“I didn’t want to be an administration technician”

At the request of the Pope, the bishop of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon presented his letter of resignation. It should be accepted very soon by Francis. In November 2023, the Roman pontiff had already appointed a successor in the person of Mgr François Touvet, coadjutor bishop who will become, by right, the new bishop of this diocese. The departure of Bishop Rey, three years before his 75th birthday, the age limit for being a diocesan bishop, is symptomatic of the crises experienced by the Church of France under this pontificate. Francis does not admit that bishops can be too close to the traditionalist environment.

The Pope has also regained control of the experiences of the “new communities”, often charismatic – very well received in Toulon -, whom he criticizes for an overly privatized operation, having often escaped ecclesial regulations. In a quarter of a century, Bishop Rey will have made his diocese, as open to traditionalists as to charismatics, a laboratory of evangelization…