Sad and scandalous story out of France

[marthaferretti]

Bishop of the French diocese of Evreux has been trying to replace a traditional minded priest who had a thriving Catholic community with a priest more to his liking.

rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2011/04/no-more-oasis-in-desert-of-evreux.html

The post on the blog is apparently incorrect in that the bishop did not excommunicate the priest but the bishop released a statement that the priest (Fr. Michel) “put himself out of communion with his Ordinary”.

 

[Padraig1972]

Lord Hear Our Prayers
Lord Hear Our Prayers
Lord Hear Our Prayers

Pray for them. Both the booted priest and the wrong acting party.

 

[Dale_M]

The situation seems complex. Apparently for several years Abbé Francis Michel has been resisting his bishop’s desire to move him to a different parish. Fr. Michel had been the parish priest of Thiberville for over 20 years.
lepost.fr/article/2010/01/03/1868150_en-normandie-le-cure-fait-de-la-resistance.html
(News article is written in French)

Last year, when the bishop came to the parish to install the new priest, the congregation repeatedly booed and hissed at him. Then Fr. Michel led his followers out of the church to another church building. The bishop tried to follow them, but was stopped.
lepost.fr/article/2010/01/03/1868791_dans-l-eure-l-eveque-hue-par-les-fideles-de-la-paroisse.html

Here is a video of the unfortunate event. The booing begins around the 0.55 minute mark, when the bishop enters.
youtube.com/watch?v=3iEnJXA3gI4

 

[thirddec]

Lets pray for Unity in the Church and that Unity has its roots in Humility and Obedience and in prayer and faith in The Holy Spirit to be the ultimate guide of the Church through His Holy Father the Pope.

Let us pray for Bishops to be Obedient to the Pope and for Priests to be obedient to their Bishop. For if this dissappears then the church will be rudderless.

We need to pray for both parties here as in my experience of human fights there will be rights and wrongs on both sides. And lets pray for the parishoners who are experiencing what happens when our Unity is fractured.