Baba Simon’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro Cameroonian catholic priest (1906-1975)
A.K.A. Simon Mpeke
Was Priest 
Teacher 
From Cameroon 
Type Academia 
Religion 
Gender male
Birth 1906, Cameroon, Cameroon
Death 13 August 1975, Edéa, Sanaga-Maritime, Littoral, Cameroon
(aged 69 years)

Simon Mpeke, surtout connu sous le surnom de « Baba Simon » (« Papa Simon »), né en 1906, mort en 1975, est un prêtre camerounais, premier responsable de Jésus Caritas en Afrique, puis missionnaire auprès des Kirdis dont il respecte et fait connaître les traditions. Il est cité en exemple de prêtre par le pape Benoît XVI ; sa procédure de béatification est en cours.

Biographie

Mpeke naît en 1906 à Batombé. Il est baptisé à 12 ans, en 1918, par des missionnaires spiritains, avec Simon comme prénom de baptême, et s’appelle alors Simon Mpeke.

Il est d’abord instituteur, puis entre au petit séminaire de Yaoundé en 1924. Il est un des huit premiers camerounais ordonnés prêtres, en 1935. Il est ensuite vicaire, puis curé de la paroisse du quartier New Bell à Douala.

Au début de son ministère, Simon Mpeke commence par manifester un zèle virulent. Il s’oppose aux religions traditionnelles.

Deux rencontres le font évoluer : sa rencontre avec une religieuse, Sœur Magdeleine, fondatrice des Petites Sœurs de Jésus, et avec un prêtre, René Voillaume, fondateur des Petits Frères de Jésus et des Petites Sœurs de l’Évangile, inspirés par la spritualité de Charles de Foucauld. Il estime avoir trouvé alors « le chemin qu’il cherchait depuis longtemps ».

Simon Mpeke rejoint en 1953 l’Institut séculier des Frères de Jésus. Il est l’un des cofondateurs de Jésus Caritas au plan international, et en est le premier responsable en Afrique.

Il part dans le nord du Cameroun en 1959, pour s’installer à Tokombéré dans le diocèse de Maroua-Mokolo, parmi les Kirdis. Il partage leur vie de pauvreté, et lutte contre la misère. Son évangélisation est empreinte de prière et de charité. Respectant leurs traditions, et y voyant la marque de la présence de Dieu, « Baba Simon » devient le « chantre de la kirditude ».

Épuisé, il meurt le 13 août 1975 à Édéa, loin de Tokombéré où il aurait aimé être inhumé.

Reconnaissance

Procédure de béatification

L’enquête diocésaine pour sa béatification est ouverte vers 1985 par l’évêque du diocèse de Maroua-Mokolo, et se termine en mai 2012. Le dossier est transmis à Rome, où se poursuit la procédure pouvant mener à sa béatification.

Hommage du pape

Lors de son voyage en mars 2009 au Cameroun, le pape Benoît XVI présente Baba Simon comme modèle pour les prêtres, « stimulant à rechercher la sainteté de vie ».

Bibliographie

  • Jean-Baptiste Baskouda et Hyacinthe Vulliez, Baba Simon : le père des Kirdis, Éditions du Cerf, 1988, 178 p. .
  • Grégoire Cador, On l’appelait Baba Simon, Presses de l’UCAC, 2000, 254 p.
  • Grégoire Cador, L’héritage de Simon Mpeke : prêtre de Jésus et frère universel, Paris, Lethielleux-Desclée de Brouwer, 2009, 154 p. .
  • Claire Lesegretain, « “Baba Simon”, futur bienheureux pour l’Afrique », La Croix,‎ 22 août 2012.
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