all his resources for the

souls entrusted to him. If Your Eminences see fit to let Senegambia in the status quo, even as

to the location where our missionaries have begun their central house, Senegambia would be

even more neglected when the head of the mission of Guinea will find a place, no matter

unsuitable, in his jurisdiction where this property could be set up. The Community of the Holy

Spirit which is responsible for providing the clergy of Senegal has not been able so far to give

missionaries to the pagan area of Senegambia. It will not be better able in the future because

all the individuals of the seminary are necessary and even insufficient for the needs of the

colonies.

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The consent of the French Government

The only difficulty we would see in the Sacred Congregation giving us jurisdiction

over Senegambia in its entirety or partly would be the opposition of the French Government.

But this opposition does no