The resignation of the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, was accepted Thursday, December 2 by the Pope, is the consequence of several problems within the diocese, analysis on franceinfo Gino Hoel, editor for the progressive Catholic review Golias and for Slate.fr. According to him, these difficulties relegate to the background the official reason for the departure of Michel Aupetit, namely the revelations, at the end of November, in the weekly Le Point, of an “ambiguous” behavior that the prelate would have had with a woman, in 2012 He categorically denied these claims. Mgr Aupetit is replaced by Mgr Georges Ponthier, Archbishop Emeritus of Marseille.
franceinfo: The revelations on an “ambiguous” relation are not the only reason explaining the resignation of Mgr Aupetit?
Gino Hoel: This is the icing on the cake. There were other issues which I think are much bigger than this rumor. It’s a rumor, because we don’t have proof today. It is just an e-mail which would have circulated, but we do not know the content of this e-mail. We do not know the content of the exact relations maintained by the Archbishop of Paris with this woman. At the time, he was vicar general, not yet a bishop. I think that it is especially the difficulties within the diocese, the relational difficulties which he could have had with his priests, with his collaborators which weighed a lot.
I think that in this case it was not really celibacy that was the problem. Michel Aupetit, at the time, when he was asked to choose between celibacy and his possible relationship with this woman, he chose since he has not left the ministry. One can also wonder why this email came out in 2021, when it dates from 2012. I think that today, what is happening is in part because there were a number of forces in the diocese, who did everything to obtain the miter of Michel Aupetit. They got it.
Was the diocese of Paris in such a degraded and conflicting state?
Yes, there have already been several resignations around the Archbishop of Paris, due to his behavior. There were also problems with the Saint-Jean-de-Passy high school [le directeur de cet établissement catholique privé réputé du 16e arrondissement de Paris a été mis en examen en février 2021 pour “agression sexuelle sur mineur de 15 ans”, et son prédécesseur avait été renvoyé par le diocèse, pour mauvaise gestion].
There were also problems with traditionalist groups close to Saint-Jean-de-Passy. They had their throats down with the fact that Michel Aupetit restricted the possibility of celebrating mass in Latin. He actually just implemented the Pope’s decree that came out this summer that asked to restrict that. The concern is that Michel Aupetit was very close to these people, and they felt that in addition, he had an extraordinary morality. So from the moment when there was Saint-Jean-de-Passy, then the decision to restrict the rite, we saw in this whole traditionalist sphere, of the extreme right, very strong attacks, very strong attacks. .
Georges Pontier, Archbishop Emeritus of Marseille, becomes Apostolic Administrator of Paris. Does that mean that he is the new archbishop of Paris?
He will manage current affairs while awaiting the appointment of a new archbishop. So he’s going, I think, to try to pacify things, which is very important in Paris. And above all, he will start to think about the best profile for the new archbishop. In fact, it is to be hoped that Georges Pontier comes to the conclusion that a non-Parisian is absolutely necessary.