Bent But Not Broken, Belgian Missionary Continues to Serve the Poor in India

Raigarh – Bent with age, but not broken in spirit, even at 83, Jesuit Father William Missiaen continues to work in remote villages and serve the poor.

"I want to live with the poor as poor," said the Belgian priest, one of the few foreign missionaries still working in India. This year, he completes 50 years as a missionary in India.

Five years ago, his Jesuit superiors showed respect for Fr. Missiaen's wish and appointed him to a rural mission station in Chhattisgarh state, where he has proven he can be as active as any young missionary.

The octogenarian is "a zealous missionary … full of life," Father Theodore Toppo, his former provincial, said. Fr. Toppo appointed his confrere to Mahuapali, a dalit village in Raigarh, one of the state's four dioceses. "He is very much in love with the people, especially the poor," added the Oraon tribal.

Members of the Madhya Pradesh Jesuit province work in Chhattisgarh, carved from Madhya Pradesh state four years ago. Raigarh diocese is based in Kunkuri, a town in Jashpur district, Chhattisgarh.

Though Fr. Missiaen is asthmatic, since 1999 he has built in Mahuapali a middle school, a high school, a hostel for 80 boys and a health center, besides setting up various welfare programs.

He has also opened seven kindergarten schools and now plans to build a higher secondary school designed to help students complete the 12th grade and go on to university.

Until he arrived, the village had only a government primary school that taught up to fifth grade, and the middle school was in a nearby village.

The missionary’s initiatives has helped local children immensely, villager Ravi Shankar Chowhan shared. Most children used to stop school after eighth grade because they had to walk 20 kilometers to the nearest high school.

"Without education, people were in darkness," catechist Philip Singh said, but Fr. Missiaen "has brought light here."

Singh and others also commend the missionary for helping in the overall development of the village. For example, the priest built a road that brings buses to the village and helped dig 11 wells for drinking water.

Though tribals dominate Raigarh diocese, Fr. Missiaen chose to work among the dalit, a group often socially and economically discriminated against. The Indian Constitution bans "untouchables" and prohibits discrimination on grounds of caste.

Ursuline Sister Anita Kujur, who works in Mahuapali, noted that the Belgian missionary opened the mission after seeing the plight of the villagers. "He loves the dalit," said the Oraon tribal nun.

She pointed out that the priest's confreres wanted him to open the mission in a nearby town, but Fr. Missiaen has a long track record of working among tribals. He was the first Jesuit superior in Madhya Pradesh, when it was separated from Ranchi province and became a region. Ranchi is capital of neighboring Jharkhand state and the nerve center of the tribal Church in central and eastern India.

Fr. Missiaen became rector of a minor seminary in Ranchi a year after he arrived in India in 1954. His next appointment was as novice master in 1961; he served for three years. For several years, he worked as a high school principal and parish priest. In 1973–1979, he was rector of Ranchi's St. Albert's College, a major regional seminary where most students are tribals.

Fr. Missiaen said that he is inspired by Father Constant Lievens, another Belgian Jesuit missioner who worked in the Chotanagpur region during the last quarter of the 19th century. The region is now spread over the tribal pockets of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal states, and many consider Fr. Lievens the apostle of Chotanagpur.

Fr. Missiaen hails from a "middle class family" that ventured into business. He has an elder sister who is a nun and a younger brother who is a married deacon in Belgium. Since coming to India, the missionary has visited his native country only five times, mostly on official duties.

Fr. Missiaen's admirers include Bishop Victor Kindo of Raigarh. "Fr. Missiaen is a 'pucca' (dedicated) missionary, very daring and not afraid," the 56–year–old prelate said. The Belgian missionary was the prelate's rector and professor at St. Albert's College.

The missionary's little room in Mahuapali has a few dictionaries and prayer books, besides basic furniture. Since 1986, he has been a vegetarian. "If the poor can't afford to eat meat, why should I?" asked the tall, well–built missionary wearing a worn–out yellowish "kurta" (long loose shirt) and pajamas.

He still rides a motorcycle to distant places, but prefers to walk or cycle to nearby villages. "I want to do more social work, but I am getting old," he admitted as he struggled to breathe. Even so, he does not plan to retire until he finishes a church he is now planning. "I will retire after I build it."

He sums up his life's work by saying the best way to "preach the good news to the poor" is to "kneel down before the poor (because) they are Christ."