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.
Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon finds himself more and more in Rome's line of fire hostile to tradition. The picture shows him celebrating a Pontifical Mass in the traditional Rite for the international pilgrimage Populus Summorum Pontificum ad Petri Sedem in St. Peter's Basilica. On the right, Abbé Claude Barth, the spiritual assistant of the pilgrimage.
(Paris) It goes in quick succession. The Holy See, through the Dicastery of Bishops, has ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon. The reason is named with an adjective: Bishop Dominique Rey is "traditional".
The diocese in Provence has become an exceptional diocese under its bishop. In relation to size, it has far surpassed all other French dioceses for many years. Although it comprises only two percent of the Catholics of France, ten percent of all seminarians in Fréjus-Toulon prepare for the priesthood there.
The reason for this is that Bishop Dominque Rey treats both forms of the Roman Rite equally. The traditional Rite has a firm place in his diocese. Seminarians are trained in both forms. In addition, it promotes the establishment of traditional religious orders. Some were even constituted by him in his diocese, including an ancient Benedictine monastery and a Bi-ritual missionary order.
The ancient Benedictine monastery founded and built by monks in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon
These facts are a thorn in the side of some in France and Rome. The 70-year-old Msgr. Rey was appointed in the Holy Year by Pope John Paul II. Under Benedict XVI, who held him in high esteem and personally appointed him synodal member of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization where he developed. Under Francis, however, the wind changed. Nevertheless, Bishop Rey pressed ahead in 2017 and declared as the only diocesan bishop at the time that priests of the SSPX can perform weddings in all churches of his diocese.
Then, however, Pope Francis issued his infamous motu proprio Traditionis custodes in the summer of 2021. In June 2022, Rome shocked with a ban on Bishop Rey to administer the already fixed diaconate and priestly ordinations. Katholisches.info wrote at the time to a picture showing a smiling Pope Francis shaking hands with Bishop Rey: "The smile is deceiving".
The accusations made against Bishop Rey last year resemble the stereotypes that are part of the stereotypical anti-conservative and anti-traditionalist repertoire. With the ban, it was clear that the bishop, his diocese and his thriving seminary were targeted by Rome. Those who hoped for calm misjudge the dynamics that drive forces hostile to tradition. It is said that they need enemies like daily bread, and if there were none, they would have to invent them.
The prohibition of ordination eight months ago is now followed by an Apostolic Visitation. An announcement that frightens connoisseurs of the matter. Under Pope Francis, the procedure in other cases means that after the visitator the retirement of Bishop Rey could follow.
Bishop Dominique Rey with canons of his cathedral chapter. Msgr. Marc Aillet (not pictured), since 2008 tradition-friendly bishop of Bayonne, has been honorary canon of Fréjus-Toulon since 2003.
The visitation is scheduled to begin next Monday, February 13, and is expected to last "several weeks," French radio reported. The new Archbishop of Dijon, Msgr. Antoine Hérouard, has been appointed Apostolic Visitor, assisted by Msgr. Joël Mercier, former secretary of the Roman Congregation for the Clergy.
Officially, it says that the visitor should "deepen and continue the work carried out by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline during his fraternal visit, which took place in 2021 at the request of Rome". Cardinal Aveline, the Archbishop of Marseille, had taken in his report to Rome, especially the seminary in the crosshairs. With the result of that visit, Rome then justified the ban on ordaining six deacons and four priests in June 2022. With reference to visitor reports, retirements then took place, even if the visitors had recommended nothing of the kind. In Rome, there is talk of a "well-rehearsed process" in which the result is already fixed.
But not only the seminary of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon disturbs, but also the foundation and reception of new religious communities, in short, everything that has to do with the special and tradition-friendly course of the diocese. Of course, this is not said.
In a statement published this afternoon, the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon says that it welcomes the news of a visitation "in a climate of trust" and invites "all the faithful and clergy of the diocese to carry this visit in their prayers so that it can bear the expected fruits for the good of our diocese".
The local church has used the past few months, it continues, "to think about how various areas of church leadership can be improved". Whether this can appease the anger of the enemies of tradition is doubtful. The fact that Bishop Rey has increased pastoral visits to his diocese and "improved the procedures for monitoring the various communities received in the diocese" and has "received more than 100 priests for a personal meeting" since September should not be very impressive.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Twitter/Monastère Saint-Benoît/MiL (Screenshot)
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
AMDG
(Paris) The bishop of Frejus-Toulon, Mgsr. Dominique Rey, issued a decree on May 4, 2017, which allows priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X to hold funerals in all churches and chapels of the diocese.
The French bishop, who is known as a friend of the tradition, cited the letter of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on the occasion for his decree. The Commission had announced last March 27 that Pope Francis officially acknowledged the blessings made by priests of the Society in addition to the Sacrament of Penance.
"Each priest who is a member of the FSSPX, has, from the date of the signing of this decree in the territory of our Diocese of Frejus-Toulon, the necessary authority to accept the marriage promise between the bride and groom who turn to a FSSPX priest for their marriage."
The canonical validity and recognition is valid when the marriage takes place in a church or chapel of the Society before a priest, and the episcopal office is informed in advance. A separate form for these notifications has been attached to the decree. The vows are recorded in the marriage register of the Society, the copy of which is sent annually to the diocese's office.
According to the decree, the funeral ceremony can be celebrated by a priest of the Society in every church or chapel of the diocese. The priest of the FSSPX has to arrange the day and time with the local pastor and inform the Chancellery. In this case, the marriage will be entered in the parish register of the parish in which it was witnessed.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Diocese of Frejus-Toulon (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
(Paris) On the feast of the Assumption 40 diocese of France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland will ring their church bells for the persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The 15th of August was chosen because the Blessed Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Christendom and is particularly revered in the Orient.
The diocese will thus set an example of solidarity and solidarity with the persecuted Christians. The bells call for prayers especially for the oppressed, exiled and enslaved Christians. "If everything goes bad and there is apparently no hope, one turns to Mary, which brings down the walls," said Archbishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz of Avignon the initiative.
Initiative for persecuted Christians from Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon
The solidarity campaign starts from Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon, one of the most prominent bishops of France who trains priests of his diocese in both forms of the Roman Rite, and has even celebrated in the traditional rite and promotes this in his diocese. The small diocese in the Provence has by far the highest number of seminarians throughout France.
His announcement, ringing the bells to the Assumption of the persecuted Christians was followed immediately by the bishops of Gap Embrun, Ajaccio, Avignon and Bayonne. All dioceses where the traditional rite has a home.
Meanwhile, the group of dioceses taking part in the action has greatly increased. There are now 40 dioceses and not just in France but also in French-speaking Switzerland, in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Charity concert of singing priests - disability symptomatic of the state of Europe
The singing French priests "Les Pretres" from the diocese of Gap have donated the proceeds from two large benefit concerts for the persecuted Christians in the Orient. Originally, the Parisian society for public transport (RATP) had refused to accept posters for the charity concert, because it is "religious advertising" (see "France suffers from its secularity" - priest of Parisian subways "too political"? ). But this is contrary to the secularism of France. The refusal sparked an intense debate. Many people were outraged because they thought it absurd that a benefit concert for persecuted Christians was considered "religious advertising" and that a relief operation has been hampered by the refusal.
This was partly a fundamental discussion about the fact that in the Middle East Christians die, but rather than providing assistance, the West holds abstract and antichristian discussions. "While we are discussing, people are dying in the East. Solidarity is different, a young woman wrote in the Internet log of the singing priests.
The discussion at least led to such great interest in the charity campaign of the singing priests that one concert became two. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and also Senate President Gerard Larcher attended. Unfortunately, the bishops of other parts of Europe have not taken up the initiative of Bishop Dominique Rey and excepted themselves from the "French," a European mark of solidarity and solidarity with the persecuted Christians.
(Paris) The new Archbishop of Fort de France in the French overseas department of Martinique in the Caribbean is the Dominican, David Macaire.Pope Francis appointed the former prior of the Dominican convent of Sainte Baume and exorcist of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon on 7th of March.
According Riposte Catholique, Archbishop Macaire belongs to a new generation of priests in France. Along the lines of Benedict XVI, he shows sensitivity to the traditional Roman rite.Father Macaire was chaplain of the Catholic Pathfinders and worked closely together with the traditional Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon in Provence.
Colonized in 1635 by France, the area came under French rule in 1664.Approximately 390,000, of which 85 percent are of black African descent.They came in the 17th / 18thCenturies as slave labor on the plantation systems.Slavery in Martinique was abolished in 1848. In 2010, a majority of the electorate voted against greater independence from France.
In 1850, Pope Pius IX. made the Diocese of Martinique a suffragan of the Archdiocese of French Bordeaux.The diocese comprised the entire island. In 1967 it was raised by Pope Paul VI.to the Archdiocese of Saint Pierre and Fort de France with two suffragan sees in the territory of the other French West Indies.
(Toulon) The traditional bishop of Frejus-Toulon, Dominique Rey has launched a new initiative for vocations and evangelization.
The decline in vocations to the priesthood on the old continent and the need for new evangelization of Europe are inextricably linked. The Bishop of Provence is looking for new initiatives. Promoting the tradition belongs as much to is as the mission to Muslims. The most recent initiative is the opening of a training house for future priests, missionaries from America, who are trained for the new evangelization of Europe. They are coming after their ordinations in European dioceses, in the specific case, particularly to be put to use in France.
The Patron of the new facility is Saint Alberto Hurtado. With the academic year 2014/2015, the new seminary will begin operation. The sponsorship of the Bishop Rey is being entrusted to The Fradernidad St. Jose Custodia (FSJC), a religious community dedicated to Saint Joseph in Chile.
The Order was founded by Federico Alcamán Riffo, a Chilean priest, who acts mainly through popular missions, he also founded a branch because of the vocations awakened a women's branch in 1999 and a men's branch in 2002. The charism of the Order is the mission of the particular care of the Divine Liturgy, which takes place in both forms of the Roman Rite and in the dissemination and promotion of the kingdom of Christ. Since 2006, the Order has been operating in the U.S. with the new evangelization. Since 2010, it also maintains an office in the diocese of Frejus-Toulon.
Priestly Fraternity of San Jose
The seminarians of the house of St. Alberto Hurtado are trained in both forms of the Roman Rite at the Seminary of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon and in the house itself. The Diocese of Frejus-Toulon in France has the largest number of diocesan vocations. The reason for this is the orthodox approach of the bishop and his openness to the traditional rite.
It has already set up a website set up in Spanish, which is aimed directly at young men in America who feel a vocation to the priesthood.
(Toulon) Last Tuesday Bishop Dominique Rey, the Bishop of Frejus-Toulon, consecrated a seminarian of the diocese in the old rite as deacon. The remarkable thing is that it does not concern the members of Ecclesia Dei community, but a diocesan seminarian. The Bishop of Frejus-Toulon treats the two forms of the Roman Rite, as Pope Benedict XVI had recognized, as equals.
The diaconate was held in the traditional Benedictine Abbey of Notre Dame de Fontgombault where the new deacon was trained liturgically under the direction of Dom Jean Pateau. In his homily, Bishop Rey stressed the connection between the diaconate and the Eucharistic Sacrifice. This is the fourth diocesan seminarian who has been brouight by the Bishop of Frejus-Toulon in this way to the priesthood.
In 2011, Bishop Rey caused a stir as he consecrated one of his deacons to the priesthood in the Old Rite. The Instruction, Universae Ecclesiae on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, states that ordinations in the ordinary form of the Roman Rite should be made. Only the Ecclesia Dei communities and other communities with explicit permission to celebrate the traditional rite are exempt. However, Rome recognized the example of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon immediately with an indult was granted without further notice.
Bishop Rey is the initiator of the International Liturgical Conference, Sacra Liturgia, which will be held from the 25th to 28th of June in Rome. In the diocese there are also the Missionaries of Divine Mercy of Father Fabrice Loiseau, an Old Ritual Community of Diocesan Right, which was canonically erected in the diocese of Frejus-Toulon in 2005 and is under the authority of Bishop Rey. The triple apostolate of the community is: promoting the worship of the Divine Mercy of St. Faustina Kowalska, Eucharistic adoration and the evangelization of Muslims. The latter has shown itself as an apostolate community at the forefront of new Catholic communities that respond to the specific challenges of their time.
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