Bishop Jean-Marc Eychenne took up his duties as new bishop of Grenoble-Vienne
, replacing Guy de Kérimel, who left for Toulouse. The monk, former bishop of Pamiers in the Ariège, will have several hot issues to manage: the consequences of the Louis Ribes affair, requests for Masses in Latin from traditionalist Catholics, etc…
France Bleu Isère: You have been installed, inducted this weekend. With what project for this Grenoble-Vienne diocese?
Jean-Marc Eychenne: I would gladly say, returning the question, that my project is first of all not to have one. I arrive in a diocese with people who preceded me, who will no doubt still be there after me and I say to myself “how, with what I am, am I going to get involved in this dynamic, of co-responsibility“. This is a dimension that we are deepening quite a bit today, under the impetus of Pope Francis, with synodality, that is to say co-responsibility. There is no longer a single head who asks that we apply his policy, but rather people who, together, try to say to themselves “what could we live for?”.
You have chosen as your motto “Not to act, but to be acted”. That’s to say ?
So it’s a formula from Madeleine Delbrêl (French Catholic mystic, editor’s note) which is not written in usual French. It means that for us who try to be people who are in spirituality, it is not simply a question of acting on the basis of our ideology, of our convictions, but also of letting ourselves be inspired by the Spirit of God. So “let oneself act“, it’s a bit like the one who is at the helm of a sailboat, trying to seize the wind that will drive him rather than wanting to do everything by himself.
You have several hot folders on your desktop. In particular that concerning the traditionalist Catholics of the cathedral of the collegiate church of Saint-André in Grenoble. They had a dispute with your predecessor over the Latin Mass. What is your position on this?
My position is somewhat the position that Pope Francis is indicating to us. That is to say that there are people who are attached to a personal sensibility, a vision of the liturgy. There are various sensitivities in the Catholic Church, while remaining together. So, how can we do justice to what we each are? Sometimes certain picks can be a strong distancing, which is almost an exit. And then other choices are a way of saying “I like to pray like that, so I’m waiting to be allowed to do it“.
But to be clear, will you allow them to say the mass in Latin or must they say it in French?
So the question is not so much the Mass in Latin because, even according to the Reformed liturgy, one can celebrate in Latin – I have known religious communities which are attached to Gregorian chant, for example – but it is rather the whole of the device which includes Latin, but which also includes another relationship of the people of God with the ordained ministers, therefore sometimes a more clerical vision than that advocated by the Church. So of course I will have to meet these people, and then we will have a dialogue together. I think that the decisions taken by my predecessor will be held initially. And then we will walk together.
Other news that will concern you: the follow-up to the Sauvé report on pedophilia in the Church and in particular the case of Father Louis Ribes, accused of having abused children in Vienna in particular. How many testimonials have you received and what is the status of compensation?
So in this diocese, I have not yet opened these “folders“. I put quotation marks because we must not forget that behind, there are people who have been seriously injured, people who are victims. In other places, other dioceses, I have been very aware of these issues. And really, we have to change the world, that is to say that instead of giving priority to the protection of the institution – which we have sometimes done, including in laws of silence – people have to be taken care of, they must be a priority. I remember a friend who was attacked by a priest who, even these days, said to me “we are condemned several times: not only are we radically injured for our existence, but because of this law of silence, it is as if we were buried alive“If our institution has gotten into trouble, we have to recognize it and we have to change things, change the way we operate so that we really don’t fall back into that.
So you’re going to meet the collective of victims?
Yes of course. I am available to meet them and see how we can help them not only to express themselves, to be heard and then to rebuild themselves. And then go as far as compensation, when it is requested, necessary.
One last quick question on the meeting today between Pope Francis and Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic. What do you expect from it? What does it represent?
It represents something important for us since the place of religion – or religions – in our country is a real question. And it’s true that the new legislative measures, sometimes, worry us because they are perceived as a view of the State on subjects on which it is not necessarily competent in a secular society. If the state begins to decide what is consistent or not within a religion, it may be religious freedom or freedom of conscience that is at stake. So we are both confident but very vigilant.