André Dominicy (1933-2021)
Born in Saint-Léger (B) on June 25, 1933
First vows on September 8, 1954
Ordained Priest on August 7, 1960
Missionary in DR Congo (KIN) and in Belgium
Died in Embourg on February 21, 2021 at the age of 87
After 55 years in the Congo, DRC, André returned to the Embourg community to enjoy a well-deserved rest. André’s departure to the afterlife was relatively quick. During the last few days, he was suffering from a high fever. More than once, he had to take blood tests that worried the doctors. Two days before his death, he had given up working on his 5,000-piece puzzle and had retired to his room, where a confrere brought him food. Sunday morning, February 21, at the hour of the Eucharist, André was suddenly struck down by a heart attack. He had lived with us for only five years.
André, like his great size, was a great missionary, and he lived a busy and varied life. After his ordination in 1961, he was sent to the Congo. He was an assistant priest and then a teacher. He was gifted in mathematics and was the right man for the seminary of Mbata-Kiela. Moreover, he was full of practical qualities: when the generator refused to start or had to be emptied, it was André’s job: a car breakdown, or electricity or a photocopier breakdown, it was the great André, who was always in a good mood, who was called. André was also a great friend of those in the first years of orientation. He was their titular, very human, affectionate, and of infinite patience.
He returned to Belgium for three years to obtain a degree in classical and modern mathematics, which was essential for the State. Before returning to the Congo, his nieces in Saint-Léger were the first to benefit from his new knowledge of modern mathematics. Back in the DRC, he was called upon to teach the first two years of a high school at Kizu Mission.
In 1981, in Kinshasa, he was put at the service of the Scolasticat Père Nkongolo (Scopenko), a CICM Formation House. In 1983, a good accountant was needed to the Procure des Missions. At that time, all the accounts were done on paper. The arrival of André renewed all this by using, for the first time, computers and by finding or creating adequate programs. For several years André extended the columns of figures, multiplied them, corrected them, checked them, controlled the cash registers, paid the personnel, etc. It was exceptional but necessary missionary work. As he grew older, health problems began to plague him, and he had to have his toes amputated because of diabetes. André continued his work conscientiously, but it was impossible to drive a car. His feet became insensitive, and he could not drive a car anymore.
As his confrere and friend, Félicien Ntambue, who had been elected a General Councilor, had to leave his functions at the printing house to go to Rome. It was an occasion for André to return to his native country, Belgium, in 2016. André’s health continued to present more and more concerns and no doubt suggested another incredible journey, the one for which he had been working all his life, the journey to the Kingdom of God. It was on a Sunday morning, the Lord’s Day, at the hour of the Eucharist that the Lord invited his faithful servant to go through that door. Thank you, André, for your beautiful and long missionary life. Yes, your whole missionary life was, from the beginning to the end, a genuine service in the manner of Jesus, your master. ■
Adrien Rion
“You have been faithful with a few things;
I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master’s happiness!.”
(Mt 25, 21)
