Father Christophe Chatillon, parish priest of Orléans-center and rector of the Sainte-Croix cathedral, announced this Saturday January 28, 2023 to leave the priesthood for a woman. He explains why he made this difficult decision in a letter addressed to his followers.
“This news comes as a shock to many of us” wrote Bishop Monsignor Blaquart in a press release published on the blog of the Diocese of Orleans. Christophe Chatillon, rector of the cathedral since 2016, indeed announced to him some time earlier his choice to leave the ministry.
Ordained a priest in 1999, Christophe Chatillon therefore put an end to his religious functions, nearly 25 years later, for the love of a woman. He explains it in a letter, also published on the parish website. “For a very long time, the joys of the mission and of fraternal life allowed me to compensate for the frustrations linked to the priestly ministry, and more particularly to celibacy: today this is no longer the case”he writes, then referring to the one for whom he made the choice to change his life today.
At the heart of the ordeals I’ve been through in recent years, the chance of life wanted me to find the comfort I needed with a friend who listened to me and supported me. Today I cannot envisage the future without her.
Christophe Chatillon – Rector of the Cathedral of Orleans
Christophe Chatillon says he is aware “that this new choice of life (…) is not compatible with the exercise of the priestly ministry.” Therefore, he adds, “after having taken the time for discernment, and not wanting to lock myself up in a double life, in agreement with Father BLAQUART, I freely choose to leave the ministry.”
In his press release, Monsignor Blaquart announces that a time for discussion and listening will be offered to parishioners who so wish at the Saint-Vincent house on Saturday February 4 at 4:30 p.m.