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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 3

BIOGRAPHY OF JEANNE BIGARD

1. A fragile life with a great ideal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 5

2. The first mystical experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 6
3. Full participation in the «Mystery of the Cross» . . . . . . . . . . ” 7
4. Missionary Revival: a centre of attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 9
5. The Approach to the Kyoto Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 12
6. Desire for the greater good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 12
7. The reply of «Propaganda Fide» to the local hierarchy . . . . . ” 15
8. The urgency of the formation of the indigenous clergy . . . . . . . ” 17
9. The awesome project of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle . . . . ” 20
10. The Project lands in Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 21
11. The approval of the universal Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 24
12. The Ascent of Golgotha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 26
13. A new pearl at the heart of the missionary church . . . . . . . . . ” 26
14. The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, today . . . . . . . ” 28
15. The call continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 29

EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” 32

Cover: The Rector of St.Joseph’s Aboke Minor Seminary, Lira, Uganda,

distributing Communion during Mass.

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PROLOGUE

After several years of serving as Secretary General for the Pontifical So-
ciety of St. Peter the Apostle, I had the privilege of encountering some in-
credible discoveries. The number of priests worldwide continues to grow
steadily, although in many places in Asia and Africa at a quicker pace. Yet
in some areas where I visited and received correspondences, the conditions of
the seminaries are appalling. Aside from congestion, the facilities are very
inadequate for our priest-candidates. It is very edifying to witness the for-
mators and seminarians living vibrantly in spite of these poor circumstances.
Yet the world continues to need priests, even in poor countries, to
carry on the work of Jesus – in spreading the Gospel. But it is an unknown
fact that many who follow in His footsteps are too poor – that great efforts,
sacrifice and resources are needed to support their training.
Jeanne Bigard started the Society of St. Peter the Apostle to make
us aware of the continuous need to help promote native vocations. As you
read her life, I hope that you will also be inspired to do your own share to
carry on this charism and support the Society which she has founded. I
tried to provide a visual presentation of the present works of the Society.
My prayer is that the pictures and statistical graphs will reveal to you the
enormous challenge that still lies ahead for all of us.
Hence, may this booklet serve as a reminder of our missionary call-
ing. In many places, especially in the hearts of seminarians and the book-
shelves of various seminaries, may it serve as a poignant testimony to the
toil and hardships of all the wonderful people helping and working for the
Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle. To Jeanne Bigard and her many
followers, I humbly dedicate this endeavour.

Msgr. José Antonio Galvez

Rome, 1 October 2004
Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux
Patroness of the Missions

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This booklet would have never become a reality without the valu-
able contribution of the following:
• Msgr. Delio Lucarelli, who wrote Jeanne Bigard’s biography, and Msgr.
Giuseppe Andreozzi, PMS Director for Italy, who gave us permission
to reprint this work;
• Sister Helen McMahon, F.M.M., whom I have pestered many times and
succeeded in translating Msgr. Lucarelli’s writing into English;
• Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., and Fr. Gerardo Ruiz Palacios, who did
the bulk of this meticulous work;
• The people of Spedim who assisted us with the technical intricacies and
printing aspect of this booklet; and
• The staff of the International Secretariat and all the workers for the Na-
tional Offices who have assisted the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the
Apostle for many years,
My profound gratitude and may the Lord of the Mission reward you
all for your zeal and dedication.

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Jeanne Bigard
Foundress of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle
1859-1934

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1. A fragile life with a great ideal

Jeanne Bigard was born on 12th December 1859 at Constance, a

small town in southern Normandy at a time when France was being rav-
aged by the wind of restoration, following the fall of the Napoleonic Em-
pire.
The mother, Stephanie Cottin, was a woman of character and posses-
sive love; she longed for a daughter, after the birth of her firstborn René,
who like his father, Charles Victor Bigard, had an independent character
and, like him, was a career magistrate and an unbeliever.
Between the mother and daughter there developed such a symbiosis
of feelings and ideals as to make them almost indispensable to one anoth-
er.
For her mother, Jeanne represented the end of a family solitude
which was suffered in silence and anticipation. She, in her turn, was abun-
dantly compensated by an unconditional protection.
Jeanne, whose health was delicate spent her school days, which are
usually an initiation into the discovery of new realities and happy friend-
ships, within the walls of the house in Caen, the city her magistrate father
had moved to because of his work.
The instructions given in the house, were certainly superior to that
received by her contemporaries, considering the high cultural level of the
Bigard family, but it did not give her the breath of freedom, the light-
heartedness of games, the warmth of friendship, the caress of wind and
sun, enjoyed by her contemporaries.

Tensions arising from her introduction into social life with girls of
her own age, risked shattering the balance of her personality. She herself
was not aware of this and she made no mention of it in recalling the years
of her youth. “Calmness - she writes - with all that this entails is what I
lacked most, patience, the acceptance of delays, knowing how to wait. I

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notice it every day and I now find myself as I was at eighteen years of age
when I trembled with impatience to have a box of colours, a book. I want-
ed the object of my desire immediately.”

2. The first mystical experiences

Stephanie did not ask herself any particular questions about her
daughter’s possible future choices. Her aversion for the world and its at-
tractions and her refusal of whatever was tinged by the ephemeral were ev-
ident.
During Christmas 1869 Jeanne made her first confession and in May
of the following year, her first communion. For her confirmation she had
to await the return of Bishop Cousin from Rome, where he had participat-
ed in the First Vatican Council.

Seminarians using computers

at “Santa Maria la Mayor” Major Seminary, Puyo, Ecuador.

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At 14 years of age, attracted by the letter of St. Ilario on Virginity,

Jeanne planned to become a religious; only a radical demanding all-ab-
sorbing Gospel choice would have satisfied her, but events were to lead her
in another direction completely. God, in fact, would called her to render a
service to the missionary Church, without sparing her trial by fire.

3. Full participation in the «Mystery of the Cross»

Storms broke out in violent fury on the Bigard family: first with the
death by suicide of the father, Charles Victor, on 2nd January 1878: she
was 19 years old; then in 1887 with the death in tragic circumstances of
her brother René, due to an embolism caused by burns from the explosion
of a lamp. Jeanne was 28 years of age. This second tragic accident hap-
pened on 21st August in Lisieux where René was a highly regarded judge.
Jeanne and her mother were in Vichy when they learned the news.
René himself reassured them from the hospital:
«My hand is slightly burned - he wrote - a spirit lamp near me on
the table exploded and I was slightly burned ... but there is no danger».
The two women’s interpretation of the sick man’s condition must
have seemed slight since they decided to go to Lourdes in the south rather
than hastening to Lisieux in the north. But there, in the Grotto, they
learned the news that he had died amid dreadful suffering.
Writing to a friend, Fr. Villion, who was a missionary in Japan,
Jeanne expresses in grief-stricken words her sorrow at the loss of her broth-
er René and at the same time does not conceal a profound feeling of guilt
for not having been present at his death.
«Father, father - she writes tearfully - can you believe our disgrace,
our grief? My poor brother, my beloved René, died on 1st September,
while we were far away from him».
But, sustained by the certainty that he had been welcomed into
God’s arms, she adds, « ... Father, it is an immense consolation: my poor

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Palm Sunday Procession at

“Holy Spirit Seminary”, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Seminarians from the Propaedeutic Seminary of Boma, Democratic Republic of Congo,

working in the garden.

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brother wrote to us that this terrible accident had inspired him with
promises that he had made to Almighty God, that he had kept».
Regarding her brother’s tragic demise, she noted in her diary:
«A deep and incredible sorrow has plunged my whole existence in-
to mourning. From that time I have seen everything, even the sunniest
scenery, as though through a veil».
Jeanne feeling herself stricken to the very depths of her being, suf-
fered as only a refined spirit like hers could, but not losing sight of the
meaning of that suffering: she requests it from Almighty God with the
words of the Imitation of Christ.
«Lord, sprinkle with bitterness for me all that is not you, so that I
will not become attached to any created thing».
Jeanne chose the most difficult path by which of reaching God, that
of detachment from things which corrupt, from persons who pass.

4. Missionary Revival: a centre of attraction

In Jeanne’s youth there took place the thriving business of that net-
work of missionary cooperation of modern times, whose roots were laid in
pre-Napoleonic France.
The Institute of the Paris Foreign Mission Society became the ful-
crum of missionary revival and the stimulating centre of some missionary
associations which with prayer and spontaneous assistance offered to sup-
port missionaries sent to the Far East and to North America.
Through the initiatives of different people, especially Pauline Jari-
cot (1799-1862), the Society for the Propagation of the Faith was launched in
Lyons, destined to unite all the associations which supported the missions
with prayer and offerings «one penny a week».
The organisation, based on groups of ten and a hundred, succeed-
ed in involving the whole community of the baptised in missionary co-

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operation, opening it out to the horizons of the Church’s universal mis-

sion.
Within the period of the first thirty years it succeeded in spreading
out to several European States, including Italy, stimulating a popular in-
terest in the missions through publications of a predominantly edifying
nature, which allowed the adventurous experiences and charitable work of
missionaries to be revealed, and therefore pin-pointing the various prob-
lems of the indigenous world.
The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith (as the collection of letters
coming from the missions and the documents relative to the culture and
missionary animation were called) saw the light of day in Lyons in 1825
and for many years were the best known source of information about the
missionary world.
From this literature Stephanie and Jeanne Bigard, already in close
contact with the Paris Foreign Mission Society, came to know some mis-
sionary priests working in the Far East, of whom they subsequently be-
came confidantes and supporters.
The meeting with the missionaries came about in the first place in
an indirect way through the Apostolic Society founded by Marie Du Chesne,
whose aim was to package equipment and furnishings for worship in the
mission churches.
Stephanie and Jeanne Bigard devoted themselves to this with all
their energy.
«When there was a free minute, - writes Jeanne - Mama and I would
throw ourselves into our work, on voyages, in the trains, in waiting rooms,
even in ante-rooms while awaiting our turn».
Little by little the missions became the centre of attraction
which contributed to the break up of the circle of solitude and to
launching the Bigards, amidst difficulties and sadness, into a life of
missionary renewal.

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“Forming a cross to follow the Lord who died on the Cross ...”
Seminarians from “Vianney Bhavan” Regional Seminary,
Berhampur, India.

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5. The Approach to the Kyoto Mission

Among the priests, corresponding with the Bigard family, the fore-
most was Fr. Aimé Villion, a friend of Stephanie like a «first born son», and
to whom Jeanne, as a close friend, shortly afterwards communicated the
news of the death of her brother René. Fr. Villion, a missionary in Kyoto,
expressed his resolute intention of building a church in honour of St. Fran-
cis Xavier for his little community in Kyoto, Japan. The Bigards saw one
of their earlier projects, made more urgent with the death of René, becom-
ing a reality.
Nevertheless, the decision to accomplish the project would not be
up to their friend Fr. Villion, but to the Vicar Apostolic of central Japan.
He was opposed to such an enormous sum (50 thousand francs in securi-
ties, obtained from the sale of a farm belonging to the Bigards) being spent
on the building of a church in the Japanese style, and transferred Fr. Vil-
lion to Yamaguschi, the town where three centuries previously Francis
Xavier had gone «with great pomp, bearing gifts - writes Josef Schmidlin
the historian of the missions - thus he gained total liberty and also carried
out not a few baptisms among the cultured and the bonzes».
In subsequent years, the Church of Kyoto was built with the Bi-
gards’ money, but Fr. Villion could not bear the refusal and fell into a se-
rious depressive crisis which for several years, prevented him from contin-
uing his activities.
Jeanne supported the missionary with earnest and kind letters.

6. Desire for the greater good

The festering wound of Fr. Villion caused Jeanne much anxiety. She
was tormented by the doubt that her friend might, in a moment of men-
tal confusion, resort to something worse. She urged him, like a loving sis-
ter to review his situation and let himself to be guided.

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“The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle assists financially the Seminaries in mission coun-
tries through the distribution of subsidies.
These Seminaries are divided into 3 categories: 1) Major Seminaries (Philosophy and Theology);
2) Propaedeutic Seminaries (Preparation and discernment before entering the Major Seminary;
3) Minor Seminaries (Senior and Secondary School). See data in detail at p. 22.

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On 20th May 1892, Jeanne, concerned about the silence and reti-
cence of her missionary friend, wrote to him proposing that he end his
dithering. The following extracts from the letter contain the richness of
mind and heart in which these great works of the Christian apostolate were
firmly rooted.

«For my mother and I - she writes - it would be a thousand times

better to know that you are sick at your post in Yamaguchi, rather than
where you are at Kobi - it seems to us - that you are not following your
bishop’s orders; regretfully we have consistently noted that you are not
happy in Yamaguchi. Poor Father, what do you want? We are all on earth
to attain heaven through our labours.

From your letter we see clearly that you no longer have the tranquil-
lity that you once had and this grieves us. But we are praying very much.
Be courageous and with grace, return to your post as soon as possible (...)
your greater good is the sole desire that guides my pen. Please believe this,
you have never encountered a more steadfast and true affection than that
which is in our hearts».

Fr. Villion was anything but insensible to the entreaties that insis-
tently came from Stehanie and Jeanne. He wanted to return their affection,
but he did not have the courage to «forget the past» and those that he be-
lieved «had wronged him».

The tenderness, that he had denied as a child by the premature death

of his mother, was generously given to him by Mme. Bigard; but at that
time he was not able to value what was being given to him. It was 25 years
after the death of Stephanie, in a moving letter written to the director of
the Society of St. Peter the Apostle - that he exclaimed as if asking for par-
don: «There has not been a day when I have forgotten Mme. Bigard, my
guardian angel!».

It was written on 3rd April 1928, when Fr. Villion was already 75
years old. Only 4 years later, his death would occur at Osaka, in Japan.

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7. The reply of «Propaganda Fide» to the local hierarchy

Just at the time when missionary effectiveness was increasing, in Eu-

rope there was a felt need to introduce a local hierarchy in mission territo-
ries, free from all political pressures and autonomous in its pastoral activ-
ity. The Bigards, due to their almost constant contact with the missionar-
ies, intuitively perceived the problem and in their minds were working
out a suitable response.
The Paris Foreign Mission Society with which they were regularly
associated, had for quite some time written into its programme the imme-
diate establishment of indigenous churches with a hierarchy composed of
local members. The realisation of this programme was not easy.
The Roman Congregation of Propaganda Fide, reconstituted after
the suppression decreed by Napoleon, resolutely began again to deal with
the question of indigenous clergy, referring back to the famous Instruction
of 1659, with which they entreated the missionaries to pay maximum at-
tention to the formation of local clergy. More than two hundred years had
passed and the provision remained a dead letter.

Stephanie Bigard
Co-foundress of the Pontifical Society Msgr. Jules Alphonse Cousin, M.E.P.
of St. Peter the Apostle - 1834-1903 Bishop of Nagasaki

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The bishops and vicars were consulted so as to have a confirmation

and consensus on the matter. With the Instruction of 1845 the Vicars
Apostolic directly dependent on Propaganda Fide were invited to pass the
responsibility for the missions into the hands of the indigenous priests and
not be afraid of placing European missionaries under them.
The replies reaching them were too cautious. Various reasons were
cited for delaying a decision which, in fact, appeared to be urgent. What
is worse, the strongest opposition seemed to come from the very heart of
the hierarchy itself. A shocking example, in China in 1859, bore this out
when some European missionary bishops, still avoiding the issue, again
asked Rome in writing if they might justifiably delay establishing the hi-
erarchy in China or openly declared their opposition.
Among other reasons, they brought forward those persecutions
which were continuing to erupt against the Christians. Propaganda Fide
recognised that they did not understand its plan. It was exactly the perse-

Ordination Mass at “Bigard Memorial” Major Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria.

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cutions with the possibility of a mass expulsion of foreign missionaries

which recommended the creation of an indigenous clergy as an urgent so-
lution. History proved Propaganda to be right.

8. The urgency of the formation of the indigenous clergy

For many years the crux of the problem of being able to guarantee
the development of «local churches» in mission territories was that of
forming the indigenous clergy.

It is to be presumed that the two generous Bigard women, totally

dedicated to the missionary cause would not intend limiting their involve-
ment to providing funds for the construction of small mission churches -
for other very important things - but would want to enter wholeheartedly
into any missionary undertaking relevant to the future of the missions. It
was a concept to be totally developed, explored and anticipated.

Jeanne and her mother had enough insight to take it on. Therefore
their attention was concentrated on the indigenous clergy, who at any par-
ticular moment in time would ensure, the continuity of missionary activ-
ity. The starting point was a letter addressed to them on June 1, 1889 from
the Bishop of Nagasaki, Msgr. Jules Alphonse Cousin of the Paris Foreign
Mission Society. Worried (and that only due to lack of funds) about send-
ing back to their respective families «some boys who would make excel-
lent seminarians and later good priests», he asked the Bigards to help his
seminary and become its promoters.

«... Perhaps I am mistaken - he writes - but now that I know you, I

can believe that in our Christian France there must be a good number of
people inspired by a true Catholic spirit, who would not refuse to be asso-
ciated with our work for the indigenous clergy, if they were aware of it».
And he suggests the «adoption of a seminarian who, later on would bring
to the sacred altar the memory of his adopted parents, both during their
life and after death».

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It is possible that Msgr. Cousin wanted to recruit the Bigard family

solely for the Seminary of Nagasaki which was in serious financial straits.
To Jeanne and Stephanie the letter sounded like a clarion call. The native
clergy was the vocation to which they unreservedly offered their whole
lives. They dedicated themselves immediately to the collection of funds for
the seminarians of Nagasaki and at the same time gathering information
from bishops and vicars apostolic of the Paris Foreign Mission Society as
to the state of the indigenous clergy in their countries.
For some time Jeanne’s attention still remained concentrated on the
missions of the Far East, from where the news which came was not very re-
assuring. China, held as if in a vice between Great Britain and France, who
did not recognise its sovereignty, its diplomatic equality and commercial
freedom, burst into revolt and massacred Europeans, missionaries and Chi-
nese converts.
The Catholic religion, prohibited for over a century, after three years
of war, was tolerated thanks to the peace signed with great Britain (1840-
1843). But the peace did not last long.
In 1856 a second war broke out, after which France obtained impor-
tant commercial concessions; Catholicism was tolerated, protection was as-
sured to converts and freedom of action to the missionaries. In reality, a
Catholicism defended by peace treaties can only embitter souls.
The «Boxer» rebellion, incited by extremist bands in 1898, left
dead on the ground more than two hundred Catholic and Protestant mis-
sionaries and many thousands of Chinese Christians.
Jeanne refers to these facts in a letter to her friend Fr. Villion (5th
August 1900), according to whom the persecution taking place in China
might favour conversions in Japan. Jeanne, who was able to see the reality
of the situation from the beginning, contradicts him: «It is true - she ad-
mits - that in Japan you have freedom - but had this not just been grant-
ed to the Chinese Christians when this terrible strife, which perhaps will
cause the ruin of the Catholic faith in this country, erupted?». There was

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Seminarian from “St.Pius X” Major Seminary, Maputo, Mozambique,

catechising the people.

Seminarians washing dishes at “St.Peter’s Propaedeutic Seminary”,

Bontoc-Lagawe, Philippines.

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only one way of avoiding the consequences: preparing clergy in every mis-
sion. «Why did they not listen to Rome after the warning cry of Fr. De
Rhodes?» Why did they persist in «this foolish opposition to the indige-
nous clergy» on the part of some obstinate people who were very close to
heresy and who fostered so much evil in simple souls.

9. The awesome project of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle

The work of the indigenous clergy, referred to by Msgr. Cousin in

his letter of 1st June 1889, began to occupy the minds of Jeanne and her
mother, the way embarked upon would have solved the central problem of
the Mission: continuity. The society which Jeanne was about to found was
in perfect harmony with the teachings of the Popes and the policy followed
by Propaganda Fide, in the attempt to transform the missions in the local
Churches. The necessary condition, obviously, was a local clergy.
To understand the importance of this, it was necessary to wait for the
ecclesiological vision of Vatican II.
The foundation of the Society passed through various phases: first of
all, in order to satisfy the request of Msgr. Cousin and other missionaries,
they collected scholarships for seminarians and packed up Church orna-
ments for the missions.
Jeanne speaks, convinces, arouses. Above all, she gives herself as a
victim for the success of this splendid idea that she finds underlined in the
words of Pope Innocent XI, written to one of the first Vicars Apostolic of
the Far East: «I would prefer to see the ordination of one single priest in
those regions, than to hear of the conversion of fifty thousand faithful».
The idea, like a conversion, overwhelmed her: Jeanne sought out in-
ner space so as to dialogue with God. She understood that her Society
should not be limited only to Msgr. Cousin’s Japan, but should extend its
vision to the missions of the universe, since the whole missionary world
needed priests.

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10. The Project lands in Rome

In a climate of almost general indifference, the news that, in the

heart of France a movement for indigenous priests was emerging, did not
pass unobserved. The Nuncio in Paris invited the Bigard promoters to put
their intentions in writing. Thus came into being the report dated 1st Feb-
ruary 1892.

In the preliminary phase of the projects, the foundation of a Com-

munity of St. Peter was proposed to which «Pious women who intended
to renounce the world» and «dedicate their fortunes or part of them along
with their work to the indigenous clergy» could be called.

«I would find it absolutely contrary to the spirit by which we should

be animated - writes Jeanne - to save for one’s own future, while priestly
and religious vocations are being lost for lack of financial means».

Pastoral work in the hospital for the Deacons of St.Paul’s Kinyamasika

Major Seminary, Fort Portal, Uganda.

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The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle grants an annual contribution
(“Ordinary Subsidy”) for the maintenance of each seminarian studying
in the Seminaries located in mission countries.

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Speaking for herself and her mother, she declared that they had an
income of 8,500 francs in addition to which each year was added 4,500
from her grandmother. «My grandmother - she writes - is very devoted to
missionaries and we can believe that her devotedness to them and to us
will not lessen when we inform her of our project which, at the moment,
she knows nothing about». These sums were almost totally destined for
the cause of the Indigenous Clergy.
In the future, the Society was to open out to people from all over the
world who would contribute, according to their means and willingness, to
support:

1. the foundation of permanent scholarships;

2. the adoption of a seminarian;
3. prayer, offerings, work.

However in order to ensure a stable beginning - it would seem that

- two requisite conditions were necessary: the grace of God and the bless-
ing of the Pope. The latter would be accorded only on the presentation of
demonstrated proof. This was not long in coming.
It would be Leo XIII himself, the Pope of «Rerum Novarum» who
would present the opportunity for this with his Encyclical «Ad extremas
orientis», by which «he opened up» the question of indigenous priests, by
effecting the promotion of a major seminary for the preparation of priests
for all the churches of the Far East.
This important document, whose arguments for a local hierarchy
were drawn on and elaborated by his successors, in the great missionary en-
cyclicals of the 20th century, brought into focus the very objectives of
Jeanne Bigard’s Society of St. Peter the Apostle.
In a nutshell, why did these arguments of Leo XIII make the forma-
tion of a local hierarchy a matter of urgency?
Because missionaries who did not know the language and customs
of the place were regarded as foreigners, whereas indigenous priests who

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were from the place, would be assisted in their ministry. It is then to be

borne in mind that the number of foreign missionaries, would soon not be
able to keep up with the increasing number of conversions. And finally the
practice inaugurated by the apostles and continued by the Roman Pon-
tiffs was followed.
The solution suggested by Leo XIII marked the end of the inquiries
and the evasions: «Once the seminaries are founded, we hope to see them
produce numerous and zealous priests».
The Society of St. Peter the Apostle already had its thousand active
associates and a long list of scholarships to the value of one hundred thou-
sand francs for seminarians from Asia and Africa. It could really expect a
sign of Rome’s approval.

11. The approval of the universal Church

This came in the form of a blessing granted by Leo XIII to a not very
clearly identified «Franciscus archiepiscopus» who on July 12, 1895 sent
it with, «toto cordis affectu» to the donors, and not to Jeanne’s Society,
since it still lacked the Bishop’s consent.

It would be the Pope’s blessing, contained in those two lines in Latin

which would demolish one by one the bastions of the French Episcopacy
and persuade it to grant the nulla osta to the Society of St. Peter the Apos-
tle for the Indigenous Clergy of the Missions, which thus, legitimately en-
tered the universal Church.

Propaganda Fide, through its Prefects, Cardinals Ledochowski and

Jacobini, guaranteed its full support for the Society.

The latter, in a letter, anticipated its inclusion in the Pontifical Mis-

sion Societies, which took place on 3rd May 1922, in obedience to the
wishes of Pius XI.

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Presbyteral Ordination in St.Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy,

presided by Pope John Paul II.
© Osservatore Romano

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12. The Ascent of Golgotha

But the solitude and abandonment experienced by many founders

and foundresses also affected Jeanne. At the bedside of the dying Mama
Stephanie (January 5, 1903) Jeanne Bigard was there alone, struggling
with her grief and her loneliness. «She received me weeping», wrote a
passing missionary Bishop.

Left alone, she confessed: «It seems to me that after the foundation
of the Society my life was a folly and that I had set up without reflection».

She revealed the state of her soul to a spiritual director, who discreet-
ly counselled her: she offered her sufferings to God, the love of those who
had helped her and who continued to be with her. She was afraid of spiri-
tual darkness, and begged Jesus to be her companion on the journey: «un-
til the day in which I will lose myself in your love».

She was anxious about the continuity of the Society, not having
found a suitable collaborator. Finally, she entrusted the Society of St. Pe-
ter the Apostle and herself to the Religious Congregation of the Francis-
can Missionaries of Mary, whom she found - so it seemed - responded to
her expectations.

The events that follow until her death, which occurred on 28 April
1934, reveal the uncompromising logic of the work of God, who, while
bounteously offering eternal salvation, asks, in exchange, the immolation
and the annihilation of this mortal body. It is hard to believe and more dif-
ficult to live.

13. A new pearl at the heart of the missionary church

The Society of St. Peter the Apostle now legitimately entered the
life of the Church. For the first time it appeared in a solemn magisterial
document, the «Maximum Illud» of Benedict XV, as the Society compe-

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Asian Novices from the “Sisters of Charity”. The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle also
grants an “ordinary subsidy” for the maintenance of religious men and women in their first
canonical year of Novitiate.

The dormitory of “St.Peter’s Minor Seminary” after

a devastating storm in 2003 (Yola, Nigeria).

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tent for seminaries and local hierarchies. The Popes enriched it with spir-
itual favours and indulgences, as Jeanne Bigard had desired.
From her they drew inspiration whenever they contemplated deal-
ing with the transition from mission to local Church. On 3rd May, 1922
Pius XI proclaimed it a «Pontifical Society». But the path initiated by
Jeanne still had a very long way to go; in 1926 Pius XI encouraged the
still hesitant missionary congregations to cultivate local vocations and give
them a formation which corresponded to their needs.
He himself consecrated the first Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese
Bishops, who were followed by the first African Vicars Apostolic, conse-
crated by Pius XII in 1939. The latter said: «We have had the joy of es-
tablishing ecclesiastical hierarchies in many countries».
In 1951 Pius XII provided a concise picture of the results obtained:
from 15 million faithful in 1926 - he announced - there was an escalation
to 26 million. «Then the missions were almost all entrusted to foreign
missionaries: Now 88 missions have passed to the indigenous clergy.
From 1,770 major seminarians the numbers has risen to 4,300. And
that was before the erection of the Urban University and the College of St.
Peter on the Janiculum».

14. The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, today

At the turn of this millennium, there is a total of 405,000 priests

worldwide of whom 28,000 and 43,000 are assigned in Africa and Asia re-
spectively. The message of Jeanne Bigard worked the miracle of the little
mustard seed which dies in order to grow.
Her Society was from many angles, crucial to the aims of evangeli-
sation because she believed in the universality of salvation and the plural-
ity of proclamation; but many roads yet remain to be crossed.

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15. The call continues

Our times still challenge the Society.

Far from having achieved the aim, for which it has tirelessly worked,
in the past century it has only come a little closer.
By now the Church of the continents is a reality, but it is living
through the most delicate time of its fully universal growth.
The formative effort of the inculturation of the Gospel which is the
specific task of each of the young Churches, requires maximum participa-
tion and solidarity so as to prevent the fervour of new energies from being
weakened and squandered.
There are frequent cases of the bishops of young Churches having to
resort to an S.O.S. for survival. «In my diocese - an African Bishop wrote

Our Society financially supports two Colleges in Rome ("St. Peter" and "St. Paul") where about
350 priests from mission countries live. They attend the Pontifical Universities for specialization
studies. For the same purpose, POSPA supports the "Foyer Paul VI" that hosts 80 religious sisters
who study in the Eternal City. Photo: Liturgical celebration in the chapel of "St. Peter" College.

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The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle grants “Extraordinary Subsidies”
as a way to financially help Seminaries cover expenses for contructions,
refurbishing works, urgent repairs, furniture, etc.

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to Cardinal Tomko (Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evange-

lization of Peoples) - I have noted a growing influx of young men who wish
to become priests, but our poverty prevents us from having adequate struc-
tures for welcoming the vocations which God is raising up. Help us so that
this favourable moment may not pass in vain!».
And may this century not pass in vain: may it not be a past memo-
ry, but a present prophecy.

New front entrance at

“Sanctae Mariae Matris Ecclesiae” Major Seminary, Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

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EPILOGUE

After going through this booklet, most of you may now have a bet-
ter understanding of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle. This
Society has come a long way from its initial stages in 1889 and its even-
tual formal recognition on 3 May 1922.
I have attempted to present its story, together with the life of Jeanne
Bigard, amidst the vivid pictures of those who benefit from its works. I
have left most of Msgr. Lucarelli’s writings intact although I have revised
and updated some of the details.
The graphs and statistics were utilized to give you a better feel of
the width and scope of this Society’s coverage. As of this moment, this or-
ganization which Jeanne Bigard initiated, is servicing a total of 79,270
seminarians studying in 954 seminaries worldwide. It continues to pro-
vide help, by means of subsidies, to 10,866 male and female novices com-
ing from different religious congregations all over the world.
It dispenses scholarships and accommodation to 408 students stay-
ing in 3 big institutions that it maintains in Rome (the Collegio San
Pietro, Collegio San Paolo and Foyer Paolo VI), plus 610 burses for those
who are doing higher ecclesiastical studies in Cameroun, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar and Nigeria.
In this year 2004 alone, it allocated US$ 3,700,000 in the form of
extraordinary subsidies. Like what Msgr. Jules Alphonse Cousin received,
these subsidies are important to construct chapels, classrooms, refectories,
dormitories, etc. which are badly needed in many houses of formation.
What you have witnessed is the past and present. What future the
Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle would have is passed on into
your hands. The challenge continues to train native priests for many of our
mission areas. Like a seed that was planted, the Society continues to grow
and to reach out into the horizon.
The world still needs priests for its young Churches. The Pontifical
Society of St. Peter the Apostle can continue its legacy and charism with
all of your support and conviction.

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