Alain-Marie Guynot de Boismenu

In 1897, Father de Boismenu was sent to British New Guinea (present-day Papua New Guinea). He landed on Yule Island on January 25, 1898. Faced with the declining health of the first Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Louis-André Navarre, the young missionary was quickly appointed advisor and pro-vicar general. On June 10, 1899, Pope Leo XIII appointed him titular Bishop of Gabala and coadjutor to Bishop Navarre. He received episcopal consecration on March 18, 1900, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in Paris. In January 1908, he officially succeeded Bishop Navarre as Vicar Apostolic of New Guinea (which would become the Vicariate Apostolic of Papua in 1922).

Under his leadership, the mission experienced exceptional development. He reorganized the territory into districts, multiplied mission stations, and founded numerous schools, orphanages, and a training center for catechists.

Religious foundations: - The Handmaids of Our Lord: Anxious to fully involve local populations in the work of evangelization, Bishop de Boismenu founded in 1918 the first indigenous female religious congregation in Papua, the Handmaids of Our Lord (or Servants of Our Lord). To structure and train this young community, he called upon a French collaborator, Marie-Thérèse Noblet, who became its first superior in 1921. After her death, the bishop's own niece, Solange Bazin de Jessey, took over the leadership of the congregation from 1932 until her death in 1942. The Handmaids dedicated themselves to the education of children, the care of the sick, and the material service of the missions. - The Little Brothers of Our Lord: With the same perspective of promoting local vocations, he founded this indigenous male congregation. It was thanks to this constant effort for the indigenous clergy that Louis Vangeke, sent to study in Madagascar, was ordained in 1937, becoming the first Papuan priest, and later (in 1970) the first indigenous bishop of the country.

Nicknamed the "Bishop of the Papuans" or the "man with the smiling face," Mgr de Boismenu left a deep impression on people through his pastoral charity, his diplomacy during tribal conflicts, and his profound humility. Despite a fragile constitution and frequent tropical fevers, he tirelessly traveled his vicariate on foot or on horseback. During the Second World War, while the Japanese occupation threatened the mission, he refused to flee and remained steadfast by the side of his flock. After suffering from serious vision problems and weakened by age, he submitted his resignation, which was accepted on January 18, 1945. He was then elevated to the rank of titular Archbishop of Claudiopolis in Honoriade. He chose to spend his final years in destitution and prayer at Kubuna (or Koubouna), in the midst of his community. He passed away peacefully there on November 5, 1953. He is buried in the Val Fleuri cemetery in Kubuna, alongside Mother Marie-Thérèse Noblet and Mother Solange Bazin de Jessey.

The cause for the beatification of Alain-Marie Guynot de Boismenu was officially introduced at the diocesan level in 1984.

On April 15, 2014, Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of the virtues of the Servant of God. The decree was officially promulgated on April 16, 2014, conferring upon him the title of Venerable. The cause is still ongoing, awaiting the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

The spirituality of Bishop de Boismenu is centered on the love of the Sacred Heart and an absolute trust in divine goodness ("God is good; let us trust Him"). His episcopal motto, taken from the Gospel according to Saint John (Jn 17:3), was: "Ut cognoscant te" ("That they may know Thee"). He insisted particularly on the need to introduce a supernatural dimension into missionary action, affirming that without it, every effort is but "sterile agitation."

His legacy is immense in Papua New Guinea. The congregation of the Handmaids of Our Lord is today fully autonomous and continues its charitable and educational work. In 1962, the De Boismenu College was founded in Bomana (near Port Moresby) to train future priests of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart congregation, thus perpetuating his memory and his commitment to local vocations.