Archbishop who appointed known sex offender Chancellor of his archdiocese complaining about trivialization of evil

Why did you choose to dedicate your diocese to the Sacred Heart?

Bishop Guy de Kerimel: The Sacred Heart revealed to us the love of God in Christ and through Christ. It is also, in a way, the last words of Jesus Christ on the Cross, when the lance pierced his side. It is also the first words of Christ in his Resurrection to his apostles when he invites the doubting Thomas to touch his open side. This Heart, open here below in the Savior's offered Body, open in his resurrected Body after Easter, is now open in Eternity since his Ascension. It is the sign of the victory of love in eternity, the victory of God's love over death and sin. For our desperate times, anguished by the climate crisis, the economic crisis, the state of society, and war, it is a true sign of hope. It seems to me that the Sacred Heart of Jesus, saying to all of us, "I am victorious!", is the best response to the times we are going through. Now it is up to us to welcome it, to live up to such hope. We will bear fruit to the extent that we know how to welcome it and bear witness to our certainty that there is no other victory than that of Love.

This consecration, according to you, was partly motivated by the announcement of the show "The Gates of Darkness." Why is it important for a bishop to react to this type of event?

When hell is made into an entertaining spectacle, it can only be worrying for a pastor. First of all, I immediately found the poster for the show, with all the churches on fire, to be in very poor taste in the current context, especially after the fire in Saint-Omer. I think it's great that the city is organizing popular events; it's a good way to fraternize, but I ask the question: why hell? Why Lilith, that female demon from Mesopotamia—whose machine was commissioned by Hellfest, no less? It seems to me there would have been other, much happier and more meaningful subjects. I'm not making war on anyone, but Christians must make their voices heard. We must make our voices heard to prevent people from playing with Satan with impunity.

Are we, in your opinion, witnessing a trivialization of evil?

Yes, certainly. I believe there is a deeper phenomenon that manifested itself during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Apart from the controversy surrounding the representation of the Last Supper—which I hadn't personally seen like this—France's Christian past was completely absent! All we saw was the scaffolding of Notre-Dame. Not for a moment was its spiritual or civilizational importance conveyed. As with the spectacle in Toulouse, pagan figures, such as the Minotaur, are invoked and 2,000 years of Catholicism are being erased.

Do you have a message of hope for our readers?

Despite the crises the Church may be going through at this time, we must have the courage of the Truth. With humility, certainly, but remaining faithful to Christ without hiding or withdrawing into ourselves. Humility reminds us that this begins with each of us, our own personal conversion. As the theme of Jubilee 2025 invites us to do, let us be "pilgrims of hope." Let us always have the humble boldness to bear witness to Christ, for he is victorious, now and forever.

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