On Sunday, January 21st, a priest and three deacons were ordained in Toulon Cathedral. It was a day of joy, because by papal decree of April 28, 2022, the ordinations, which had already been scheduled for the end of June of the same year, were suspended. But the bishop was not allowed to consecrate them.
Msgr. Dominique Rey. Bishop of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon since 2000, was targeted by Pope Francis over two years ago. His courageous openness towards communities of different types, but above all his concern for the believers who were committed to the traditional Mass, as well as an above-average number of candidates for the priesthood made him suspect that he had not selected them carefully enough. The suspension of orders as a first papal sanction was followed by an apostolic visitation and, at the end of November 2023, the appointment of a coadjutor, which ended in the gradual dismantling of a conservative bishop.
Msgr. Franҫois Touvet, Bishop Rey's coadjutor, spoke of the “grace of new beginnings and hope” because the newly ordained, after a long period of waiting, which was also a test for Msgr. Rey and the entire diocese, giving their trust to God.
He recalled the great applause with which he had announced last December 10th that ordinations would be possible again. He thanked Bishop Rey for his humility in accepting the fact that he could not administer the orders himself.
Indeed, Bishop Dominique Rey bears his repression with dignity according to his episcopal motto: “Mitis et humilis corde .” Meek and humble of heart. He felt that the suspension of orders was an unjustified sanction. The fact that his coadjutor was able to immediately announce the repeal of the papal decree upon his introduction may have confirmed this assessment and made visible the papal arbitrary act, which is an act of cruelty towards the candidates for ordination and a slap in the face to a bishop for whom the absolute truth of the Gospel is everything.
After the most recent ordinations, three priestly and three diaconal ordinations are still pending. It is not yet certain whether they will all take place on June 29, 2024, as announced in November. Since they were not allowed to be among the newly ordained, the candidates still cannot be sure that they will not be rejected after all. This also applies to the candidate for the priesthood Thomas Duchesne, who took part in an interview with LifeSiteNews and described that he accepted his suffering in the time of waiting as purification for his future priesthood in Christ sacrifice for his apostolate, the sanctification of souls. God works.
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 theBenedictines 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.
What will the priest of tomorrow be like? France shows a clear indication.
(Paris) The trend of the figures about French seminarians shows some notable trends. Riposte Catholique compares the figures of the seminarians of May 2017 with those of May 2010. What changes can be seen during these seven years, the duration which consists of an entire period of priestly formation?
At the end of the 2009/2010 academic year (shortly before priestly ordinations) there were 918 seminarians in France. At the end of the 2016/2017 academic year, the figure was 853. This represents a drop of seven percent.
The numbers include the diocesan seminaries and all seminarians, whether French or foreigners, who study for a French diocese. Also included are the secular priestly communities of tradition (including the Society of St. Pius Xth ) and the Communauté St. Martin, which is playing an increasing role in France. The picture is therefore not entirely complete, since the Catholic orders are missing. The statistics, however, deliberately includes the world clergy.
Growth of communities of tradition and community of St. Martin
Seminarists in France: comparison between the academic years 2009/2010 and 2016/2017
The 94 French dioceses experienced a drop in French seminarians of almost a fifth (-18.2 percent). In the case of foreign seminarians preparing for a priesthood for a French diocese, the decline was even more pronounced and almost one quarter (23.1 per cent).
On the other hand, the priestly societies of tradition show an annual increase. The number of their seminarians rose from 140 in the academic year 2009/2010 to 160 in the academic year 2016/2017. This represents an increase of 14.3 percent.
During the same period, the Priestly Society of St. Martin (Communauté St. Martin), which was founded in 1976 by Jean-François Guérin, priest of the Archbishopric of Tours, was canonically erected with the help of the Archbishop of Genoa, Giuseppe Cardinal Siri. Guérin died in 2005, who was the Superior General until 2004, and was a member of the old-rite Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault. The mother house and the community priest's seminary are now in the former Benedictine Abbey of Evron.
The Priestly Society of St. Martin, who had 43 seminarians in France in 2010, had 98 in the past year. It was able to more than double its numbers. The increase is 128 percent.
The figures do not include the members of the Propaedeutic (Preseminary).
Clear shifts in the overall picture
The changes also mean shifts in the overall picture. In 2010, French diocesan seminarians accounted for two-thirds (66%) of all seminarians preparing for the priesthood in France. With the foreign seminarians who studied for French dioceses, their share amounted to 80 per cent. The seminarians of the priestly communities of tradition accounted for 15.3 per cent of the total number. The Communauté St. Martin had a share of 4.7 percent.
In 2017, the picture is clearly different: the French diocesan seminarists now account for only 58 percent of all seminarians who are covered. Together with the foreign seminarians for French dioceses, their share is 69.7 percent. The proportion of the priestly communities of tradition has increased to 18.8 per cent, and that of the Communauté St. Martin even to 11.5 per cent.
The proportion of diocesan seminarians are also distributed quite differently in the diocese. Eleven of the 94 dioceses had only one seminarian in the past year, five had no one. 13 dioceses had only two seminarians, 17 more only three, and another 18 dioceses between four and five seminarians. In other words, two-thirds of the French bishops do not even have a new priest every year.
Half of the diocesan seminarians are from 13 of 94 diocese - except Frejus-Toulon
More than half of all diocesan seminarians are from 13 of the 94 dioceses. Two diocese stand out: the Archdiocese of Paris and the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon. The largest number, with 70 seminarians, is the Archdiocese of Paris. At the lower end of the list, the seminarians of 42 diocese are to be counted in order to reach the number of seminarians in Paris. The archdiocese includes 3.3 per cent of the inhabitants of France, but accounts for 11.8 per cent of diocesan seminarians and 8.2 per cent of all seminarians.
The Diocese of Frejus-Toulon in Provence is a real exception. It has been headed since 2000 by the Bishop Dominique Rey. Although the Diocese is only 1.6 per cent of the population of France, the small diocese, with 42 seminarians, represents seven per cent of all diocesan seminarians and almost five per cent of all seminarians. On the whole, the seminary of Frejus-Toulon attracts most priestly vocations in proportion. At the seminary, 66 seminary participants were trained in the last academic year. In the past, Bishop Rey has promoted the establishment or founding of new orders and communities, including those with a missionary and traditional charism. The education at the diocesan seminary of Frejus-Toulon is also appreciated by priests of tradition.
27 dioceses had more seminarians in 2017 than in 2010. Not all of them signify a trend reversal, but some already. Worth mentioning was the increase, especially in the diocese of Lyon, Bayonne, Rennes, Montpellier, Meaux, Saint-Brieuc and Digne. The diocese of Bayonne is also headed by Monsignor Marc Aillet, a traditional bishop, who belongs to the Priestly Society of St. Martin.
Overall, a general shift can be observed. It leads away from the post-conciliar spirit and in a graded way towards the tradition.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Riposte Catholique
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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