Archbishop Ravel losing control of his Diocese

This is what the daily La Croix suggests. Bishop Ravel has been delaying the deadline for several months, but the latest events indicate that he can no longer govern his Diocese. He is accused of often being in Paris, of being unavailable and of trusting his assistant more than his collaborators. In short: he is not a pastor.

The Archbishop believes that the cabal he is the victim of is due to his intransigence on the issue of sexual violence in the Church. But the Apostolic Visit ordered by the Vatican in June 2022 was not about that, but about his authoritarianism: dismissal of the treasurer, Jacques Bourrier, total absence of management.

Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise and Bishop Joël Mercier, the Dicastery's secretary emeritus for the clergy, listened to some thirty priests and lay people. The report was delivered in October.

Archbishop Ravel was then summoned to Rome in November by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, then prefect of the dicastery for bishops. He asked him to send a letter of resignation to the Élysée Palace, as required by the Concordat. Bishop Ravel accepted, then changed his mind. He was then summoned by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State. The Archbishop of Strasbourg did not go to this convocation, citing health reasons.

Cardinal and Archbishop

Emmanuel Macron himself is said to have encouraged the Archbishop not to resign, in a sort of return of the favour to the prelate, who had called on voters to vote for him in 2022.

Archbishop Ravel also skipped the Assembly of French Bishops at the end of March in Lourdes (again for health reasons).

Rome then imagined leaving Bishop Ravel in place, while entrusting all his responsibilities to Bishop Christian Kratz, auxiliary bishop. In anticipation, just before Holy Week, by a letter slipped under his door, Mgr Ravel practically sacked him.

On Tuesday 18 April, the vicar general, Canon Hubert Schmitt, was in turn ousted from the episcopal council, accused of having, thirty years ago, had an equivocal attitude with a woman.

On Wednesday 19 April, we learn that a canonical procedure concerning Father Bernard Xibaut, chancellor of the diocese, has been launched for "inappropriate gestures" towards a seminarian. The individual does indeed seem to be a sulphurous person, but the fact that he was removed from the scene so late raises questions.

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