Fr. André Marchal (1934-2024)
Born in Quiévrain, January 8, 1934.
First vows September 8, 1957.
Ordained priest August 5, 1962.
Missionary in D.R. Congo (Kinshasa) and Belgium.
Died in Chaudfontaine on July 15, 2024, at the age of 90.
My Father's will is that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him obtains eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day." Jn 6:40
This is the Good News that Father André tried to live and proclaim. He found the strength to do so in his daily prayer and in the Eucharist, which he loved to share with the communities where he lived, especially during difficult times and when his health was failing.
Father André was born 90 years ago in ̀ Quiévrain. After his secondary education and a spell at the Institut Saint-Luc in Mons, he entered the novitiate in Jambes in 1956, where he continued his studies in philosophy and theology. In 1963, he was sent to Kinshasa, where he served as a missionary for 26 years, dividing his time between pastoral work and teaching, first for two years at the Saint-Pie X parish in Ngiri-Ngiri and then for four years at Saint-Augustin de Lemba. From 1969, he taught religion, history, and geography at Collège Saint-Joseph, which had by then become Elikya. He lived in Sainte-Anne parish, the second oldest parish in Kinshasa. When his commitment to secondary education ended in 1982, he remained in the same parish, devoting himself to catechism in French.
In 1989, Father André returned to Belgium, where he was involved in parish service in Wéris and Petit-Han for 12 years. Due to health problems, he moved to the Embourg community, where the retired confreres lived. There, he led the community's celebrations in song and was involved in accompanying a group of 'Vie montante.' But he had to give up this service because of serious health problems, so much so that one of his legs had to be amputated: an ordeal he had to endure.
As Martin Gray writes: "There is no event in life that is in vain. No day, no ordeal is useless, provided we don't contemplate them, fascinated, motionless as a snake's prey, but use them to move forward."
With the help of Embourg's doctors and colleagues, André could resume walking with a walker. In 2022, after a fall, he asked to move to the MRS Françoise Schervier, where confrere Fr. Paul Jacquemart was already residing. André was faithful to the daily celebration of the Eucharist. In the latter part, a sister drove him in a wheelchair. But in recent weeks, his strength had declined, and he needed more and more help. On Monday, July 15, he passed away in his sleep.`
-Bernard Parmentier and Jacques Thomas §
