Francis Disinherits Bishop Rey of Fréjus-Toulon

Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejús-Toulon (center of the picture with two of his canons) is the next victim of Begoglian "mercy". In the fight against tradition, Rome apparently takes no prisoners.

(Rome) After Msgr. Joseph Strickland, a second traditional bishop was deposed within ten days. Pope Francis appointed a coadjutor for the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon who will work alongside and succeed Diocesan Bishop Dominique Rey.

The procedure is Bergoglian: First a visitor is sent, then the attack follows. The result is clear from the start. Msgr. Rey was not immediately fired, but was removed from power. The retirement will follow in a few months. The template for this is provided by the diocese of Albenga-Imperia, which lies on the same Mediterranean beach. There, Bishop Mario Oliveri, who is close to tradition, was given a coadjutor. He then had the say. Msgr. Oliveri was left in office for a few more months and then retired in a second step in 2016.

 

Other examples include Bishop Rogelio Livieres in Paraguay , Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres in Puerto Rico and, just a few days ago, Bishop Joseph Strickland in the USA . They all distinguished themselves, each in their own way, as heralds of truth. For this they were overthrown. Consider the scheming way in which Bishop Rogelio Livieres was summoned to Rome in order to lure him away from his diocese. While he was standing in front of closed doors in Rome, he was informed from home that he had been deposed by Francis.

Bishop Rey, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. was valued, promoted vocational pastoral care, parish pastoral care, supported the right to life movement, took part in the March for Life in Paris and was close to the civil rights movement Manif pour tous. In particular, he also promoted the traditional rite. Or rather, he recognized an inner unity between evangelization and liturgy. He also supported the establishment of traditional ritual communities such as the Benedictines of the Immaculata or biritual communities such as the Fradernidad St. José Custodio in his diocese.

Bishop Rey was the first diocesan bishop to create faculties for priests of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X in 2017. (FSSPX) can perform weddings in every church in his diocese .

The result of this work was reflected above all in the vocations to the priesthood. While most French dioceses don't even have a new priest every year, the seminary in the small diocese of Fréjus-Toulon was filling up. Although the diocese comprises only 1.6 percent of France's population, it counted around eight percent of all diocesan seminarians. Fréjus-Toulon was the diocese in France that attracted the most vocations. Before the Roman intervention began last year, more than 70 seminarians were prepared for the priesthood at Bishop Rey's seminary.

The closer a diocese or religious community is to tradition, the more vocations it attracts. Rome should think about that. It does, but differently than would be expected.

The flourishing seminary of Fréjus-Toulon was received positively in Rome under Benedict XVI, negatively under Francis. Francis shocked the Catholic world by prohibiting Bishop Rey from conducting the ordinations that had already been scheduled at the beginning of June 2022. Too many seminarians? Too many candidates for ordination? Rome intervened. The diocese and its seminary were drained. Where there is uncertainty about the question of ordination, vocations dry up.

In February 2023, Francis sent an apostolic visitator to Fréjus-Toulon. The next step took place today with the removal of Bishop Rey from power by appointing a coadjutor.

Pope Francis is waging a war on tradition . He eliminates her wherever she appears in the Church outside of the Ecclesia Dei enclosure. No one can currently say whether the enclosure will be retained or leveled once this job is completed. Naivety and illusions are a bad guide.

Francis appointed Monsignor François Touvet, the current Bishop of Châlons, as coadjutor of Bishop Rey. 

Msgr. Rey has since turned to his diocese with a statement. In it he announced that Msgr. Touvet would succeed him in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon as soon as he himself retired.

Bishop Rey described the ban on ordination as a “collective sanction”, the year and a half since then as “torments (…) that we have suffered since June 2022. This year and a half of waiting has been particularly difficult and painful for all of us, priests, religious, believers and especially seminarians”.

He thanked everyone who “spent this time of trial with me in trust and prayer.”

He greeted Bishop Touvet “like a brother.” He visited the diocese a few years ago to get to know the “missionary spirit that animates our diocese”.

As he himself announced, Pope Francis withdrew Bishop Rey's responsibilities for the following areas: leadership of the clergy, administration, training of seminarians and priests and the support of religious communities. The thrust is obvious.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : MiL

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG