From Corrèze to Loir-et-Cher, Mgr Francis Bestion continues his mission in the rural world. For his greatest happiness. “I wouldn’t have seen myself in a very urban environment. Rurality is my natural environment”recognizes, with the accent of the South, the one who proudly presents himself as “son of peasants”. Born in Lozère, the least populated department in France, he was appointed on Tuesday October 1 by Pope Francis to Blois, whose seat had been vacant since the departure of Mgr Jean-Pierre Batut, appointed auxiliary bishop of Toulouse, in June 2023.
A bishop from the rural world
A nomination in line with its « ADN », which makes “the tearing away” with Corrèze, where he was appointed bishop in December 2013, more affluent. For more than ten years at the head of the diocese of Tulle, Mgr Bestion, 67 years old, was keen, not without difficulty, to preserve and rethink the presence of the Church in this rural world marked by a decline in population and a decline in the number of Catholics. To maintain a certain proximity, the bishop did not count his pastoral visits to the field, particularly to meet farmers, to encourage local communities.
But how can we continue to be present throughout the territory of the diocese, with fewer and fewer priests? This reflection was the leitmotif of the episcopate of the man who was ordained priest for the diocese of Mende in 1990. He was able to draw on his experience as vicar general of his diocese of origin from 2009 to 2013. , or previously as a priest in the parish of Langogne (1990-2002), in the north-east of Lozère.
Installation in Blois on December 1st
Creation of four missionary spaces, local fraternities, but also presbyteral fraternities to avoid a single isolated priest being in charge of a multitude of bell towers… There is no shortage of ideas, but so are the obstacles. “We have to go beyond the territorial grid, but it is not so simple to implementhe concedes, explaining that the habits of the faithful and priests are not easy to shake up. But necessity will prevail. »
Faced with the decline in the number of priests and the aging of the clergy, this former philosophy professor – first at the interdiocesan seminary of Avignon (1992-2003) then at that of Toulouse (2003-2009) – also had to make changes. choice, by calling priests from elsewhere (Fidei Donum) and by appealing to the Saint-Martin community.
He is also pleased to have ordained two priests during his episcopate, to have two seminarians and to have relaunched the call to the permanent diaconate. But his conviction is made: “We must not focus on the structures”but foster living communities.
Among his satisfactions, in Tulle, he was able to accompany a certain number of young people and adults towards baptism or confirmation, which gave him “worn a lot” in his episcopate. A reality that this bishop close to nature hopes to find in the Church of Loir-et-Cher. The installation mass of Mgr Bestion will take place on Sunday December 1st at the Saint-Louis cathedral in Blois.
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