Fr Loiseau called to the Lord

Fr Louis Loiseau, MEP, of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (MEP) in Singapore, passed away today, 26 January 2018. He was 91.

Fr Loiseau was born on 25 June 1926, as the second of five children. He was raised in an environment of faith and later said that “only one third of vocations [would persevere] if not encouraged by families and priests.” Fr Loiseau was ordained an MEP priest on Pentecost Sunday in 1950, becoming the 16th priest within his family circle.

After his ordination, Fr Loiseau was appointed to Burma. He taught in the Central School in Mayanchaung and was in charge of the Minor Seminary in Rangoon. He returned to France to be Procurator for the Seminary of Bièvres and was posted to the United States to be in charge of the society’s finances until 1968.

After arriving in Singapore in 1968, Fr Loiseau served as assistant priest at St Bernadette and Immaculate Heart of Mary, and parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (OLPS). In 1982, he pioneered the Parish Renewal Experience (PRE) in Singapore. In 1990, Fr Loiseau was posted to serve at Risen Christ. He was spiritual director to the Society of St Vincent de Paul Conference, SVDP Council North, and chaplain to the French-speaking community in Singapore from 1991 to 2003.

In the archdiocese, Fr Loiseau worked with Marriage Encounter Singapore and Choice. He started Engaged Encounter in 1982, joined Retrouvaille in 1991, served with the Senatus Legion of Mary until 2003 and was a judge on the Marriage Tribunal until 2004.

Fr Loiseau once said that his ministries gave him deep joy because they “put me in contact with people who did not know Christ. I had left home for them.” His missionary zeal was matched by his simplicity before God. Despite his numerous accomplishments, when interviewed for his 60th anniversary of ordination a few years ago, Fr Loiseau said, “I am 83 and 60 years a priest in 10 months’ time. But I will say to the Lord only, ‘Remember me.’”      (Extracted from catholic News, Jan 30, 2017)

Notes : Fr Loiseau has presented over 67 ME Weekends ( some while he was wheelchair bound).

He moved countless of couples, priests and religious to build strong and lasting marriages and religious vocations. He was a courageous missionary in the ME Movement and a firm believer that couples need to dialogue daily and to raise children with a foundation of strong and lasting faith.

Marriage Encounter Singapore will always remember the devotion and love of this tireless missionary to the vocation of marriage, doing his best to serve even while in his hospital bed.

(Extracted from catholic News, Jan 30, 2017)