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num. 390 - May 2000
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Index: |
An attempt at an Oblate martyrology
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AN ATTEMPT AT AN OBLATE MARTYROLOGY The official calendar of the Holy Year foresees a celebration at the Coliseum in Rome, for Sunday May 7 described as a “Commemoration of the 20th century witnesses of the faith” or “Ecumenical Commemoration of the new martyrs.” The local Churches and Religious Institutes were invited to present some lists. Fr FITZPATRICK, our Postulator General, provided the Holy See with a list of 63 names. At this writing, the complete official list is not yet known, nor are the details of the ceremony itself. But the Holy Father is inviting us to recall those elder brothers and sisters who in a particular way gave their life for the Gospel. The list published below is therefore by no means official. We have added some names to the list already presented to the Holy See. They are Oblates who gave even their lives as “witnesses of the faith”, but of whom it is often impossible to prove that they were killed out of hatred of the faith. Assassins only rarely publish the motives of their acts. In some cases the circumstances of death were never brought to light. But those close to them considered them authentic martyrs. Everyone and even every community can add to this list names of others who were, or are, for us witnesses of the faith. Cameroon | Africa - Madagascar | Bishop Yves Plumey, former Archbishop of Garoua | 78 | French | Murdered in Ngaoundéré September 3, 1991, details still unknown. | Congo | Africa-Madagascar | Fr. Pierre Laebens | 44 | Belgian | Murdered January 23, 1964, during the Mulele rebellion. | Fr. Nicolas Hardy | 45 | Belgian | Fr. Gérard Defever | 44 | Belgian | Lesotho | Africa-Madagascar | F r. Almanzar Joseph Ménard | 49 | Canadian | Murdered July 1st 1955. A suspected ritual murder. | Bolivia | America | Fr. Maurice Lefebvre | 49 | Canadian | Killed at La Paz August 21, 1971, while helping the injured during a demonstration. | Canada | America | Fr. Léo Fafard | 35 | Canadian | Killed at Frog Lake (Alberta) April 2, 1885, during the Métis Rebellion | Fr. Félix Marchand | 27 | French | Missionaries among the Inuit, murdered at Coppermine October 30, 1913 | Fr. Jean-Baptiste Rouvière | 32 | French | Fr. Guillaume Le Roux | 28 | French | Fr. Joseph Buliard | 42 | French | Fr. Buliard disappeared mysteriously at Gary Lake toward the end of October 1956. "It is rumoredamong the Inuit as well as among the Whites that he was murdered." | Fr. Jean Franche | 67 | French | Murdered at Inuvik May 26, 1974 | Haiti | America | Fr. Renaud Bouffard | 40 | American | Murdered at Charbonnières May 25, 1971 | Indonesia | Asia -Oceania | Fr. Heribertus Boedhy Prihatna | 35 | Indonesian | Died "accidentally" in Borneo October 17, 1998. There are several indications that he may havebeen murdered. | Laos | See OMI Documentation N·229, September 1999 | Fr. Mario Borzaga | 28 | Italian | Killed May 1st 1960 | Fr. Louis Leroy | 38 | French | Killed April 18, 1961 | Fr. Michel Coquelet | 30 | French | Killed April 20, 1961 | Fr. Vincent L'Hénoret | 40 | French | Killed May 11, 1961 | Bro. Alexis Guémené | 37 | French | Killed June 4, 1961 | Fr. Jean Wauthier | 41 | French | Killed December 16, 1967 | Fr. Joseph Boissel | 60 | French | Killed July 5, 1969 | Philippines | Asia - Oceania | Fr. Paul Bernard Drone | 29 | American | Missionaries in the Philippines, beheaded by the Japanese July 2, 1942 | Bro. Michael Braun | 28 | American | Fr. Edward C. McMahon | 26 | American | Fr. Nelson Javellana | 31 | Filipino | With 70 people from his parish at Esperanza, he had gone to Cotabato City with a petition for promoting justice and peace. On the return trip, the convoy was ambushed on November3, 1971. | Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, Vicar Apostolic of Jolo | 57 | Filipino | Concerned about dialogue with the Muslims. Murdered in Jolo February 4, 1997 | Sri Lanka | Asia - Oceania | Fr. Michael Rodrigo | 60 | Sri Lankan | Apostle of dialogue with the Buddhists. Murdered at the end of his Mass November 10, 1987 | Germany | Europe | Fr. Friedrich Lorenz | 47 | German | Executed by the Nazis, "because a priest," November 13, 1944 |
Spain | Europe | Spanish Oblates shot by the Communists during the civil war in Spain in 1936. | Fr. Vicente Blanco Guadilla | 54 | Fr. Francisco Esteban Lacal | 48 | Fr. José Vega Riaño | 32 | Fr. Juan Antonio Pérez Mayo | 29 | Fr. Gregorio Escobar García | 24 | Bro. Angel Francisco Bocos | 53 | Bro. Eleuterio Prado Villarroel | 21 | Bro. Marcelino Sanchez Fernandez | 26 | Scol. Juan José Caballero Rodriguez | 24 | Scol. Justo Gil Pardo | 26 | Scol. Manual Gutiérrez Martín | 23 | Scol. Cecilio Vega Domínguez | 23 | Scol. Francisco Polvorinos Gomez | 26 | Scol. Juan Pedro Del Cotillo Fernandez | 22 | Scol. Publio Rodríguez Moslares | 24 | Scol. José Guerra Andrés | 22 | Scol. Justo González Morente | 21 | · Scol. Serviliano Riaño Herrero | 20 | Scol. Pascual Aláez Medina | 19 | Scol. Daniel Gómez Lucas | 20 | Scol. Clemente Rodríguez Tejerina | 18 | Scol. Justo Fernández González | 20 | Poland | Europe | Some of these Oblates were shot, most died in Nazi concentration camps. | Fr. Marian Wyduba, 30 | December 18, 1939 | Fr. Jan Finc, 30 | June 28, 1940 | Nov. Jan Szamocki, 21 | September 10, 1940 | Scol. Alfons Manka, 24 | January 21, 1941 | Blessed Jozef Cebula, 39 | May 9, 1941 | Fr. Ludwik Kasalka, 27 | June 7, 1941 | Fr. Pawel Kulawy, 64 | August 21, 1941 | Fr. Jan Wilhelm Kulawy, 69 | September 10, 1941 | Scol. Mieczyslaw Frala, 21 | December 9, 1941 | Fr. Jan Pawolek, 60 | February 28, 1942 | Nov. Ludwik Janski, 24 | April 22, 1942 | Bro. Tomasz Kozierowski, 36 | May 1st 1942 | Nov. Karol Spalek, 21 | August 21, 1942 | Fr. Czeslaw Bartosz, 33, Polish, died | October 5, 1942 | Fr. Jozef Franciszek Kocot, 32 | December 29, 1942 | Fr. Antoni Leszczyk | May 31, 1943 | Fr. Jozef Cal, 32 | June 6, 1943 |
| France | Europe | Killed by the Gestapo at La Brosse-Montceaux July 24, 1944 | Fr. Albert Piat | 35 | Fr. Christian Gilbert | 32 | Bro. Joachim Nio | 46 | Scol. Jean-Marie Cuny | 26 | Scol. Lucien Perrier | 26 |
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Fr. François Bousso | 63 | French | Executed in Caen June 4, 1944, for acts of resistance. | Fr. Justin Pennerath | 42 | French | Killed at the Nazi concentration camp in Gaggenau with three other priests November 24,1944 | Ukraine | Europe | Fr. Ludwik Wrodarczyk | 36 | Polish | Killed December 8, 1943 in Okopy by some Ukrainians connected with the Nazis |
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