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The 80th anniversary of Dehon - the voice of the others

Two quite different voices who remember Fr. Dehon in 1923, i.e. his 80th birthday: Thus a Roman newspaper in 1923, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Dehon (14.3.1923), congratulates "the famous sociologist and Founder of Sacred Heart Priests" and continues:

"Fr. Dehon is so well known in Rome that we, too, have to speak about him and his works. He is famous not only for the good done to the Church by founding the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus... We remember him especially as an important sociologist, in his lectures held here in Rome, dedicated to the social directives of Pope Leo XIII. In these lectures, in the presence of numerous Eminences and thousands of auditors, he outlined the social and economic crisis that threatened Europe, and with an enlightened spirit, he pointed out the very need of our times, i.e. the reorganisation of the society, giving a special importance to the solution of the large economic and social problems… Fr. Dehon wrote many books of sociology, likewise the ‘Christian Social Manual’, ‘The Christian Social Renewal’, etc..." (Archivio Dehoniano, INV-Nr 0014159)

Quite different is the tone of Mgr. Henri Binet, Bishop of Soissons in the diocesan periodical ‘Semaine Religieuse de Soissons ' on the same occasion (published March 17, 1923):

"You are one of diocese’s most deserving and most famous sons recognized from Brussels to Rome, and in Africa and America... For the youth you’ve been a master and a father, an initiator and a creator of so many enterprises. You founded the ancient college St. Jean with its many and brilliant generations of pupils, ranking among the most famous catholic school institutions...... With all the people of Aisne, especially of Saint-Quentin, who knew and admired you, I present myself to you as did the ancient levitic priest to Judith, and raising the hands to bless you, I say to you: ' You are the glory of our Jerusalem, you are the jubilation of Israel.' " (Semaine Religieuse de Soissons, 17.3.1923)

Different memories of the same man: In St. Quentin - in a locally limited view - the man of action in service to youth, in Rome the man of teaching and propaganda with a far-reaching view for the social question. Memories on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Dehon, in their diversity partly referring to different phases in the life of Leo Dehon, but at the same time testifying to the complexity of his interests and abilities, of his personality.