Girard0709

1 June 1848 — Father Jean-Louis Rocher to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Sydney

Translated by Mary Williamson, March 2017.

Based on the document sent, APM OP 458 Rocher.

Two sheets of paper, forming eight written pages.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam & Dei Matris virginis

Sydney 1st June 1848

To the Very Reverend Father Colin, superior general

For his eyes only.

My Very Reverend Father,

[1]

In my last letter, dated the beginning of April, I informed you of my return to Sydney and at the same time I expressed to you my regret at not being able to immediately send you a little overview of the voyage that I had just made around the islands of Oceania. Now that the demands of the procurator’s office are fewer, I hasten to fulfil that obligation.

[2]

The first mission run by the Marists that I visited is the one that is established in the archipelago of Samoa. It is comprised of four establishments that are: two on the island of Upolu. On Upolu, the first establishment is in the village of Matautu (port of Apia), run by Father Padel, the superior of Father Vachon who is responsible for the running of the second establishment in the village of Vahiilele. I found these two Fathers in good health as well as Brother Jacques, who always behaves as a good priest should and Father Pradel, with whom he lives, is full of praise for him. For some time Brother Gerard has worked in this mission, but he was unable to recover from a type of typhoid, which carried him off in April of 1847. Fortified by the last sacraments he died a very uplifting death.

[3]

Father Vachon does not have a Brother with him; he only has a native of Wallis, who is very intelligent, to assist him.

[4]

The mission seems to be going well and makes daily progress. Bishop Bataillon, who at the beginning of last year visited this archipelago, had a large church 77 feet long by 30 feet wide built at Matautu. The chiefs in this area are always well disposed towards the Catholic religion: they would have had almost sufficient instruction to be baptised, but Father Pradel wished to wait till he was sufficiently proficient in their language, so as to be able to help them to persevere with their instruction.

[5]

A letter dated 4th April 1848, received recently from Father Pradel, informs me that the chief of a large village has just made his declaration. “I went to visit this village twice, .he told me. The first time I found 17 new converts and the second 35. I feel confident that we will soon have most of this village, if not all”.

[6]

In Vahilele, where Father Vachon is stationed, all was going equally well. This establishment, which had only been is existence for a few months when I visited, already had 15 to 20 novices. The Father is much loved by the natives. His kindness in receiving them, his patience in listening to them, the skill he has in learning their language are some of the qualities that earn him the affection of these poor people; thus he cannot leave his hut without being followed by some of the natives, they are so afraid of him leaving them.

[7]

Father Padel and Father Vachon are about two leagues distance from each other. Nevertheless, despite this distance, they see each other regularly every eight days.

[8]

On the island of Savai’i the first establishment is in the village of Latele. That is where Father Violette lives and I found him weak but always very courageous. With him was Brother Charles Aubert, who left him a fortnight after I left the island. He is at the moment at the procurator’s office. In it’s early days the mission had great difficulty in establishing itself on this island because of the presence of Protestantism; but the prayers and fervent sermons of the Father triumphed and although the mission could not count a single adult baptised, it had the consolation of having a large number of novices. I have learned since my departure that a very influential chief has come to swell the numbers.

[9]

The natives of the village where Father Violette live venerate him. They see him as an extraordinarily learned man, as he speaks their language so well. Also, several chiefs on the island, whether pagan of protestant, come out of curiosity to hear his teachings.

[10]

Solelavalu. This establishment, eight leagues away from the preceding one, is run by Father Mugnery. Father Mériais was with him, but Bishop Bataillon, when he left Samoa, took him with him to Wallis, to be in charge of his college, leaving Father Mugnery with the choice of either remaining alone or coming to live with Father Violette, which it seems did not suit him at all. It is generally believed that it is his household fittings that keep him there. This does not stop him from believing that this voluntary isolation he finds himself in is one of the many grievances he holds against the Bishop. I doubt that this good Father, because of his nature, will come to agree with Bishop Bataillon in the future. If he was sure of being received by Bishop Collomb, he would have already left because, he says, this mission has only young workers, who, for the most part, are inexperienced.

[11]

Before I left, he wished to acquaint me with a letter that he was sending to Bishop Bataillon. As I found it rather too bitter, I advised him to rewrite it. He did this in fact, although it did not fail to greatly upset His Lordship, who did not reply to him.

[12]

I believe that this mission will have some difficulty in growing. 1. Because the Father’s dwelling is not in the village, but about a quarter of an hour away, on the facing slope of a small mountain. It is true that the Father, being situated near the sea shore, will probably attract the natives to come to live around him, but it will first be necessary to find a source of fresh water.

[13]

2. The difficulty in learning the language. It is very difficult, my Very Reverend Father and here I speak from experience, very difficult, I assure you, when one leaves France at over 30 years of age and especially 35 years, to overcome the problems one faces when beginning a foreign language.

[14]

During the month I spent in Samoa, I very often had the opportunity to have a discussion with the Reverend Fathers at this mission. Generally, they are not very happy with Bishop Bataillon: 1. Because of the isolation they find themselves in. There are not two Fathers in any one of the establishments and there is only Father Padel who has a Brother.

[15]

2. The restriction of their powers. No missionary can practice anywhere except on his island.

[16]

3. Temporal assistance. His Lordship, when he left this island left no provision whatsoever. It was not till after repeated requests that he gave a small amount of money, such as, to Father Padel 200 francs for himself and his Brother and 75 francs to Father Vachon. To Father Violette 100 francs and nothing to Father Mugnéry because, said the Bishop, he should still have some money left from his previous living. A reply to which Father Mugnéry was very sensitive. If His Lordship is so economical, it is because he has a plan to establish a reserve fund for the future.

[17]

Tongatapu. The second mission that I visited after having left Samoa was that of Tonga, where I found Fathers Chevron and Calinon in good health, as was Brother Jean who according to all reports behaves as a good and zealous religious worker. Brother Attale went on 7th August 1847, to receive his reward in heaven. Provided with the last sacraments he died happily resigned to the will of God.

[18]

When I arrived in Tonga, (14th September 1847), the Fathers were in the midst of creating a new establishment about three leagues away from the first. They had already divided up their small furnishings and the following day Father Chevron and Brother Jean were going to take charge of the transportation. Moa is the name of the village where this establishment will be situated and it will be run by Father Chevron as Superior. Moa is the largest fortified village with a population of 3000 inhabitants. It is there that the high chief of the island, the Tui Tonga lives. The Catholic mission in this area already has 12 people baptised and 63 novices.

[19]

As for Father Calinon, he remains at the village of Pea, with a few natives to serve him and assist him with his apostolic courses.

[20]

Bishop Bataillon visited this mission during the month of June, last year. As His Lordship was doubtful about his jurisdiction on this island, he abstained from all episcopal duties. During the few days that the Bishop stayed in Tonga, Father Calinon hardly saw him. This poor Father is always in two minds over the earlier problems he has had with His Lordship. It would take too long here if I were to tell you everything he told me over the course of almost the entire first night we spent together. He cannot see any other means by which the position of a missionary might be less painful than by the separation from the temporal. No matter what, even if this separation occurs, I do not think that his health could be more blooming.

[21]

Father Chevron is always very busy and very zealous. During the three days that we stayed in Tonga, he worked almost all the time on medical matters with the doctor from the Arche d’Alliance, who is in charge of the printing works since the departure of Mr Grézel for Futuna.

[24]

At Saint Joseph there is Father Mathieu who only has natives with him. Every Saturday, Brother Paschase joins him to prepare his church for him and put things in order for the following week.

[25]

Lano, where the college is situated, is under the direction of Father Mériais, who has Brother Augustin with him. The previous Brother, Joseph, is on Futuna with the Bishop.

[26]

The mission on Wallis is generally going well; the natives attend the sacraments, are quite diligent about church services and faithful to the early morning worshiping of the holy sacrament. Nevertheless, with all this correctness, which is certainly worthy of admiration, I am still a bit fearful for the future and I would not be surprised if, one day, I learned of a considerable defection on Wallis. Here is the reason: pride. The Wallisians like the Tongans consider themselves the best in the world in every way. For them, preeminence is something very dear; so if you argue this with them, you see them become very angry, sad and discouraged. Now that they are Christians, their crowning glory is to have Bishop Bataillon with them and I praise them for that; but this should not make them think that they are better than others. They have a printing works, all very well, but they should not be vain about it. If the Bishop moves house, if the printing works shifts elsewhere, you will soon see them show less ardour and less exactitude in their religious practices because they feel themselves humiliated. This leads me to believe that the fear of losing His Lordship has a great influence on the motivation of their behaviour.

[27]

When we arrived on Wallis, the king had taken back one of his former concubines. The Bishop did everything he could to remind him of his Christian duty, but he made no progress. It was only the fear of seeing the Bishop leave for Futuna that made him decide to send this woman away.

[28]

Another reason for my apprehension about the mission on Wallis is this handful of Protestants who are spreading around the island and doing much harm. Their village is an open door for all those who wish to live according to their passions and unfortunately there are those who are going to increase their number.

[29]

What I am saying to you about Wallis has more or less been said to me by the missionaries; so, Father Matthieu is always full of apprehension when he sees that the Bishop is going to be absent.

[30]

During the three weeks that Bishop Bataillon spent with us on Wallis, I had the opportunity to speak several times with His Lordship. He was very anxious to know why the missionaries that you had promised him had not arrived. No doubt he will be frustrated in his projects, when he learns that two of these missionaries who were assigned to him have been held back by illness.

[31]

It is the Bishop himself who announced to me the cancellation of the decree of the Propaganda which ordained that there should be two priests in each mission. As His Lordship seemed to be satisfied with this, I allowed myself to make the observation to him that as Superior General, I believed that one was free to conform to this or not and that one could not, despite the cancellation of the decree, send people to the vicars apostolic except on condition that two would go together. His Lordship did not support the contrary idea, he only added that he believed that the intention was not that two missionaries should be together in the same mission but just on the same island. (But in Oceania, there are islands that are very big.) Besides, he said, I am entirely committed to doing whatever the Reverend Father Superior orders me to do and up till now he has said nothing to me, only that he hoped that I would not do to others what had been done to me. And then, he added, it might well be said that there should be two missionaries together, but the difficulty is to get two characters who get along together. They write to France and make demands, but why cannot those who find themselves two together or with a Brother not seem able to get along? That, my Very Reverend Father, is too true. We are, it must be said, very strong on speculating on this subject, but in practice it is not at all the same.

[32]

Father Padel, in his letter of 4th of last April, begged me anew, in the letters that I will send to you, to push strongly on this subject. He is amazed that those who are meant to represent you in Oceania persist in saying that the carrying out of this rule, to have two together, is impossible and that the wellbeing of the missions will suffer because of it.

[33]

His Lordship is not thinking of going to France yet; he is first waiting for his assistant, then will return to Europe on the Arche d’Alliance.

[34]

During a fairly long conversation that we had about Bishop Epalle, I found the opportunity to tell him what this worthy prelate had said to me in Sydney about the benefits he had gained from his trip to France as far as his knowledge of the Society is concerned; and as well, his resolve to return to Europe in a few years so as to be better informed about its constitutions and above all its spirit. “Everyone, Bishop Bataillon replied to me, has his way of looking at it.”

[35]

The Bishop does not seem to be of the opinion that the vicars apostolic should be named, except by coadjutors; otherwise, he says, there will no longer be unity, that is to say unity in the construction and distribution of churches, unity in prayers, ceremonies, singing, the teaching of reading and writing, etc. Thus, everything that His Lordship has built or established in these islands wherever he goes, it is always faka uvea, that is to say according to the customs and style of Wallis, which upsets the missionaries and wounds the self esteem of the natives. For example: the church that the bishop had built during his stay in Apia (the archipelago of Samoa) is built completely in the Wallisian style. Father Padel pointed out to him that the building style in this country was much more sophisticated than on Wallis, and that as well, it would anger the natives, etc.etc, but this was all futile. The style of Wallis prevailed, which did not please the inhabitants at all.

[36]

To justify this unity of style, His Lordship gave as a reason that when the natives travelled from one island to another, they would find that what they had on their island was done the same everywhere else, so then they would not regard each other as strangers.

[37]

While the prelate wishes to only have coadjutors, the missionaries only want vicars apostolic: Because, they say, with coadjutors, the missions will be at a disadvantage except for those where the vicar apostolic is resident. Here New Caledonia was cited as an example. This matter is one of those that they have recommended that I should not forget when writing to you.

[38]

This unity is so important to him that he dreads the arrival of bishop Pompallier in Tonga. He would prefer Bishop Viard because he has more influence on him. I got this from His Lordship himself.

[39]

Bishop Bataillon does not intend to station himself in either Wallis of Samoa. He does not find that the youth of these people have much in the way of possibilities. He is thinking of going to Fiji. One of the high chiefs of the large island of this archipelago is asking for missionaries.

[40]

The cancelling of the decree, that he attributes to the solicitation of Bishop Pompallier is, for His Lordship, proof that Bishop Pompallier was perhaps not as reprehensible as people were keen to say.

[41]

Bishop Bataillon is not happy with the Brothers who were sent to him on the Arche d’Alliance; . It is true that some amongst them have difficult characters and find it hard to lower themselves to the everyday things at the mission, but if these Brothers who are complained about had found, on arriving at their destination, some rules and spiritual practices carried out together and if from time to time the provincial, who is the religious superior, had called them together to give them some advice, the complaints would probably not be so strident. But when they arrived they found nothing of that nature. It was only a few days before my arrival on Wallis that Father Junillon had, on his own initiative, begun to gather the Brothers together in the evening to give them a spiritual talk. The lives of Fathers in the desert were read. As for His Lordship, who is Provincial or if you wish, Religious Superior, he never gathers them together. As for the Fathers, he never sees them except in council and also, the missionaries say, it is just for form, because we have never seen him, despite observing him closely, distance himself from a position that he has resolved to carry out.

[42]

The missionaries dearly wish that the title or rather the duties of Provincial not be given to the person who by right is the ecclesiastical superior because, they say, it is impossible for them to fulfil the duties that the rules impose on them, in relation to the person who is at the same time Vicar Apostolic and Provincial.

[43]

Bishop Bataillon has leased his schooner to Mr Marceau, who has sent it to Tahiti to get some repairs completed. It is understood that His Lordship will pay for these, after which it will be at the service of the Society of Oceania. The benefit that the Bishop will gain from this arrangement is that he will have the schooner at his service for three months each year.

[44]

Before finishing the news about Wallis, it is necessary to speak to you about the establishment at Lano, on which the Bishop is resting his hopes.

[45]

This establishment is quite well situated, but he is annoyed that the small hillock on which it is set is not nearer to the seafront and is dominated by other smaller mounds covered with clusters of tall trees, which block the circulation of air, concentrate the heat and attract hoards of mosquitoes. Nearby is a lake that is much admired, but unfortunately it is dry for three quarters of the year. Below is a small stream of fresh water which is minimal, if it is not dry during the hottest weather. As for the terrain, it is mainly clay and would only produce with difficulty. Nevertheless, one area is quite good.

[46]

For a college where the local children will be educated, it is fine; but if the Bishop, as is his plan, wants to station the new missionaries there, to accustom them to the missions before placing them, or to receive ill people, I firmly believe that the health of the arriving Fathers will not be maintained and those who are sick will only recover with difficulty.

[47]

When I left Wallis, the college already had twelve young natives who seemed very intelligent and showed quite a degree of precision in arriving at the place they were summoned by the regulation bell. During the day they were occupied with manual tasks. It was only in the evening that they were given lessons in reading, writing and singing. Father Mériais seemed happy surrounded by his little family, the only thing he dreads is the natural fickleness of these people.

[48]

Futuna. This mission has at the moment three establishments, Our Lady of the Martyrs, Saint Joseph and Our Lady of the Hermitage which was founded recently.

[49]

When we arrived on Wallis, it was understood that Bishop Bataillon would make use of the Arche d’Alliance to take him to Futuna. But the serious damage suffered by the ship on the reefs of Wallis, which necessitated a delay of two months for repairs, caused His Lordship to make use of the schooner which was leaving for Tahiti to take him to Futuna, accompanied by a large group of natives (11th October 1847). Two months later, we left Wallis, having on board Mr Grézel and Brother Lusy who were going to rejoin the bishop.

[50]

The first thing the Bishop did on his arrival was to hold an inquest into the martyrdom of Reverend Father Chanel. For that, he gathered together all the natives of the island and with the assistance of Brother Marie Nizier, he proceeded to gather information. A verbal proceedings was precisely recorded and signed by a large number of witnesses. This document was given to Mr Marceau who is charged with presenting it to you.

[51]

As the Bishop intends to increase the number of colleges as much as possible, he then followed up by occupying himself with the means of carrying out this project on Futuna and he succeeded. The site, in the language of the country, is called Colopelu. But on the day of the celebration of the presentation of the Holy Virgin, His Lordship, having blessed this site, gave it the name of Our Lady of the Hermitage. This will be a branch of the Hermitage in Lyon. The Bishop intends, as well as teaching young people, to also train some Brothers.

[52]

This establishment is situated more or less in the same area as two others. Its position is absolutely charming and certainly does not present the same inconveniences as the one at Lano on Wallis.

[53]

When His Lordship arrived on Futuna, the staff of that mission was made up of Fathers Servant and Favier along with Brother Marie Nizier, who spent alternate months in each establishment.

[54]

Father Servant is still in charge of the first establishment, in the village of Poi, where the Reverend Father Chanel was massacred. His health seems quite good but he is becoming more and more deaf. A letter (dated 19th March 1844) which I received recently from Bishop Bataillon informs me that a new church has been built over the tomb of the Reverend Father Chanel. It encloses within its precinct the tomb and the place where he was killed. This latter area is situated under the pulpit. A stone with an inscription indicates the place.

[55]

Saint Joseph was under the direction of Father Favier, who has been sent by the Bishop to Rotuma to replace Father Villien, who is going to rejoin Bishop Collomb. The thing that made the Bishop decide on this change was the course Father Favier had adopted, which was too severe. As you know, public penances had been inflicted. Serious difficulties had arisen between this Father and the king….etc . In a word, this course of action made the Bishop fear that these people, who were all converted, would sooner or later become discouraged. “Pray for our mission on Futuna, His Lordship said to me in his last letter. The untruthful Father kept hidden a lot of discontent, that we fortunately uncovered and for which we have carried out a suitable remedy which, I think, will have its effect.”

[56]

Father Favier was greatly moved on leaving these people, who he had hoped to die amongst, but on this occasion he conducted himself like a true man of religion, submitting himself to the wishes of the Bishop without objection.

[57]

The Bishop intended, on leaving Wallis, to take Mr Grézel with him and ordain him priest on Futuna, but having taken him by surprise, this gentleman did not wish to ever consent to this. As Mr Grézel had great confidence in Father Mériais and as he realised that the Arche d’Alliance was remaining for two more months in Wallis, he begged the Bishop to allow him this short period of time to make a retreat and to be initiated into the main difficulties of the ministry. He was allowed this. I do not know yet if he has been ordained since he has been on Futuna; all I know as that when I left that island he did not seem very happy. The good Mr Grézel has, I believe, a very touchy character and it is very difficult to change his ideas. He greatly fears the Bishop and imagines that His Lordship has no affection for him. He told me that the Bishop had not spoken a word to him for three months. (It is a sort of test that is fairly common for the Bishop, according to the missionaries.) He also believes that you have no interest in him, because a letter that you wrote to him some time after his arrival on Wallis was not at all satisfactory. The Society, he also says, does not want to accept him, because he has received nothing in the way of clothing since he left France. I have encouraged him as much as possible and he has promised me that he will write to you. As his shirts were in a very poor state, I made him a gift of a half dozen.

[58]

Rotuma. This island has two establishments, about 5 leagues away from each other. The first is run by Father Verne, who has Brother Lucien with him. Father Villien was in charge of the second which is now under Father Favier’s direction. These two establishments have made about the same amount of progress, though that of Father Verne has a few more catechists.

[59]

A great drawback to the progress of this mission is that, since the arrival of the missionaries, some of the principle chiefs have lost some of the influence that superstition allowed them. Beside this first obstacle, there is another, which will certainly be more difficult to overcome than the first and that is the corruption that exists among the people. What supports this is the all too frequent visits of whaling ships that come to this island to take on food supplies.

[60]

The arrival of the Arche d’Alliance has been very beneficial to the island; it has shown the islanders that the missionaries are not people without relatives and friends, but that they belong to a large nation that has big ships and people who think of them.

[61]

Despite all the difficulties of this fledging mission, Father Verne is full of hope for the future and is counting very much on the arrival of the Bishop.

[62]

As for the Father’s health, it seems very robust. The greatest difficulty he has had so far, and that troubles him a little, is the problem that he has had in learning the language; fortunately he has with him a catechist from Wallis as interpreter. This native is intelligent, he understands French reasonably well and speaks the language of Rotuma.

[63]

Brother Lucien does not seem very happy and sometimes he is sad. This poor Brother thought that when he arrived on Wallis the Bishop would have him continue his studies, but his hopes have been dashed.

[64]

Such, my Very Reverend Father, are the active missions that I have seen during my travels. I would have liked to visit Fiji as well as the mission in Melanesia, but the delays that we have had on Wallis and the fickleness of the winds that we experienced between New Georgia and Woodlark have deprived me of seeing these two missions.

[65]

As for New Caledonia, we have not yet received any news. If the Fathers of this mission do not find a special chance to send us a letter, we can only hope for one in two or three months by way of Tahiti.

[66]

During my travels around the islands, most of the missionaries have begged me to join with them in asking you a favour, which is to send to Oceania someone to represent you, who would visit the missions and then return to Europe. No matter how much we write, they say, no one will believe everything we say and also, what could be more painful than to be always complaining. Whereas, if someone comes, provided with the necessary powers, he will listen and see with his own eyes and provide a solution wherever he judges it suitable.

[67]

We would very much hope that it would the Reverend Father Maîtrepierre or if it was impossible to have him, someone who, like this Reverend Father, would be imbued with the spirit of the Society and would know how to gain the confidence of the missionaries.

[68]

One or two of the Fathers have said to me that the Society now has a large number of people in Oceania, but that there are not many true Marists amongst them. On arriving at the mission, their vows do not seem to have the same importance; because, some say, they made them under certain conditions and these having not been fulfilled, they are released from all obligation. Others compare the vows to simple promises that a worldly person would make to God. Oh! They add, for these Fathers, is a worthy and complete noviciate necessary for those who leave for the foreign missions? In Europe, a religious Marist seeks to enlighten himself … but a missionary isolated in the middle of an island, who will he turn to?

[69]

Before ending these observations, I feel I must say to you, my Reverend Father, that I am always careful, when arriving on an island, to say to the missionaries that I was not sent by you to visit them, so consequently I have no powers.

[70]

I conclude, my very Reverend Father, in offering you my very humble respects.

Your very humble and

obedient child in Jesus and Mary,

Rocher, Marist priest.