Whilst browsing the library where I work, a book about the White Fathers caught my eye. I'd looked at it before to see what the name meant (it is simply because they have, or used to have, white habits) but I started reading it and it was pretty fascinating: Napoleon III, French colonies in Africa, French unrest in the late 19th century, a hot-tempered but effective young Bishop, and the founding of a new Congregation.

Therefore, I am wondering if anyone has heard of these Fathers, or the White Sisters, and knows how they are doing. I looked them up on the Internet and couldn't tell too much, though it seems the Sisters have forgotten their purpose a little bit. This was the founder's original strategy, in Algeria, around 1870 or so:

1. Form priests to be as much like Arabs as possible: dress like Arabs (white robe and red fez, but with a large Rosary), speak Arabic well, know the Koran presumably in order to debate it when the time came.
2. Train them in basic medicine and agriculture.
3. Send them to live among the Arabs.
  • There, they begin by taking care of anyone who is sick;
  • then help with agriculture;
  • the Sisters offer education on housekeeping to the women. Thus, the people get used to seeing the priests, and know that they will help them.
  • Practically speaking, there were also many orphans at the time of the founding. These, the Sisters took in and had baptized, and brought up as Catholics.
  • But adults were only allowed to become Catholics after several years of education, because of the very real danger of murder by relatives, and also the danger to their souls should they apostasize from pressure after baptism.
So basically the modus operandi was to do works of charity so that the people have better lives and would trust Christians more, and then gradually, over time, when the situation was right, to convert them also. The Sisters' website looks like they may have forgotten about this last step, which would be a tragedy. But that is just an impression. Perhaps someone has read more about the White Fathers or White Sisters, or encountered them in real life?