Origins of Archbishop Lefebvre’s 1974 Declaration (2)

After being ordained and achieving his doctorate in theology, Fr. Marcel Lefebvre asked his bishop for permission to join the Holy Ghost Fathers to become a missionary. His brother René had already preceded him in this religious congregation and after his novitiate had left for Gabon, where he remained for 45 years.

As was the custom, the bishop asked the young priest to give one year to the diocese. He was then appointed curate at the Marais parish in Lomme, near Lille. At the end of this year, he entered the Holy Ghost Fathers novitiate in Orly, south of Paris. Once the canonical novitiate year was over and he had taken his first vows, he was sent to Gabon, like his brother.

Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, in his biography of Archbishop Lefebvre, notes the motive that seems to have been the most profound in determining the young priest to devote himself to the mission countries, as indicated by the Carmelites of Sébikotane: “[Archbishop Lefebvre] told us his joy at being a missionary, for in France one does not give so much of oneself.” It was this total dedication to God and souls that would drive him in Africa.

On his arrival in Gabon in 1932, the young Holy Ghost Father was appointed professor at the Libreville seminary, then director of the establishment two years later. The young Fr. Marcel gave a great boost to St. John’s Seminary, and three future bishops were his pupils. But in 1938, exhausted, he had to ask for a change. He left for the “bush” at Ndjolé.

A year later, he was appointed superior of the Mission of St. Mary of Libreville, and six months later superior of the Donguila mission, where he remained for three years, before becoming superior of the Lambaréné mission for two years. It was there, in October 1945, that he received his appointment to the scholasticate in Mortain, France—news, he would confess, that “broke my heart.”

This first stay in Africa, lasting some thirteen years, turned the young missionary into an experienced “bushman” who was appreciated in all the posts he occupied. It enabled him to give of himself, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, but also to be noticed by his superiors. His experience, combined with his Roman training, was most welcome in a house of formation.

The situation at White Abbey, the seat of the scholasticate, was particularly difficult: war-related destruction, the return of professed members who had been mobilized after several trying years, sometimes in captivity, constant supply problems, and above all the need to ensure a solid formation in troubled times. Fr. Marcel Lefebvre took on these obligations for two years.

Vicar Apostolic of Dakar

In June 1947, however, he received unexpected news that would return him to Africa: he learned from Archbishop Louis Le Hunsec, Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, that he had been appointed Vicar Apostolic of Dakar. This entailed elevation to the dignity of bishop: the Vicar Apostolic exercises jurisdiction in the name and by commission of the Pope, but has all the powers of a diocesan bishop.

He was consecrated bishop in Tourcoing on September 18, 1947, and took as his episcopal motto this passage from the first Epistle of St. John: “Et nos credidimus caritati,” illustrating his unshakeable confidence in the mercy of God and of Christ the Savior towards us. Divine charity, the fruits of which he had seen during his years of mission, and which he would see again at work in Senegal.

Apostolic Delegate

No sooner had the young bishop been able to begin his work, than he was appointed Apostolic Delegate for French-speaking Africa and Madagascar, in September 1948: a mark of the esteem in which Pope Pius XII already held him. At the same time, he received the title of Archbishop and became the Pope's representative for an immense territory. An office in which he strove to realize the intentions of the Holy See.

He was responsible for the creation of new ecclesiastical territories (vicariates and prefectures), proposing bishops to the Holy See, and, from 1955 onwards, following his own suggestion to Pope Pius XII, for the extensive establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in French-speaking Africa—that is, the creation of dioceses and archdioceses.

Archbishop of Dakar

In the same year, the vicariate of Dakar was erected as an Archdiocese, and Archbishop Lefebvre became its first archbishop, a position he held until 1962.

It is impossible to retrace the tireless activity of the missionary bishop, whose biographer shows him founding schools, colleges, developing his seminary, attracting missionary works, of both men and women, creating parishes, setting up a Carmelite convent, developing social works...

Of course, many bishops have carried out similar work. But for Archbishop Lefebvre, the missionary spirit, combined with a profound knowledge of the realities of the Church in countries where the Catholic Faith was constantly gaining ground and where Christianity was being founded, was the great impulse of his soul. He literally experienced the establishment of Christ's kingship, amazed at how God's charity transformed souls.

This drive and confidence in God's charity never left him, and that is why, faced with the Church's self-demolition, he took a stand and fought. His missionary life further entrenched in him the love of the Church and of Rome acquired at the French Seminary. A love that would lead him to continue in Old Europe what he had accomplished for so many years in Africa.

“That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity.”