Father Lambert Smits
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The life’s work of Father Lambert Smits began in 1949, when he set out to follow in the footsteps of the founder of the Scheut Missionaries, hoping to go to China—but instead, he was sent to the Philippines. There, he quickly realized that the first requirement for truly being a missionary was learning the local language.
As the eldest of seven children, Lambert had been encouraged by his uncle, Father Peeters, chaplain of Zutendaal, to pursue his studies. Eventually, he joined the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scheutists). Fathers Albert and Piet Geusens, whom he knew from the student association, were his role models—they had both gone to China. Following their example, Father Lambert studied Chinese for four years.
After the liberation, it was said in Scheut that the missionaries in the Philippines had suffered greatly—many were ill or had even been killed—and that young, strong men were urgently needed there. Father Lambert volunteered immediately.
He thus became the first missionary from Zutendaal to depart for the Philippines, followed later by Father Gerard Peeters, Father Clement Schreurs, and his own brother, Father Jozef Smits. At that time, in 1949, travel was by cargo ship—from Antwerp, via Marseille, all the way to Manila—a journey of about one month, which was already an adventure in itself.
Upon arriving in Manila, he had to learn Ilocano, a Malay-based language spoken in the Philippines.
At first, Father Lambert Smits stayed in Baguio, a mountain town located about 2,000 meters above sea level in the north of the Philippines, where he worked both in a parish and at a primary school. He taught religious education to the boys and also visited the gold and copper mines in the surrounding area, where mining camps were established. The working conditions there were harsh. Father Lambert suffered greatly from asthma, especially during the coolest season, when the clouds drifted through the town at midday and rain would begin to fall.
After four years in Baguio, Father Lambert spent two years in a region where headhunters still lived. In 1956, he moved to Manila, where he would remain for fourteen years, devoting most of his time to education and the 7,500 students under his care.
At one point, when his mother became seriously ill, Father Lambert returned home to Belgium. He stayed there for ten months, then left for Philadelphia, United States, where his brother Father Jozef Smits had already been living since 1966. Jozef encouraged him not to return to the Philippines but to continue his work in America.
In 1971, Father Lambert was given the opportunity to serve in a parish in Detroit, the automobile capital, where many Filipinos lived. He spoke their language and understood their customs, which made him deeply appreciated. A year later, he became chaplain at St. Angela Parish in Roseville, a suburb of Detroit. There, he was primarily engaged in pastoral ministry and worked closely with Filipino migrants in the Diocese of Detroit.
Father Lambert Smits continued his missionary service there until his death in Detroit, on June 1, 2004.
Missionaries of Zutendaalse side by side...
On the world map...
born in Zutendaal 1923
deceased in Detroit 2004 
first vow in Zuun 1943 
priestly ordination in Scheut 1948
