Fr.
Antonio Cesar Fernandez Murdered in Burkina Faso
(ANS –
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – February 16) – Alas, the time of martyrs is hardly over. A
tragic death has struck the Salesian Congregation in Africa. Our confrere Fr. Antonio
Cesar Fernandez, of the Francophone West Africa Province, was shot dead in an
ambush by jihadist assassins on Friday, February 15, around 3:00 p.m.
It remains to be determined whether Fr. Fernandez was murdered in odium fidei, the classical definition of martyrdom, or for some other motive.
At the
time, Fr. Fernandez was director of the SDB community of Ouagadougou. He and
two other confreres were returning home from Lomé, Togo, where they had just
taken part in a session of the provincial chapter.
According to reports, before the attack on the
Salesians, the jihadist militiamen had already attacked a customs post and
killed four customs officers. When Fr. Fernandez and the two Salesians
accompanying him arrived on the scene, they thought they were being stopped for
a routine border check. Instead, they were surrounded by armed men, who
separated them, then shot Fr. Antonio Cesar and fled the scene.
Fr.
Fernandez, 72, had offered his life for Africa, and his offer was fully
accepted. He arrived with the first group of missionaries in Lomé, was also the
founder of the parish of Mary Help of Christians, and was the province’s first master
of novices, a responsibility he carried out for 10 years.
This
attack is part of the wave of violence that has been afflicting Burkina Faso
since 2015; terrorist threats have surged in the past few weeks.
We pray
for his eternal rest. May the Risen Lord welcome our brother Cesar with
tenderness alongside all those who have given their lives to the Salesian
mission, and may Mary Help of Christians, whom he so loved, welcome him with
the affection of the Good Mother of Heaven.
At SDB
headquarters in Rome, Fr. Fernández, left behind many good memories among the confreres
and the ANS editorial staff.
Fr.
Eusebio Muñoz, delegate of the Rector Major for the Salesian Family, was one of
his closest friends and collaborators. Born in the same city, Pozoblanco, Spain,
he attended the same high school and completed his novitiate one year later
than Fr. Fernandez. Fr. Muñoz helped his friend discern his missionary call in
the early 1980s. A few years later, as provincial, it was Fr. Muñoz who assigned
him the office of master of novices.
“He was a
man of exceptional goodness and great intelligence, convinced of his vocation,”
recalls Fr. Muñoz. “When we were studying in the community of Ronda, our classmates
said that it took him only a week to do what they needed a year for.”
“He was
aware of the risks involved,” continues Fr. Muñoz. “Once while I was visiting
the African communities, we were stopped by militia, who threatened and
attacked us. But he wanted to stay [in Africa] and would repeat to me: ‘I won't
go back to Europe.’ And he shared everything with the young Africans: he slept
on the ground, drank water from the streams.... There was no way to make him
change. He wanted to testify to the young people his complete donation.”
Fr. Martin
Lasarte, from the Missions Department, also had the chance to collaborate with Fr.
Fernandez on several occasions, to organize several events in the Africa Region.
“He transmitted the Salesian charism to the Africans; as master of novices for
10 years he a formed generation of African Salesians. And today it is no
coincidence that the provincial of Francophone West Africa is indigenous.”
“He was
happy; his was a life in the service of young people,” continues Fr. Lasarte. “Service
and availability were his hallmarks. If we asked him for translations, he was
always ready, to organize, to prepare.... He had already said yes to the
request to accompany the orientation program for the missionaries of the 150th
Missionary Expedition, next September.”
In 2011 he released an interview with ANS talking
about the social difficulties in the Ivory Coast. Again on that occasion he evidenced
his concrete attention to the needy population, the refugees, the most fragile
people. He also spoke to us about his personal and Salesian commitment to
promoting interreligious dialog.
“Working
with him was a joy,” concludes Fr. Muñoz. “As other people who knew him also
wrote to me, I am convinced that he has also forgiven his murderers.”
Fr.
Fernandez’s funeral is being celebrated in Lomé over several days. Despite his
personal wishes, his family has requested that his remains be sent to Spain for
burial.
Soon after receiving the news of Fr. Fernandez’s assassination, the Rector Major wrote to all the SDBs:
Rome, February 16, 2019
To my Salesian confreres,
to the worldwide Salesian Family:
My dear brothers
and sisters, I arrived in Rome, at our Sacred Heart community, just a few
minutes ago, on my return from Ireland, where I was visiting to the province of
St. Patrick, whose headquarters are in Dublin, and right away I am getting in
touch with all of you.
The reason for
this is the sad and painful news that came a few hours ago, during the night,
which informed me that our Salesian confrere Fr. Antonio Cesar Fernandez,
missionary in Africa since 1982,was assassinated yesterday, at 3:00 p.m. local
time, shots three times during a jihadist attack perpetrated about 25 miles
from the border of Burkina Faso [with Togo]. Fortunately, two other confreres
managed to survive the attack. They were coming from Lomé, after taking part in
the first session of the provincial chapter of the Francophone West Africa Province.
Dear brothers and
sisters, there are many days during the year in which I receive the news of the
passing of Salesian confreres from natural causes. This is the law of life, and
it will come for us as well. In such cases, however, we give thanks to the Lord
for so many beautiful lives generously offered.
But our confrere
Antonio Cesar war deprived of his life; they killed him without any reason. He
was a good man, a man of God who, like the Lord, spent his life “doing good,”
especially among his beloved African people. Antonio Cesar was 72 years old,
with 55 years of religious profession and 46 of priestly life. We had met a few
months ago in Burkina Faso, precisely in his community of Ouagadougou, where he
was director and pastor.
Antonio Cesar adds
to the number of many other martyrs of the Church in today’s world (some of
whom are Salesians and members of our Salesian Family).
I invite you to
thank the Lord for the beautiful life of our Fr. Antonio César. And also to ask
God the Father to help mankind to put an end to this escalation of violence,
which only causes damage. May the Lord grant that Cesar’s blood, shed on
African land, be the seed of Christians, faithful followers of Jesus, and of young
vocations at the service of the Kingdom.
Rest in peace,
dear Cesar.
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us proceed more united than ever in the service of the People of
God, and of the poorest youths. Evil never has the last word. The resurrection
of the Lord clearly shows this to us, and it follows that, even in suffering,
it is becoming a reality that the Lord transforms everything.
I embrace you all, and all of us utter a prayer for the
eternal rest of Fr. Antonio Cesar. We affirm our affection to his family in
Pozoblanco, Spain, and wherever they are, for the beloved Francophone West
Africa Province to which he belonged, and for the Seville Province of Spain,
where he learned to love Don Bosco and to live like him.
With true
affection,
Fr. Angel Fernandez
Artime, SDB
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