Alain de Boismenu

Alain de Boismenu arrived at Yule Island (Papua New Guinea) on January 25, 1898. Faced with the declining health of the Vicar Apostolic, Mgr Louis-André Navarre, he was appointed coadjutor with the right of succession and titular bishop of Gabala in 1899. He was consecrated bishop on March 18, 1900, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in Paris by Mgr Benedetto Lorenzelli, Apostolic Nuncio to France. At less than thirty years old, he was then the youngest bishop in Christendom. He officially succeeded Mgr Navarre in 1908 as Vicar Apostolic of Papua. His episcopate was marked by a profound reorganization of the mission and a major expansion toward the interior of the lands and the mountains. He firmly opposed the government policy of "spheres of influence," which limited the action of Catholic missionaries to restricted areas. Anxious to develop local vocations and to value the role of women in evangelization, Mgr de Boismenu founded in 1918 the first indigenous female religious congregation of Papua New Guinea: the Handmaids of the Lord. To lead and train this young community, he called upon a French mystic, Marie-Thérèse Noblet, who became its first Superior General. After the latter's premature death in 1930, it was his own niece, Solange Bazin de Jessey, who succeeded him at the head of the institute. The nuns dedicated themselves to the education of children, the care of the sick, and the material service of the missions. In parallel, Mgr de Boismenu worked tirelessly for the creation of an indigenous clergy. In 1937, he had the joy of seeing the first Papuan priest ordained, Father Louis Vangeke (who would later be consecrated bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1970). In 1935, he also realized another great project: the establishment of the first Carmelite monastery in Oceania at Kubuna. After forty-five years of a fruitful episcopal ministry, he submitted his resignation on January 18, 1945. He was then appointed titular archbishop of Claudiopolis in Honoriade. He retired to his hermitage in Kubuna, living in solitude and prayer. It was there that he passed away on November 5, 1953. He is buried in the Val Fleuri cemetery in Kubuna.

The reputation for holiness of Bishop de Boismenu, already immense during his lifetime among the local populations and his fellow missionaries, led to the official opening of his cause for beatification in 1984. The diocesan inquiry made it possible to collect numerous testimonies regarding his life, his heroic virtues, and his exceptional apostolic dedication. The Positio (the summary dossier) was then transmitted to Rome to be examined by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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 virtues of Alain de Boismenu. The decree was officially promulgated on April 16, 2014, thus elevating the prelate to the rank of Venerable. For his beatification to be pronounced, the Catholic Church must now officially recognize a miracle attributed to his intercession.

The spirituality of Bishop de Boismenu is deeply rooted in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, characteristic of his congregation. His episcopal motto, 'Ut cognoscant Te' ('That they may know Thee', taken from John 17:3), summarizes his entire missionary ambition: to make the love of God known to all men, without distinction of culture or race. Affectionately nicknamed 'smiling face' by his faithful because of his constant benevolence, he was also admired for his strength of character and his humility. The French writer Paul Claudel described him as a 'lion-hearted bishop' to salute the intrepidity of his faith. His spiritual influence extended beyond the borders of Papua. He notably exerted a decisive influence on the Australian poet and intellectual James McAuley. The latter, deeply marked by his meeting with Bishop de Boismenu at Kubuna and by the fervor of the mission, converted to Catholicism in May 1952. Even today, the tomb of Bishop de Boismenu at Kubuna remains an important place of pilgrimage for the Catholics of Papua New Guinea.