This Thursday, January 9, Pope Francis chose Father Franck Javary to head the bishopric of Châlons, in eastern France. The diocese had been waiting for a new bishop since November 2023, when Mgr Touvet joined the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.
Jean-Benoît Harel – Vatican City
Second appointment of a French bishop at the start of 2025. This Thursday, January 9, Pope Francis chose Mgr Franck Javary as the new bishop of the diocese of Châlons. Aged 57, he was until then parish priest of Bagneux, south of Paris, in the diocese of Nanterre. Ordained in 1999 after studies at the Polytechnic school and that of Ponts-et-Chaussées, the new bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne has assumed various parish responsibilities in more than 25 years of priesthood. From 2018, Father Franck Javary became a member of the Episcopal Council of the Bishop of Nanterre. In addition, since 2010, he has been a teacher at the Issy-les-Moulineaux seminary in the Paris region.
Mgr Franck Javary succeeds in the diocese of Châlons Mgr François Touvet, whose appointment as bishop of Fréjus-Toulon was made official two days earlier, Tuesday January 7. The diocese of Châlons was established in the 4th century. Today it has 34 parishes, the vast majority of which are rural. The ordination and installation mass will take place on Saturday March 1, 2025 at 3 p.m. in the cathedral of Châlons-en-Champagne.
-France
