The Bishop of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in southern France has resigned at the request of Pope Francis.
Bishop Dominique Rey, who resigned on 7 January, had been bishop of the diocese since 2000 and was credited with fostering a significant number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and at odds to the sharp decline in vocations across France.
In 2020, Rey ordained nine men to the sacred priesthood and six new deacons. By the end of 2021, the diocese had 215 incardinated priests, an increase from 187 in 2000, surpassing even the figure in 1950 of 210.
A strong advocate of the so-called “Benedict option” of mutual enrichment between different liturgical traditions, Rey is a member of the charismatic Emmanuel Community but is also known for celebrating the Tridentine Mass. He has also welcomed a large number of new communities, some of which celebrated exclusively the Traditional Latin Mass.
However, he also drew criticism for being too laissez-faire in his approach to the communities he allowed into the diocese and an apparent willingness to accept seminarians and priests rejected by other dioceses.
This ultimately led to an unusual situation in June 2022 when the diocese announced that the annual priestly ordinations were to be suspended with less than a month’s notice before their proposed date. The suspension came after a “fraternal visit” to the diocese by Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, which was initiated by the Vatican, raised questions about the restructuring of the seminary and the conduct of pastoral policy in the diocese.
Pope Francis appointed Bishop François Touvet, former bishop of Châlons in northern France, as a coadjutor bishop to the diocese in November 2023, putting him in charge of religious communities and the training of priests and seminarians. At the end of last year, ordinations resumed after a hiatus of more than two years.
As coadjutor bishop, Touvet had the immediate right to succession and will now take over as bishop of the diocese from Rey.
The Herald spoke to a cleric of the diocese who offered his reflection on Rey’s resignation and the future of the diocese under Bishop Touvet:
“Bishop Touvet has a lot more freedom now; it remains to be seen what he will do,” said the cleric, who wished to remain anonymous due to ongoing sensitivities around the matter.
“One of the big questions raised by the Holy See was Bishop Rey’s [welcoming] of traditional communities and traditionalist clergy. Traditionis Custodes has not been implemented, and whether Bishop Touvet will now move to do that is an open question.
Go here to read the rest. We don’t have a vocations crisis. We have a crisis of powerful elements within the Church who do not wish to ordain as priests traditional Catholics.
Gee. Someone who loves God and wishes the Church to rebound in France is being forced out.
What a world we live in.
If I don’t pray for Francis I’ll be sure to speak ill of him and that hardly produces conversion.
The repugnant policies of his pontificant are flammable.
Praying for an end of his policies which crush the TLM.
Viva Christo Rey.
Without ignoring the fact that Bishop Rey welcomed traditionalist, I see an issue in Bishop Rey accepting seminarians which had been rejected by other diocese. If that was grounds for intervention, then perhaps it was wise for someone to step in. You can’t have record numbers of vocations at the expense of proper vetting of those wanting to enter the Priesthood.
Having said this, It is sad to read at the end of the article that he was approaching his Silver Jubilee as Bishop of the diocese and it’s poor treatment not to have afforded him the respect to allow him to stay on and celebrate the years of service he gave to the diocese.
I think PF is a terrible administrator, with poor judgement and who lacks any decent people skills. Double standards and hypocrisy abound with him ie. McElroy is ok but Rey is not?
Some online contend that the seminarians Rey accepted from other dioceses had been rejected because they were Trads. I have not yet researched this, but it would fit the Bergoglio pattern to use any excuse to shut down a pro-tradition bishop. Just saying.
Thanks Frank. I’m sure that factored in.
They have a big problem on their hands if they cannot come to a mutual agreement on what type of candidates would make solid priests if they cannot put aside “factional politics” rather than using prayer and judgement based on the seminarians character, holiness and personal qualities…
Francis panics when he registers anyone as “traditional” because in his mind it equates to disobedience to Francis the supreme pontiff and his will.
Things are more critical than deciding which seminarians are desirable because we can’t decide on the desired qualities.
The current Church is in crisis over what priests themselves should look like.
How pastoral should they be?
How administrative?
How traditional?
How innovative?
How obedient?
Makes me wonder, without much exaggeration, did *anything* good come out of the 60s?
“Things are more critical than deciding which seminarians are desirable because we can’t decide on the desired qualities.”
Thats a critical issue because it’s about determining the future Church. If there is one thing we should have learnt from the 60’s is we don’t want seminarians who are paedophiles, who have homosexual tendencies or weak-minded men. Is that too much to ask?
Besides, we will always have politics in the priesthood as long as we have priests…and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), a good priest, regardless, should not defy his superior. Regardless how rotten his superior is. Look at all the good priests who we have had in the Church, including saints, who have been persecuted within the Church. All had one thing in common – they obeyed their superiors even at their own detriment. That’s the downside of the job.
[…] The L.A.F.D. is Run by Three Lesbians Named ‘Kirsten’ – Daniel Greenfield at Front Page5. Francis Cancels Bishop with Booming Vocations – D. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic6. San Diego Parishioner Tells D.C. Catholics […]