Eugene John Hebert was an American-born

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He along with his

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

driver Betram Francis

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the intent of placing ...

on August 15, 1990, as the Sri Lankan civil war was raging. He went missing on his way to the eastern city of

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

from a nearby town of

Valaichchenai Valaichchenai ( ''Valaichchenai''; ''waalasena / Valaichchena'') is a town in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. It could also be spelled as Valaichenai or Valachchenai. The world-famous Pasikudah Beach is located about 3 km east of Valaic ...

. He was known for his

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activity on behalf of the local civilians. The

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

believe that he was killed along with his driver.

Biography

Eugene John Hebert was born in

Jennings, Louisiana Jennings is a city in, and the parish seat of, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Lake Charles. The population was 10,383 at the 2010 census, a small decline from the 2000 tabulation. Jennings is the principal city of the ...

on October 9, 1923. He joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

on August 14, 1941 at the age of 17. After completion of Jesuit studies, he volunteered for the

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

. He was accepted and arrived in September 1948. After serving a year in the eastern township of

and another in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

at the Jesuit Colleges, he went to

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India to study

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, and was ordained as a priest on March 24, 1954. After returning to Sri Lanka in April 1956, he was assigned to St Joseph's College in

as a teacher and sports coach from 1956 to 1978. He was named principal there for a brief period. In the 1960s, private schools, including Catholic colleges, were taken over by the state, and Hebert was sent to Batticaloa to work at the Eastern Technical Institute, the joint Jesuit and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

technical institute, as its director. He was also the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach from 1978 to 1990 at St Michael's College in Batticaloa, where he achieved national championship status over several years. Hebert was a prominent member of the Batticaloa Peace Committee that has interceded on behalf of the many

and missing people as part of the Sri Lankan civil war with both the Sri Lankan government officials and the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE) group.

Incident

During the mid part of August in 1990, there were number of

massacres A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians en masse by an armed group or person. The word is a loan of a French term for "b ...

and counter massacres of civilians targeting both the minority

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

communities. Perpetrators were alleged to be the rebel LTTE as well as government soldiers belonging to various divisions. Following the massacre of a group of Muslims in the Kathankudy Mosque, the situation at the nearby ethnically mixed town of Valachchenai became tense with unruly Muslim mobs roving around targeting Tamils. Most Tamils from Valachchenai fled to refugee camps in the provincial capital of Batticaloa leaving behind a group of Catholic sisters, some girls and helpers trapped in a convent. The Bishop of

sent Eugene Hebert on August 13 to Valachchenai to assist the trapped sisters and others as well as a security guarantee against an attack. On August 15, the Bishop of Batticaloa organized a security convoy from the city to bring back the trapped sisters and others. He informed Hebert to accompany the convoy on its way back from Valachchenai to Batticaloa. Instead, Hebert informed the bishop that as the situation was getting better, he would leave on his own via a circuitous route through an ethnically mixed town called Eravur to Batticaloa, as he had urgent matters to attend to at the institute where he was the director. Hebert, along with a Tamil boy named Betram Francis, was last seen riding a red

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy, to a ...

scooter towards Batticaloa via Eravur.

Reactions

Sri Lankan government The Sri Lankan government believes that Hebert was killed by the rebel LTTE who were active around the Eravur area at the time of his disappearance. This apparently was in response to a written request for explanation by the local American Embassy. Amnesty International An Amnesty International report dated 1990 urged the Sri Lankan government to continue the investigation into the disappearance of Eugene Hebert. It noted that the local investigation by the local military authorities was inconclusive. Jesuits Local Jesuits such as Harry Miller believe that a mob of civilians may have waylaid and killed Hebert and Betram Francis and destroyed any evidence of the crime. The Jesuit organization believes that he is definitely dead due to foul play.

References

External links

List of matyred JesuitsSRI LANKA: Father Eugene Hebet and Betram Francis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebert, Eugene John 1923 births 1990 deaths 1990s missing person cases 20th-century American Jesuits American emigrants to Sri Lanka American people murdered abroad American Roman Catholic missionaries American Roman Catholic priests Catholics from Louisiana Missing American people Missing person cases in Sri Lanka People from Jennings, Louisiana People murdered in Sri Lanka Roman Catholic missionaries in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Jesuits St. Michael's College National School

Biography

Incident

Reactions

See also

References

External links