The case of the Archbishop of Paris further demolishes a collapsing Church | Slate.fr – Slate.fr

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End of november, Le Point disseminated a survey implicating Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris since 2017. Described as “authoritarian”, “brutal”, little dialogue, he would have maintained according to the weekly an affair with a woman ten years ago. This investigation had the effect of a bomb in the Catholic world and prompted the Archbishop of Paris to hand over his office to Pope Francis.

Aged 70, a former doctor, Michel Aupetit was ordained a priest at 44 and bishop at 61. He owes his dazzling career to Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris (2005-2017) of which he was Vicar General, and to the former Apostolic Nuncio in France (2009-2019) Luigi Ventura, sentenced in December 2020 for sexual assault.

His appointment in 2017 to the Parisian headquarters surprised even among the ranks of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) where the man is hardly loved. Some consider, among the bishops as among the Parisian priests, that the archbishop’s costume is cut too large for his shoulders. This prelate can indeed be disagreeable, sufficient and bombastic, especially when he celebrates. In addition, he often adopts very strong positions both in terms of bioethical laws than societal laws, where it can appear overhanging.

He made enemies from all sides

The article in Point overwhelms Michel Aupetit and his methods. Thus it is recalled the resignation of its two vicars general at the end of 2020 and in the spring of 2021, both exiled in Lille and Marseille. One of them, Benoist de Sinety, is known to have celebrated the funeral of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 and for its commitment to migrants. His two collaborators would have slammed the door because of the governance of the archbishop and his humiliations against them.

Parisian Catholics regret his “Lack of listening and empathy”, according to the weekly. Priests and laity did not appreciate his message when the publication of the Saved report, considering that the Archbishop of Paris was content the bare minimum when we expected a strong word.

But what seems to have precipitated the fall of Michel Aupetit is his management of some purely Parisian affairs.

At the start of the first confinement, the Archbishop of Paris beheaded the management of the very posh private high school Saint-Jean-de-Passy, regretting “Managerial practices”, sources of “Suffering”. This affair aroused a lot of emotion among the parents of the pupils, divided between opinions for and against the head of the establishment and the prefect of the dismissed terminal, as well as in the ultra-conservative sphere and far-right social networks. Especially since early 2021, justice declared innocent the director and the prefect of terminales dismissed by the archbishop.

At the start of 2021, it was the turn of the Halles-Beaubourg Pastoral Center (CPHB) within the parish of Saint-Merry to be purely and simply dissolved by Michel Aupetit. Saint-Merry was renowned in Paris as a place of openness towards LGBT + people, divorced and remarried people, migrants. A time under the responsibility of Benoist de Sinety, the Archbishop of Paris decided to install the Community of Sant’Egidio there, close to the poor, and to drive out the 500 regular faithful invested in the CPHB.

Finally, Michel Aupetit decided this summer to restrict the possibility of attending masses celebrated in the old rite, in Latin. He thus strictly implemented the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes of Pope Francis, which no longer allows the extraordinary form to be celebrated freely but under conditions. This decision of the Archbishop of Paris has, here too, scandalized traditionalist circles, which rather appreciated Michel Aupetit because of his intransigence in the moral field.

The drop of water after the vase overflows

In all these cases, the various actors regret the absence of dialogue of Michel Aupetit, his theological weaknesses, his decisions taken alone. These various difficulties were brought to the attention of the apostolic nuncio in Paris, Celestino Migliore, as well as a compromising email – this is in any case what Le Point notes in his investigation.

It would be a 2012 email to a woman, apparently sent by mistake to her secretary, who kept it to herself. According to the weekly, this email – known to Parisian priests – leaves no room for doubt: Michel Aupetit would have maintained “An intimate relationship with this woman, an affair that falls within her private life [et] concerns two consenting adults ”.

For his part, the Archbishop of Paris recognizes a “Behavior towards her [qui] may have seemed ambiguous, thus suggesting the existence between us of an intimate relationship and sexual relations, which I strongly refute ”. He also admits having, even before the publication of the Point’s investigation, handed over his charge to François. At last, he declared on Radio Notre-Dame to have “Suffered a shock”, not imagining being surrounded by so many enemies.

Risks and inconsistencies

Several questions remain. On the one hand, having knowledge of this email in 2012, why did Cardinal Vingt-Trois despite everything push the appointment of Michel Aupetit to the Paris headquarters? It was taking the risk that the information would one day come out publicly – even if Michel Aupetit denies any connection. It was taking the risk of weakening the Church in Paris, and therefore in France. André Vingt-Trois has shown, in this area, lightness and a patent lack of discernment. In Le Point, the sociologist of religions and editor Jean-Louis Schlegel notes that “French Catholicism is collapsing” and sees in this case a “symptom” of this collapse.

Let us add that voices have been raised to be surprised at this resignation for supposed relationship with a woman while not a bishop has resigned after the Ciase report. It was also the occasion to question the celibacy of priests even though, in the Aupetit affair, it had nothing to do. Moreover, the Archbishop of Paris seems to have opted for celibacy rather than for engagement in a loving relationship, incompatible in the Church with the priestly vocation.

Besides, why have you kept this compromising email for so many years and above all: why is it coming out today? If the Archbishop of Paris is naturally destabilized by this scandal, faithful and ecclesiastics support him. They see it as a cabal, an affair set up from scratch to obtain the miter of Michel Aupetit while the Church in France is at its worst since the Sauvé report.

François accepts the resignation

This Thursday, December 2, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Aupetit. We know that he does not like having to act in haste, forced by events, but the situation urged him to quickly decide, the siege of Paris being emblematic and one of the most important in France. Its archbishop is one of the privileged Catholic interlocutors of the public authorities, consulted on a certain number of subjects. However, in this affair, Michel Aupetit lost all credibility and therefore all authority. It seemed difficult to imagine that he would stay in place until his 75th birthday in 2026, at the risk of further increasing the collapse of the Church in France.

François appointed an apostolic administrator, Georges Pontier, former archbishop of Marseille and ex-president of the CEF, to manage the diocese during the vacancy of the see, as in Lyon after the withdrawal and resignation of Cardinal Barbarin. Beyond this affair, it is the whole process of episcopal appointments which is to be reformed, plagued by cronyism and nepotism. This seems to have been understood by the nuncio Migliore, responsible for communicating the lists of candidates to Rome, if we are to believe the latest appointments. Whether this will be enough to contain the collapse of French Catholicism remains to be seen.