President of French Catholic Bishops was patronising Chartres pilgrims even before the pilgrimage began. Far better he now thanks God for the great graces that so many have received....and apologises

Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort: "Welcoming catechumens renews our Church"

Interview from March this year.  Scroll down for the unfortunate comments highlighted in red.

Meeting in Lourdes from March 31 to April 4, the plenary assembly of the bishops of France will elect a successor to Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, its president since 2021. The sexual violence crisis, synodality, relations with public authorities, and the spiritual demands of young believers: the Archbishop of Reims reflects on several important moments of these six years. More than three years after the Sauvé report (Ciase, October 2021), victims of sexual violence in Catholic schools are coming forward, in Bétharram (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), but also in Finistère and Savoie. Is it endless?

Ciase has estimated the number of victims in the Catholic Church at 330,000 since 1950, a third of whom were victims of sexual violence by lay people, and many in schools. In 2016, we set up listening units in the dioceses to collect and encourage people to speak out. But we must respect the victims' time.

For them to speak out, it often takes a catalyst: a first victim who speaks out and manages to inspire others, and a social environment capable of receiving these testimonies. Catholic education is working to ensure that these events, largely from the past, cannot be repeated. Collectively, we are discovering that we need to be more vigilant with each other.

What post-CIASE recommendations were approved by the bishops in Lourdes?

Bishops have been implicated in sexual assault cases in recent years: Bishop Santier, Bishop Colomb, and Bishop Reithinger. The slow pace of developments in these cases gives the impression that the institution is protecting itself…

In the case of Bishop Santier, I think in retrospect that we should have had more open discussions with the Holy See. But I would like to remind you that the CEF is not a hierarchical body.

When a bishop is implicated, it is the archbishop responsible for the province (the "metropolitan") and the Holy See directly who intervene, and the Holy See insists on this! Regarding Bishop Reithinger and Bishop Georges Colomb, however, the accusations are still the subject of ongoing judicial investigations, and both have stepped down from their positions.

What spiritual meaning do you see in the awareness of the extent of sexual violence?

According to the Bible, God's mercy consists in bringing sin to light so that we can see it and repent of it. The fact that the Church is confronted with what she was partly carrying without knowing it, or without wanting to know it, or without being able to know it, is in itself a liberation, a promise of healing, I am convinced.

Humiliation can give rise to humility, and humility is the path Christ shows us. We want to serve people, not dominate them, and even less abuse them.

Pope Francis pointed to clericalism, the misuse of authority, as one of the causes of sexual and spiritual abuse. The Episcopate has taken over synodal practice, which makes room for the baptized?

Several events followed one another: the revelation of the abuse led the Pope to call for a fight against clericalism, then to launch the global consultation on synodality. The Church has undertaken this major work of reviewing and undoubtedly renewing its governing bodies. In France, our November 2021 plenary assembly, one month after the publication of the Sauvé report, had a decisive experience of synodality.

We had planned to listen to people in precarious situations as part of our program on ecology, since Laudato Si' combines "the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor." Hearing them say what they expected from the Church, what they found there, all the bishops said to themselves, "We have nothing to defend, we have to serve all these people." This contributed enormously to welcoming the voices of victims of abuse, which was also on the agenda of this assembly.

What marked the relations between the Episcopate and the government?

The lockdown of March 2020 and the law strengthening the principles of the Republic of August 2021. Overall, I have had fairly effective and cordial working relationships with the various governments. With the President of the Republic, religious leaders are well received, and I felt listened to. But the fear of what the President called Islamist separatism led to a transformation of the 1905 law that seemed serious to us, and continues to seem serious.

It allows for increased control that could become pedantic if a future government so desired. This is why, along with the other Christian churches, we filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council. The Constitutional Council rejected it, but recognized that there was an infringement of freedom, even though it deemed it proportionate to the goal of public order. The 1905 law, implemented as a law of freedom, has become a law of control. This somewhat changes the relationship with public authorities.

We are becoming a catechumenal Church.

45,000 young people from France participated in WYD in Lisbon, 50% more than expected. Requests for adult baptism are increasing. How do you interpret this data?

WYD brings young Catholics who are already involved with parishes and movements. Those who request baptism, and whom we receive as a gift from God, represent a slightly different phenomenon. Dechristianization perhaps translates into a renewed interest in religions. Some, at the age when we make personal choices, want to become Christians.

The catechumens who wrote to me last year before their baptism all said, in one way or another, that approaching Christ had brought them peace, made them capable of different relationships with others. We are becoming a catechumenal Church, after having been a Church of family transmission. If young people come to us, it's to place their lives in the light of God.

What makes social media so charming is precisely its offbeat side. Priests and lay people publish content there that can be very interesting. But should we approve it?

The Bishops' Conference's decision was rather to get to know these people and bring them together. When a priest runs a successful account, the question arises of taking responsibility for it with humility. If it comes from the Holy Spirit, then the initiative helps us grow in communion with others, in love for the Church.

Christ created the Church to carry the Gospel.

The traditionalist pilgrimage to Chartres is bringing together more and more young people around the Latin Mass according to the ancient rite. Have the bishops failed to make them understand the importance of a common liturgy for the unity of the Church?

The pilgrimage of Christendom plays on an ambiguity. Initially, participants undoubtedly came looking for what the organizers were promoting, that is, to find comfort in the worship of the supposedly traditional form of the Roman rite. But today, many are seeking an atmosphere, an exceptional moment during which they can affirm themselves as Catholics, French, with flags, banners, and the challenge of physical effort, which had gradually faded from the student pilgrimage to Chartres, which eventually disappeared.

The sorry tale of the modern pilgrimage that was cancelled for lack of interest

Cathcon:  Supposedly.  What exactly does not mean by that?  Outrageous.

The organizers, for their part, are hardening, I worry, into an understanding of Tradition that ends up being false. And the challenge today for us Bishops is to express in clear terms to the youngest what the tradition of the Church is: above all, the act of Christ who transmits himself, who gives himself.

It is not the perpetuation of customs, of morals. It is not the tradition of our ancestors, but the tradition of Jesus who gave himself up on the Cross and in the Eucharist. I also note a political ambiguity: Christ did not found the Catholic Church to create Catholic states, nor even a Catholic society. Christ created the Church so that it might bring the Gospel to the world, and so that it might be a leaven of spiritual freedom.

Cathcon:  With every month that passes we are finding out what happens to nations and societies that are not or are no longer Catholic.  Christ came to bring salvation not freedom to believe what you will.   Divine realities do not change from one generation to another and neither do Catholic morals.  The Church is the Mother and Teacher of all nations in the matters of Faith and morals....not that the Bishop understands this. 

Is educational activity more difficult to achieve today?

No, because we find a large proportion of young people going to the Christian Pilgrimage, to WYD, where there are no problems with the liturgical celebration, and to all sorts of gatherings in our dioceses.

The organizers of the Christian Pilgrimage boast of their success; it's fair game, but it's just a publicity stunt. I think their success is partly based on this ambiguity: they're aiming for a goal that isn't what a large proportion of the participants are looking for.

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