The PME Fathers, Pt 1

Founded on Feb. 2, 1921, in Quebec, Canada, the Foreign Mission Society of Quebec is known more by its PME initials, or Société des Missions-Étrangères du Québec in French.

The first attempt to send Canadian missionaries to the Philippines to conduct pastoral work in the Chinese community of Manila was made in 1932 by Msgr. Michael James O’Doherty the archbishop of Manila. The request was channeled through the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception (MIC) but nothing came out with the appeal. Three years later, Bishop Luis del Rosario, S.J., prelate of Zamboanga, visited Saint Francis Xavier Seminary in Pont-Viau, in Quebec, Canada, and reiterated the appeal.

It was not until 1937 when the plan to send PME fathers to Davao was bolstered following the attendance of Msgr. Louis Adhémar Lapierre, PME, of the archdiocese of Quebec, Canada, and titular bishop of Cardicium, in the Manila International Eucharistic Congress early that year; he also visited Davao at the invite of the Zamboanga prelate.

The bishop also conferred with Msgr. Guglielmo Piani, the papal nuncio, who expressed support to the idea and wrote a letter dated Feb. 22, 1937, to Fr. Jean-Avila ‘Canon’ Roch, the PME general superior, recommending the acceptance of a mission in Mindanao under the diocese of Zamboanga. Before the appeal could be granted, an issue that had to be resolved is the country’s status under the Canon Law of the Church, where it was “not a mission territory under the jurisdiction of the Propaganda Congregation, the Roman dicastery to which the Society falls under.”

The first batch of PME missionaries namely Fathers Clovis Rondeau, Clovis Thibault, Conrad Cote, Omer Leblanc and Leo Lemay, left Montreal, Canada, on Sept. 14, 1937. The travel by sea to the Philippines took about a month. Upon arrival in Manila, they were welcomed by Bishop Del Rosario, who was given ecclesial authority over Zamboanga, Cotabato, and Davao, and were billeted at the Jesuit House in Santa Mesa.

Days later, aboard the passenger ship S/S Bisaya, the priests left for Davao via Cebu and Zamboanga, accompanied by the bishop and Fr. Ulric Arcand, a Canadian priest already serving in the islands. The entourage arrived in Davao on October 21, 1937, a Thursday, and was greeted by Davao City Mayor Santiago Artiaga and a small party.

The missionaries, while studying Cebuano, stayed with the Jesuits at the San Pedro conven. They were slowly oriented on the new mission. After finishing their language classes, they were assigned in the eastern seaboard of Davao, except for Fr. Rondeau, head of the group, who fell ill and had to be sent back to Canada.

Over a year later, the second batch arrived in November 1938 with Fr. Joseph Geoffroy as new superior. The contingent was composed of Fathers Maurice Michaud, Lionel Labelle, Joseph Dupuis, Yvon Guerin, Paul-Emile Lahaye, and Leo Poirier.

In March 1939, the priests were given their first projects. Fr. Guerin headed to Caraga; Fr. Dupuis to Baganga; Fr. Leblanc to Cateel, and Fr. Lahaye to Mati to assist Fr. Lemay who had left earlier. A year after, Fr. Thibault became parish priest of San Pedro with Fr. Poirier as his assistant. Fr. Labelle was chosen director of St. Peter’s High School (now St. Peter’s College of Toril), and Fr. Cote was sent to Kapalong to open a new parish.

Three more contingents of PME priests arrived in Davao in the years leading to the start of the war. The third batch, which reached the city in January 1940, was composed of Fathers Robert Lemay, Roland Hebert, and Andre Pigeon. They were assigned in Caraga, Cateel, and Baganga, respectively. The fourth group, which arrived in Davao in November 1940, was composed of Fathers Eugene Ouellet and Gerard Campagna. Three of their companions—Fathers Jean Bernard Bazinet, Henri Desjardins, and Marcel Turcotte–arrived two months later. (To be continued)