When in 1979 Prof. Jérôme Lejeune (1926-1994) visited Malta as a guest of the Cana Movement Family Feast, he made a deep impression on all who met him. He was one of Europe’s famous scientists and had been a candidate for the Nobel Prize.
He suffered so much when doctors accepted the pre-natal diagnosis, which often ended in so-called ‘therapeutic’ abortion. For him, this was aimed at killing life
Perhaps none of those who met him ever thought of him as a future saint. A few months ago, the Auxiliary Bishop of Paris, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, declared at the Cathedral of Notre Dame that the canonical diocesan process for the beatification of Jérôme Lejeune was now closed. All documents were sent to the Vatican Congregation of Saints in Rome.
Among those present in the congregation were Lejeune’s wife, his four children and his 26 grandchildren, besides many of his former assistants and patients with Down’s syndrome.
I had the privilege of knowing Lejeune and of welcoming him at a Family Congress in Milan, at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life and in Malta.
He had hosted me in his modest Paris apartment. He also took me to visit the Necker Hospital, where he cared for about 30,000 children with Down’s syndrome.
I was deeply impressed not only by Lejeune’s scientific work, but much more so by his humility, his spiritual values and his faith. He was a soft-spoken and often silent man, for he was dedicated to science and to his research.
Lejeune is still recognised today as the discoverer of Trisomy 21, an extra chromosome on the 21st pair, which causes Down’s syndrome. He was convinced that through this discovery he could cure his patients one day.
He was also dedicated to the value of life, so much so that Pope John Paul II nominated him president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. He suffered so much when doctors accepted the pre-natal diagnosis, which often ended in so-called ‘therapeutic’ abortion. For him, this was aimed at killing life.
Lejeune often spoke with genuine emotion on the problem of Down’s syndrome and disability, always hoping to find a solution for genetic diseases.
For him science was part of his staunch faith, for he publicly affirmed the sacredness of life. In his lectures and in his publications in medical journals, Lejeune defended the right to life of victims of malformations and genetic diseases.
All this he did at great sacrifice and at the cost of isolation from some scientific quarters.
It also cost him the Nobel Prize, for he was a foremost recognised candidate. Pope John Paul II stood up for him and when he visited Paris he asked to go and pray at Lejeune’s grave.
Dom Jean-Charles Nault, abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Wandrille, in his commemoration at Notre Dame said: “Prof. Jérôme Lejeune was a living testimonial of the holistic human person and a defender of life. Personally, I followed his work as a beautiful enthusiastic adventure.”
Abbot Nault stated that the diocesan process lasted five years. The work consisted in examining all his scientific studies and all the vast documentation. A group of 20 volunteers carried out this huge task. Furthermore, many witnesses from various countries were heard by three commissions.
Today Lejeune, even though he never got to receive the Nobel Prize because of prejudice, is considered the father of genetics. He made his discovery of the cause of Down’s syndrome at the young age of 32. He passed endless hours in the laboratory, but he also dedicated his clinical work as professor at Necker Hospital. He was also the first Frenchman to be appointed Professor of Genetics.
As founder of the Cana Movement in 1956, I have sent a report to the postulator about Lejeune.