The fi rst years were particularly diffi cult. Within
ten years, seven of the thirteen stations that had
been created were closed due to looting, disease,
and death. Despite this, the Spiritans persevered
and remained steadfast. The hardships they had initially
136
faced were overcome and missions began to
multiply across the continent. From 1852 to 1881,
twenty new establishments were founded on both
the western coast (Guinea, Nigeria, Gabon, Congo,
Angola, South Africa) and the eastern coast (Madagascar,
Mozambique, Zanzibar).
The ascendance of other missionary groups such
as the White Fathers, the Society of African Missions,
and the Scheut Missionaries forced the Spiritans
to focus their efforts on specifi cally defi ned
territories. The evangelization of Angola would be
one of their tasks, but it was further north, in what
would become French Equatorial Africa—including
what are now Gabon, the Republic of the Congo,
the Central African Republic, and a part of Chad—
that they established themselves most solidly and
durably. Present in Gabon starting in 1844, and in
the Middle Congo from 1873, the Spiritans began
to move inland from the coasts on the rivers and
within a few decades had set up a tightly knit network
of missions connected by countless stations
and bush outposts. In 1894, they reached Bangui
and Bessu in what is now the Central African Republic
and even took charge of Cameroon after the
First World War, when the Pallottine3 missionaries
were expelled from it.
FIG. 6 (far left): Monsignor
Prosper Augouard (1852–
1921) with Chief Bétou
making a “blood pact.”
Oubangui. 1892.
© CSSp.
FIG. 7 (above): Reliquary
guardian fi gure. Fang, Gabon.
19th century.
Wood, brass, glass, pigment.
H: 54 cm.
CSSp collection.
© CSS. Photo: Vincent Girier Dufournier.
FEATURE