Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SCJ – Dehonians)

This congregation is also a community of priests dedicated to education and ministry among the poor.

The Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (and Mary), abbreviated SCJ and commonly known as the Dehonians, were founded by Fr. Léon (Leo John) Dehon on June 28, 1878, in Saint-Quentin, France.

Formation and early foundations

In 1946, the Dehonians purchased Ter Loo Castle in Loppem (Belgium), where they opened their novitiate and later a spiritual retreat center.
Another key foundation was the Apostolic School of Clairefontaine (Ardennes), purchased personally by Fr. Dehon in 1889.
The school continued to host education and formation programs until 1986, after which it became a formation and retreat center.

Within the Belgian SCJ province, their mission included pastoral work, education, and social involvement in parishes and institutions, true to Fr. Dehon’s vision of a socially committed apostolate.

The congregation seeks to make devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus into practice through adoration, education, pastoral work, and missionary activity, with a special emphasis on justice and reconciliation.  Their motto: “Thy Kingdom Come.”

First missions abroad

The first foreign mission was in Ecuador (1888).  That mission ended in 1896, but the congregation returned there a century later, in 1997.
Soon after this first mission, new missions followed: Brazil (north, 1893; south, 1903) and the Congo / Stanley Falls (1897).

In Congo, Fr. Gabriel Grison and Fr. Gabriel Lux officially opened the St. Gabriel Mission Post on December 25, 1897.
Expansion continued to Cameroon (1912) and South Africa (1923).

Fr. Dehon’s first missionaries included Fr. Irénée Blanc and Fr. Gabriel Grison, sent to Ecuador in 1888; later, Fr. Grison became a pioneer of the Congo mission (1897).

Belgian missionaries

The earliest SCJ pioneers were not Belgians — Fr. Grison was French, and Fr. Lux worked through the German branch.
The earliest clearly documented Belgian SCJ appears to be Fr. Camille Verfaillie (born in Hooglede), who arrived in Congo in 1927 and later served as Apostolic Vicar of Stanleyville (1934–1958).
There may have been earlier Belgian members, but no verifiable sources confirm this online.

Global presence

At its height, the Dehonian congregation had a presence in over 40 countries across five continents.
The list includes Belgium, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Poland, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Croatia, Albania, Ukraine, Syria, and others.

Today, the Dehonians focus on pastoral ministry, education and formation, social projects (poverty reduction, reconciliation, peacebuilding), and spiritual animation (retreats and adoration), in Europe (including 17 countries), Africa, the Americas, and Asia.