The Cause of the Servant of God Jules Chevalier

Key Milestones

In response to a request made to me, here is some brief information on the work on the ‘Positio’ of Fr Jules Chevalier, our Founder. In July 2018, Fr Daniel Auguié, knowing that Fr Paul Verbruggen, MSC, of the Belgian Province, had resigned from his appointment as Collaborator to the MSC Postulator General on 13 February 2018, informed the Father General of my return from South Africa, thinking that I might take over from Fr Paul Verbruggen. On 30 August 2018, the Father General and his Council did indeed ask me to serve as Collaborator to our Postulator General, Father Jean-Jules Chassem, MSC, to write the Positio on our Founder.

Throughout 2025, I was able to complete the work I had begun eight years earlier in October 2018; indeed, by the end of July 2025, I had completed the task of writing the Positio on Father Jules Chevalier, Founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. This amounts to a total of 2,002 pages in two volumes, including the indexes of names of persons and places (20 pages) and the illustrations (24 pages). The documented biography (chronological and historical) itself comprises 1,103 pages. On Tuesday 30 September 2025, the printer gave me two copies of the Positio; one was given to the MSC Postulator General, Father Fernando Clemente Santos, who resides at the General House in Rome, and the other copy is with me in Strasbourg. Let us bear in mind that the purpose of the Positio was to prove the heroicity heroic nature of the virtues lived by Fr Jules Chevalier and his reputation for holiness.

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A group of theologians, […], will study the Positio to verify whether the Servant of God, Jules Jean Chevalier, truly lived the virtues in a heroic manner and whether he truly enjoyed a reputation for holiness that endures to this day.

The Roman phase then continued with the study of this Positio by six historians chosen by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who presented their reports to the General Relator of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. During their meeting with him, several historical clarifications were presented. These reports were sent to our Postulation for the Cause, and we were invited to travel to the Vatican to meet the General Relator and the Relator who has supervised my work over the last eight years.

This meeting went well on Monday 9 March 2026. The Relator asked us for historical clarification on just two points. Imagine our surprise, late in the morning, when we received from the printer the document *Relatio et Vota*, containing, following the historians’ reports, our response with five appendices that we had submitted; the printer told us that they had been accepted by the General Relator and that he could proceed to printing after a few possible corrections that he asked me to check. What a surprise indeed, given the speed of the response and after what we had just experienced that morning at the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Piazza Navona, with the funeral Mass for our late confrere, Father Petro Zulian, MSC, of the Italian MSC Community! With Laetare Sunday approaching, together and with joy, we can give thanks to the Holy Spirit who guides his Church and all our activities, which we entrust to him in our assiduous prayer. Thank you for giving thanks for this significant stage in the Cause of our Founder and let us continue to entrust this journey to the Lord.

Now, the Roman phase will continue. A group of theologians, also chosen by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will study the Positio to verify whether the Servant of God, Jules Jean Chevalier, truly lived the virtues in a heroic manner and whether he truly enjoyed a reputation for holiness that endures to this day. Their reports will then be presented to the General Relator. Subsequently, if the outcome is positive, all this work of discernment will be presented to a group of cardinals and bishops who are members of the Dicastery. This may take another year or more. Following their vote, if their conclusions are positive, the Servant of God Jules Jean Chevalier may be declared Venerable by the Supreme Pontiff, who will authorise the promulgation of the Decree on the Virtues and the Reputation for Holiness. In the meantime, with a view to Beatification, let us continue to pray that, through his intercession, we may obtain a possible ‘miraculous’ healing.

My Relator in Rome, the one who has supervised my work over the last eight years, asked me in September 2025 to remain available to answer any questions for clarification that the Consultors—historians and theologians—might put to me. I therefore pray to the Lord to grant me continued good health and I thank all those who have helped me throughout these past seven years, especially Fathers Daniel Auguié, Louis Boschung, Pierre Bally, Hans Kwakman, Yongki Wawo, Brother Bernard Mongeau, Mr Roland Douchin, Sisters Raymonde and Denise, Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Fr Arthur Adrien, etc… and all those who have kept me, as well as the MSC Postulator General, in their prayers. Let us continue to pray for the Cause of our Founder.

André Bohas, MSC. France – Swiss Province