Rosary prayers banned in French Cathedral

"Forbidden to the faithful of Notre-Dame": The Diocese of Valence bans the cathedral to the faithful at prayer

Serious abuses are underway in the Diocese of Valence, where the absence for several weeks of Bishop Durand, unwilling to accept the consequences of his appointments, and the dismay of the faithful, clearly leave those who run the diocese in his absence free to commit the worst misdeeds. In one week, faithful praying the rosary in Valence Cathedral were disrupted during their prayers on August 22 and 27, and were outright denied access to the cathedral on August 28, where a sign stated that access to the monument was "forbidden to the faithful of Notre-Dame."

On August 22nd, when the faithful gathered at 3:30 p.m. to pray the Rosary in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Valence, the lay guardian burst in at the beginning of the first Mystery, speaking loudly, in an attempt to prevent prayer (!) by ordering them to be quiet. A faithful stood up to ask him to be quiet and let the people pray, and the guardian, far from calming down, practically suggested they fight on the square. He ended up walking away, half-irritated.

The faithful then wrote a letter to the former vicar general of the diocese, Father Teissier, parish priest of Saint Emilien de Valence since 2023. He did not respond.

One might have expected him to calm his guardian and remind him that a cathedral is the house of God, and it is therefore unthinkable to prevent prayer there. Not so!

"Prayer in the cathedral without the priest's permission"

On August 27, the faithful who returned to pray the rosary around 2:30 p.m. found their prayers once again disrupted by a very disorderly and agitated intervention from the lay guard, who told them that it was forbidden to pray in the cathedral without the priest's permission.

A moment of great clericalism, which barely affected the faithful, who finished their Rosary—despite another disruption around the third mystery—and left.

The parish priest of Valence likes to draw inspiration for his universal prayer from the Gospel of Matthew: "I am a stranger and you have welcomed me." Perhaps he should continue reading and refresh his memory, for we also find these words: "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am, in their midst."

But perhaps Jesus (and the Holy Spirit) also need express permission from the parish priest of Valence to be among the faithful who are praying?

A sign on the cathedral: "No access to the faithful of Notre-Dame"

But the faithful coming to pray the rosary at the cathedral weren't out of the woods yet. On August 28 at 2 p.m., the guard outright barred them from entering, shouting that it was "on the orders of Father Teyssier." He placed a sign on the cathedral entrance sign stating that the building was "off limits to the faithful of Notre-Dame."

This unprecedented and completely abusive measure, bordering on religious segregation, is justified on the sign by "several altercations," all provoked by the guard who attempted to prevent prayer by speaking loudly or intimidating the faithful.

Furthermore, this same guardian has no right to decide who enters the cathedral or not – his duties are to keep it open and to avoid disturbing the prayers of the faithful (at the very least).

The question remains how to recognize a faithful of Notre-Dame. Because he comes to the cathedral to pray? Because he is dressed appropriately? Because he remembers that the cathedral is a house of God made for worship and prayer, and not just a cool place under the vaults to escape the heat that crushed the Rhône Valley this summer and drove Father Teissier mad?

Or perhaps Father Teissier, and with him the diocese of Valence, will make these Catholic faithful wear the yellow star, undesirable and persecuted for coming to pray in a cathedral?

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