SCJ MARTYRS pt. 6
Our Victims United with the Cross
Three Priests of the Sacred Heart in the Cameroon
In many parts of Africa during the period after the Second World War the continent was shaped by very different ways individual countries achieved their independence. Cameroon was divided into two United Nations trust territories, one under British, and the other under French administration.
Between 1945 and 1960 in the French part of Cameroon alone over 100 political parties were formed. The independence movement became a powerful force during the 1950's leading to the outbreak of violence. In 1958 France granted Cameroon autonomy for their internal affairs and two years later French Cameroon attained complete independence and become a member state of the United Nations.
Fr. Héberlé, a French SCJ who had spent 25 years in the Cameroon, understood the local situation well:
The Cameroon people are very much aware of their national interests. They want to arrive at full emancipation. Their current problems did not come out of simple growth crises, but out of a fundamental incapacity, a vicious usurpation by the occupying power. Every Western social and cultural activity is labeled as misdirected colonialism and, because of its self-interest, is blamed for everything that happens. The Catholic Church has adapted to this situation and has turned over more and more responsibility to the local clergy. The Church had distanced itself from Western politics and has denounced the devastating consequences of western materialism (from Vie Catholique, August 28, 1960).
Father Héberlé supported the independence movement. In the same newspaper he was called "a strong defender of African liberty." Nevertheless, along with two other Priests of the Sacred Heart, Fr. Musslin and Br Sarron, he became a victim of the violence which accompanied the independence movement.
In 1959, while on vacation to his native France, he was urged by many not to return to the Cameroon in view of the dangers there. In a letter sent in September 1959, he described why, despite all the dangers due to general violence and rabid nationalism as well as the advice given him by friends, he returned to his mission:
I had to struggle with myself, against my entire family's feelings and my own, up until the very end. In such a situation we become aware that we must die to self and renounce everything in order to follow Our Lord and carry his cross. If I returned to my mission, it was solely to do the will Jesus Christ and to be united to the souls which he entrusted to me and for whom I am responsible before God. In the present situation one must have an imperturbable faith, absolute confidence and unblemished love... It is a moment of trial for us as priests and for us as Christians. God tests us with fire and blood; may His will be done. This requires us to offer ourselves in His service and to be united ourselves with His sacrifice, the Cross (September 9, 1959.)
On August 30, 1959, Fr. Musslin, SCJ, was murdered at his mission station. On November 29, 1959 the mission station at Banka Banfang was attacked. Early on, Fr. Héberlé, SCJ, was shot and then beheaded. Br. Valentin Sarron, SCJ, tried to flee, but was caught and also beheaded. Additionally, another Cameroon priest and a catechist also died during this attack on the mission.
