Canon Gilles Roduit was reinstated on Wednesday in his role as parish priest of the Saint-Maurice (VS) sector, after five days of hunger strike. However, he was not rehabilitated in his position as dean of the deanship of Monthey.
ATS
Mr. Roduit told the Keystone-ATS news agency that he was satisfied with this decision, revealed Wednesday by the online Catholic portal cath.ch, which rehabilitates him in his main function after “5 months and 15 days”. It “gives me the right to be a priest at home, for my parishioners,” he continued.
“Reintegration is being done little by little to respect the sensitivities that may be offended,” he added regarding the decision not to reinstate him in his role as dean of the deanship of Monthey for the moment.
According to cath.ch, the decision taken by the diocese of Sion and the abbey of Saint-Maurice was communicated in an announcement sent on Wednesday to pastoral agents of the diocese of Sion and the abbey territory of Saint-Maurice. No press release has been issued. Contacted on Thursday, the diocese of Sion and the abbey of Saint-Maurice did not immediately comment.
“Unbearable” waiting situation
These two institutions, for which Gilles Roduit served as dean priest of the Saint-Maurice sector, had asked the canon to step back in the wake of the broadcast in November 2023 of the RTS program Mise au Point which revealed cases of sexual abuse within the abbey, the time to establish the facts. What the man of the church had accepted.
In the program, a former parishioner, aged 12 at the time of the events, accused the canon of touching, which Mr. Roduit always denied. The canon also recalled this week that the case had resulted in a judgment of dismissal in 2005, a decision not to reopen proceedings in 2021 and a decision to confirm non-reopening in 2022. The case had also was submitted to the Holy See which, after investigation, reached the same conclusions.
For the priest removed from his charge, the situation had become “unbearable”, which is why he began a hunger strike last Friday. This action contributed to pressure, according to him. The canon also sent a message to the apostolic nuncio, delegate of the pope, to explain his situation. “He told me that he understood that the situation of discomfort and non-communication in which I found myself was unbearable” and he called my bishop, explained Mr. Roduit.
The diocese of Sion wanted an investigation
On Tuesday, the Abbey of St-Maurice indicated to Keystone-ATS that it supported Gilles Roduit and wanted him to be reinstated in his position. Already in February, the abbey had unilaterally announced that it was lifting the provisional measures against it, relying on the decisions of civil justice and those of the Vatican.
Also contacted on Tuesday, the diocese of Sion reminded that the withdrawal measure had not yet been lifted. He said he considered that the rehabilitation of Mr. Roduit could not only be based on court decisions already known for a long time at the time of the senior priest’s withdrawal in November 2023 and would have liked the abbey to quickly launch a external investigation to clarify the situation.
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