Leo Dehon was a cultured man. His studies in Paris and Rome; the travels, when he was young, which allowed him the chance to know such varied cultures and countries; his participation in Vatican Council I and his numerous contacts with bishops and theologians from the entire Church; his university studies, crowned by four degrees; ...and, even more, his human and spiritual richness... the consolidation of all these things reveals, in the young priest who left Santa Chiara in 1871, a person who "promised much for the future" (Duc. 94).
And all the same, this rich formation did not guarantee that he would have particularly easy life-choices. In 1868 he wrote: "The thought of my future was worrying me. Was I destined for study or for action?" (Extract 60).
And thus, in March 1870, with a desire to learn how the Catholic University functions, he ended up in Belgium; in 1871 he was in Nimes, attracted by the cultural initiatives of Fr. D'Alzon and in 1874 he was repeatedly urged to accept a chair at the University of Lilla; yet he was filled with uncertainty about what to do.
Then, quoting Lacordaire, he wrote: "A century is becoming of age beside us, sometimes full of threats and sometimes pushed towards God by formidable hopes... And we, instead of instructing it, behave as if we were outsiders, slaves to our discussions" (NHV VI, 123s).
Some years later he made another note: "On the one hand I wanted to be a religious, and on the other I thought that as far as the Church was concerned the moment had come to commit oneself with renewed ardor to higher studies, in order to exploit one's intelligence to the full. And I united these two thoughts (so that) it seemed to me that my vocation was to enter a religious community which was dedicated to study and teaching" (NHV IX, 3).
His desire to dedicate himself to higher studies was therefore motivated by a powerful sense of need to put his knowledge in the service of the faith. It was a desire and an aspiration which he also nurtured for the Congregation. In 1887 he wrote: "I would like a house of study in Paris for obtaining degrees (in non-sacred literature and sciences), and one in Rome for degrees in theology. Is not science perhaps one of the principle vehicles for the apostolate?" (NQ IV, 1r).
Science and faith, therefore. Science, indeed, to make faith more credible; science that has a global vision both of man and of the things he wants to show as being rooted in reason; science illuminated by faith and animated by charity.
A global vision of culture, which was not based solely on erudition, also makes a powerful appearance in Fr. Dehon's letter to his religious students in 1892. In this letter he admonishes them, telling them that for the apostolate "minds illuminated by serious studies are needed, wills tempered by severe discipline, hearts inflamed by ardent prayer." (L.C., n.327).
Fr. Dehon's thoughts regarding his commitment to promote justice are no less significant. For him the social question was not merely limited to improving the life-condition of the common people. He cared deeply about having a global project for all of society which would function according to the mind of God, meaning it would have to have the Gospel as a fundamental law, and justice and charity as norms of conduct.
Fr. Dehon felt that the fundamental cause of social disorder lay in the separation between society and religion, in the counter positions of State and Church. The remedy therefore would not be found unless there was a re-establishing of the Christian social order: a society in which the rights of God are recognized, and civic power respects the primacy of the divine law proclaimed by the Church.
It is no longer possible for us to fully understand the thoughts of Fr. Dehon when he rejected the concept of a secularized society, almost denying the autonomy of temporal realities. And, all the same, we must not forget that while he fervently affirmed the primacy of God, even in civic society, he, at the same time, affirmed that the only possible path one could endeavor to follow was that of the "democratic" method of persuasion, and not the path of imposition. Therefore, it is not overtly obvious that his plan was an auspice for an impossible return to "Christianity".
Education was the inspiring principle of all his pastoral and social activity: to educate and train people so that once formed and mature they could freely take on their own responsibilities.
In this sense the series of his initiatives at Saint Quentin is very significant: in June 1872, the Patronage of Saint Joseph for the children of the workers; in July 1873, the oratory for priests, together with the monthly publication "Sciences ecclésiastiques"; in October 1873, the club for the workers themselves; in August 1874, the activity in the diocesan office for works; in November 1874, "Le Conservateur de l'Aisne" to stimulate opinion; in October 1876, the meetings for business men themselves; in August 1877, the St. John College created for the human and Christian formation of the new generations....
There were also the many congresses and conferences on both the national and international level, to give clerics space to discuss social problems or to acquaint them with the Rerum Novarum encyclical of Leo XIII, or to enlighten, especially in France, the political choices of Catholics. And then there was his extraordinary activity as a publisher: his magazine "Le Règne", a title which is already a program in itself.
Therefore, Fr. Dehon studied the reality of his time, not merely for the sake of simple erudition, but to enter into it and to bring to it his contribution, to correct it and renew it in justice and charity. For him, his presence in the world of culture was a way of being a prophet. His action constitutes an example for all those who work not only in direct social commitment, but also in the ordinary ministry, in the field of the press or in teaching. He had a constant commitment to the cultural and pastoral elevation of seminarians and priests, so that they could become prophets of the Gospel and defenders of the poor in the name of Christ and of the Church.
Today we have university graduates and diplomates; but we also need "wise" people who are able to interpret the situations of life and the events of history in the light of the Gospel, and then indicate the ways to respond to the needs and the rightful longings of mankind, above all of the poor. We have need of this for ourselves and for making us capable of bringing light and warmth into the Church and into society. Culture, in fact, is like the womb in which the individual grows and develops.
Almost all the articles in this first issue of "Dehoniana" in 1999 are dedicated to these arguments. We shall also be returning to these themes in subsequent issues.
Andrea Tessarolo
N.B. - I would like to inform you that the next number of “Dehoniana” will be composed by: Fr. Carlos Alberto da Costa Silva, Fr. Hadrianus Wardjito, Fr. André Perroux, Fr. Petrus Aegedius Driedonkx, Fr. Andrea Tessarolo, Fr. Rafael Gonçalves da Costa and Fr. Joseph Claude Siebenaler. Fr. Rafael Gonçalves da Costa has been nominated as President of the Centro Studi of Rome and Fr. Andrea Tessarolo as chief editor.