Charles de Foucauld | |
|---|---|
 Circa 1907 | |
| Born | (1858-09-15)15 September 1858 Strasbourg,Second French Empire |
| Died | 1 December 1916(1916-12-01) (aged 58) Tamanrasset,French Algeria |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Anglican Communion[1] |
| Beatified | 13 November 2005,Saint Peter's Basilica,Vatican City by CardinalJosé Saraiva Martins |
| Canonized | 15 May 2022,Saint Peter's Square,Vatican City byPope Francis |
| Feast | 1 December |
| Attributes | whitereligious habit with theSacred Heart of Jesus, crowned with a cross |
Charles Eugène, vicomte de Foucauld de Pontbriand,[2][3][4][5] (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916), commonly known asCharles de Foucauld, was aFrench soldier, explorer,geographer,ethnographer,Catholic priest andhermit who lived among theTuareg people in theSahara inAlgeria. He was murdered in 1916. His inspiration and writings led to the founding of a number of religious communities inspired by his example, such as theLittle Brothers of Jesus.
Orphaned at the age of six, de Foucauld was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Colonel Beaudet de Morlet. He undertook officer training at theSaint-Cyr Military Academy. Upon graduating from the academy he opted to join the cavalry. Ordained inViviers in 1901,[6] he decided to settle in the Algerian Sahara atBéni Abbès. His ambition was to form a new congregation, but nobody joined him. Taking thereligious nameCharles of Jesus, he later moved toTamanghasset and lived with theBerbers, adopting a new apostolic approach, preaching not through sermons, but through his example.
On 1 December 1916, de Foucauld was killed by a bandit at his hermitage. He was quickly considered to be a martyr of faith[7][8] and was the object of veneration following the success of the biography written byRené Bazin. New religious congregations, spiritual families, and a renewal of eremitic life are inspired by Charles de Foucauld's life and writings. His beatification process started in 1927 eleven years after his death. He was declaredVenerable on 24 April 2001 byPope John Paul II, thenBlessed on 13 November 2005 byPope Benedict XVI. On 27 May 2020, the Vatican announced that a miracle had been attributed to de Foucauld's intercession.[9] De Foucauld wascanonized as a saint by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022 in Rome.
De Foucauld's family was originally from thePérigord region of France and part of the oldFrench nobility; their motto beingJamais arrière ("Never behind").[10] Several of his ancestors took part in thecrusades,[11] a source of prestige within the French nobility. His great-great-uncle,Armand de Foucauld de Pontbriand, a vicar general and first cousin of thearchbishop ofArles, MonseigneurJean Marie du Lau d'Allemans, as well as the archbishop himself, were victims of theSeptember massacres that took place during theFrench Revolution.[10] His mother, Élisabeth de Morlet, was from theLorraine aristocracy[10] whilst his grandfather had made a fortune during the revolution as a republican.[12] Élisabeth de Morlet married the viscount Édouard de Foucauld de Pontbriand, a forest inspector, in 1855.[13]
On 17 July 1857, their first child Charles was born, and died one month later.[10] Their second son, whom they named Charles Eugène, was born inStrasbourg on 15 September 1858[13] in the family house onPlace Broglie at what was previously mayor Dietrich's mansion, whereLa Marseillaise was sung for the first time, in 1792.[10]
A few months after his birth, his father was transferred toWissembourg. In 1861, Charles was three and a half years old when his sister, Marie-Inès-Rodolphine, was born.[10] His profoundly religious mother educated him in theCatholic faith, steeped in acts of devotion and piety.[10] She died following miscarriage[13] on 13 March 1864, followed by her husband who suffered fromneurasthenia, on 9 August.[10] The now orphaned Charles (age 6) and his sister Marie (age 3) were put in the care of their paternal grandmother,Viscountess Clothilde de Foucauld, who died of a heart attack shortly afterwards.[13][12]
The children were then taken in by their maternal grandparents, Colonel Beaudet de Morlet and his wife, who lived in Strasbourg. De Morlet, an alumnus of theÉcole Polytechnique and engineering officer, provided his grandchildren with an affectionate upbringing. Charles wrote of him: "My grandfather whose beautiful intelligence I admired, whose infinite tenderness surrounded my childhood and youth with an atmosphere of love, the warmth of which I still feel emotionally."[12]
Charles pursued his studies at the Saint-Arbogast episcopal school, and went to Strasbourg high school in 1868.[13] At the time an introvert and short-tempered,[13] he was often ill and pursued his education thanks to private tuition.[10]
He spent the summer of 1868 with his aunt,Inès Moitessier, who felt responsible for her nephew. Her daughter, Marie Moitessier (later Marie de Bondy), eight years older than Charles, became fast friends with him.[13] She was a fervent churchgoer who was very close to Charles, sometimes acting as a maternal figure for him.[10]
In 1870, the de Morlet family fled theFranco-Prussian War and found refuge inBern,Switzerland. Following the French defeat, the family moved toNancy in October 1871.[10][13] Charles had four years of secular highschool left.[13]Jules Duvaux was a teacher of his,[13][10] and he bonded with fellow student Gabriel Tourdes.[13] Both students had a passion for classical literature,[12] and Gabriel remained, according to Charles, one of the "two incomparable friends" of his life.[12] His education in a secular school developed nurtured patriotic sentiment, alongside a mistrust for theGerman Empire.[13] HisFirst Communion took place on 28 April 1872, and his confirmation at the hands of MonseigneurJoseph-Alfred Foulon inNancy followed shortly thereafter.[12]
In October 1873, when he was 15, whilst in aRhetoric class, he began to distance himself from thefaith before becoming agnostic.[13] He later affirmed, "The philosophers are all in discord. I spent twelve years not denying and believing nothing, despairing of the truth, not even believing in God. No proof to me seemed evident."[14] This loss of the faith was accompanied by uneasiness; Charles found himself to be "all selfishness, all impiousness, all evil desire, I was as though distraught".[15][12]
On 11 April 1874, his cousin Marie married Olivier de Bondy.[13] A few months later, on 12 August 1874, Charles obtained hisbaccalauréat with the distinction "mention bien" (equivalent tomagna cum laude).[13]
Charles was sent to the Sainte-Geneviève school (now located inVersailles), run by theJesuits, at that time located in theLatin Quarter of Paris, in order to prepare the admission test for theSaint-Cyr Military Academy.[13] Charles was opposed to the strictness of the boarding school and decided to abandon all religious practice. He obtained his second baccalauréat in August 1875.[10] He led a dissipated lifestyle at that point in time and was expelled from the school for being "lazy and undisciplined"[16] in March 1876.[13]
He then returned toNancy, where he studied tutoring whilst secretly perusing light readings.[13][10] During his readings with Gabriel Tourdes, he wanted to "completely enjoy that which is pleasant to the mind and body".[17][10] This reading introduced the two students to the works ofAristotle,Voltaire,Erasmus,Rabelais andLaurence Sterne.[12]
In June 1876, he applied for entrance to theSaint-Cyr Military Academy, and was accepted eighty-second out of four hundred and twelve.[10] He was one of the youngest in his class.[13] His record at Saint-Cyr was a mixed one and he graduated 333rd out of a class of 386.[18]
The death of Foucauld's grandfather and the receipt of a substantial inheritance, was followed by his entry into theFrench cavalry school atSaumur. Continuing to lead an extravagant life style, Foucauld was posted to the 4th Regiment ofChasseurs d'Afrique in Algeria. Bored with garrison service he travelled in Morocco (1883–84), the Sahara (1885), and Palestine (1888–89). While reverting to being a wealthy young socialite when in Paris, Foucauld became an increasingly serious student of the geography and culture of Algeria and Morocco. In 1885 theSociete de Geographie de Paris awarded him its gold medal in recognition of his exploration and research.[19]
On 14 January 1890, de Foucauld entered theTrappist monastery ofNotre-Dame des Neiges, where he received, as anovice, the religious nameMarie-Albéric on the feast of St.Alberic, 26 January. According to a plea which he sent to the abbot prior to his entrance in Notre-Dame des Neiges, after some months ofnovitiate Br. Marie-Albéric was sent to the abbey of La Trappe atAkbès on the Syrian-Turkish border.[20] But despite the strict life of the Trappists according to theirvow of poverty, de Foucauld considered the life of the residents in the surrounding villages to be more miserable.
In 1897, after seven years, he therefore left the order and began to lead a life of prayer near a convent ofPoor Clares inNazareth where he worked as a porter and servant.[21] After some time, it was suggested to him that he beordained, so he returned to Akbès for some time in order to prepare for the ordination to the priesthood. On 9 June 1901, at the age of 43, he received the ordination inViviers, France.[citation needed]
After that, he went to theSahara inFrench Algeria and continued to live aneremitical lifestyle. At that time he adopted the religious nameCharles of Jesus.[22] He first settled inBéni Abbès, near the Moroccan border, building a smallhermitage for "adoration and hospitality", which he soon referred to as the "fraternity" and both himself and the future members as"little brothers" of Jesus.[23]
De Foucauld moved to be with theTuareg people, inTamanghasset in southern Algeria. This region is the central part of the Sahara with theAhaggar Mountains (the Hoggar) immediately to the west. Foucauld used the highest point in the region, theAssekrem, as a place of retreat. Living close to the Tuareg and sharing their life and hardships, he made a ten-year study of their language and cultural traditions. He learned theTuareg language and worked on a dictionary and grammar. His dictionary manuscript was published posthumously in four volumes and has become known amongBerberologists for its rich and apt descriptions.[citation needed]
On 1 December 1916, de Foucauld was dragged from his hermitage by a group of tribalbandits led by El Madani ag Soba, who was connected with theSenussi Bedouin. They intended to kidnap de Foucauld. However they were interrupted by twoMéharistes of the French Camel Corps. One startled bandit (15-year-old Sermi ag Thora) shot de Foucauld through the head, killing him instantly. The Méharistes were also shot dead.[24] The murder was witnessed bysacristan and servant Paul Embarek, an African Arab former slave liberated and instructed by de Foucauld.[25] The Islamic Tuareg people burying him the morning after his death is evidence of de Foucauld's friendship with them.[26]
The French authorities continued for years searching for the bandits involved. In 1943 El Madani fled French forces in Libya to the remote SouthFezzan. Sermi ag Thora was apprehended and executed atDjanet in 1944.[27]
In April 1929, the mortal remains of Charles de Foucauld were transferred to the oasis ofEl Meniaa to a tomb in the cemetery near the local parish of St. Joseph.[citation needed]
De Foucauld wasbeatified by CardinalJosé Saraiva Martins on 13 November 2005, on behalf ofPope Benedict XVI.[28][29][a]
On 27 May 2020,Pope Francis issued a decree which approved a second miracle, clearing the way for de Foucauld to be canonized.[31][32] On 4 March 2022, apapal consistory opened the way for the canonization which took place on 15 May 2022, together with a number of others includingTitus Brandsma.[33] His feast is on 1 December; theliturgical colour is white.[34]
De Foucauld inspired and helped to organize aconfraternity within France in support of his ideas. This organization, the Association of the Brothers and Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, consisted of 48 lay and ordained members at the time of his death. Members of this group, notablyLouis Massignon, a scholar ofIslam, andRené Bazin, author of a biography,La Vie de Charles de Foucauld Explorateur en Maroc, Ermite du Sahara (1923), kept his memory alive and inspired the family of lay and religious fraternities. Though French in origin, these groups have expanded to include many cultures and their languages on every populated continent. The Charles de Foucauld Spiritual Family Association brings together the Little Brothers of Jesus, the Little Sisters of Jesus and 18 other religious orders and associations for priests, religious and laypeople which were inspired by him.[35] De Foucauld also inspired individuals such asAlbert Peyriguère and André Poissonnier (the founder of themonastery of Tazert) to live as hermits among the Berbers.[36][37]
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The 1936 French filmThe Call of Silence depicted his life.[42]
The 1941-42 class (128th) of the Saint-Cyr military academy in France was named after him.[43]
In 1950, the colonial Algerian government issued a postage stamp with his image. The French government did the same in 1959.[citation needed]
Antonello Padovano wrote and directed the film "The Four Doors of the Desert" based on Charles de Foucauld's life and his friendship with the TuaregAmenokal Moussa Ag Amastan.[44]
Charles de Foucauld is honored in theChurch of England and in theEpiscopal Church on1 December.[45][46]
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