Saint-Jacques, 156 years old. Saint-Martin, 153 years old. Jean-Jacques Dufau, 75 years old. The Catholic heritage of Pau is impressive, but not all its monuments are in the same boat. While the former know they can count on regular renovations, the latter soon had to give up on rejuvenation treatments. What does its proximity to the Lord matter?
“It is now time to say goodbye,” Father Dufau confided to parishioners since last Sunday. The priest from downtown Pau bows out after twelve years at the head of the Christ-Sauveur parish. The people of Pau who do not go to church have surely already encountered his Roman collar, his felt hat and his shopping bag in the middle of the Halles or during the city’s major gatherings. He was a character in this town.
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Abbot Dufau at the top of the Saint-Martin church.
A wind of youth
A native of Navarrenx, Jean-Jacques Dufau had served in Pau since 1976. He was first diocesan director of catechism teaching and responsible for youth ministry in the department. A theme that will have marked his ministry and his time in the royal city.
A modern and talkative priest, closer to his parishioners than to the strict liturgy, Father Dufau has multiplied initiatives to rekindle the flame of spirituality. Sometimes through his tenacity, sometimes through his humor, he encouraged the awakening to faith at all ages.
“The smartphone has taken a dominant place, we have learned to let go and adapt to Facebook, Internet, WhatsApp…”
“High school students and young people have become more and more present,” he said during his sociologist’s homily on Sunday at Saint-Joseph. “The smartphone has taken a predominant place, we have learned to let go and adapt to Facebook, the Internet, WhatsApp and other applications.”
His inventiveness will not have been too much to weather storms like this damn Covid which had prevented the faithful from gathering and families from attending major moments of their existence. The parish’s Facebook page saw record connections as the priest shared his daily meditations and homilies online.
Jean-Jacques Dufau did not mince his words, a few months later, after the publication of the Sauvé report on sexual abuse in the church. “I could not imagine such rottenness in the church,” he reacted. It is a shame, a shock and a great ordeal. This independent commission was wanted by the Church, it is a painful reality, but it was necessary for this truth to come out. »
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The return to mass at a safe distance after the stoppage due to the Covid epidemic.
“Time has passed very quickly,” observes the priest who enjoyed his daily mission as a companion. “How many baptisms, marriages, funerals celebrated?” wonders the priest, equally marked by the “more discreet and secret” moments, “the time for confessions, spiritual accompaniments, wedding preparations.”
Mister Pilgrimages 64
“I also remember the catechists’ gatherings at the Expo Fair, the World Youth Days in Paris, Rome, Toronto…” lists Father Dufau as if the ecclesiastical wanderings were over. In reality, it is quite the opposite, since the Bishop of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron has appointed him diocesan director of pilgrimages and head of the Pastoral Care of Tourism Realities. Two titles that should strengthen his pronounced taste for travel and give him the leisure to take more time off.
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The priest did not hesitate to ring the bells when the need arose.
After forty-eight years in Pau, the last at the Saint-Martin presbytery, Jean-Jacques Dufau will reside at the rectorate of Bayonne cathedral. The Palois will therefore no longer see his eternal carriage parked under the porch which adjoins the Chapel of Perseverance. It is not said that the jalopy follows its owner in his introspective ascent from Gave to Adour.
After meeting the parishioners for his last masses (1), the facetious priest did not lose sight of the essential: “If you want to help me change my car, a Dacia Sandero eleven years old and more than 110,000 km, I thank you for giving your offering during the quests of one of these six masses. Check payable to Parish Christ-Sauveur. » This priest is bloated, it’s not the first time that people have said it.
(1) His last two masses will be celebrated this Saturday, June 29 at 6:30 p.m. in Saint-Joseph and Sunday, June 30 at 10:30 a.m. in Saint-Martin.
Parisian Market
Father Jean-Jacques Dufau will be replaced in downtown Pau by Father Jacques de Mesmay, current priest of the Saint-Jean-Bosco parish in Lons. “He is a great priest who has made his parish work well,” Father Dufau told his faithful on Sunday. “You are lucky.” Father Jacques de Mesmay will be replaced in Lons by Father Jérôme Mayrand, current priest of the Notre-Dame de l’Ousse-Pontacq parish. Finally, Father Alexandre Méré, cooperating priest of the Saint-Michel-Garicoïts-Cambo parish, will be the parish administrator of the Notre-Dame de l’Ousse-Pontacq parish.
