TOULON, France (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Dominique Rey of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon resigned Tuesday at the request of Pope Francis, marking the final transfer of power in an embattled French diocese beset with censures from Rome in recent years.
In a surprising statement issued mid-morning January 7, Rey announced he was stepping down as ordinary of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, meaning that his coadjutor Bishop François Touvet will now assume leadership.
A few hours later, the Holy See’s daily bulletin announced Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of the 72-year-old bishop.
Rey’s diocese has been the epicenter of a struggle with the Vatican for some years. Noted as one of France’s most orthodox prelates and very open to the traditional Mass, Rey attracted a growing number of fledgling communities and priests to his diocese – which gradually earned the ire of certain officials in Rome.
Rey not only welcomed traditional-Mass priests but also ordained some himself, along with gaining particular support amongst French Catholics for his involvement in the Latin Mass Chartres pilgrimage. His openness was not just to Latin Mass communities, but also to those more charismatic: however, it is for his friendliness towards traditional clergy which has thrust Rey into the spotlight in recent years.
Despite his flourishing seminary and diocese – which has become home to a number of fledgling communities devoted to the Church’s traditional use of liturgy and sacraments – Rey was banned from performing ordinations in a decree issued by the Vatican in June 2022. The ban came less than a month before Rey was due to ordain four new priests and six deacons.
After the Vatican ban on his ordinations, and then the installation of Touvet as coadjutor in November 2023, Rey’s position has been severely limited. Ordinations in the diocese later resumed but only after the arrival of Touvet, who was the de facto head of the diocese in all but name.
In his resignation letter today, Rey stated that Pope Francis encouraged him to remain as diocesan bishop when, in a December 2023 meeting, Rey questioned the Pope about his future in Toulon.
But Rey said today that the Apostolic Nuncio “informed that the Holy Father was asking me to lay down my office as diocesan bishop of Frejus-Toulon, without me having had knowledge of new elements compared to those which had motivated the appointment of the coadjutor bishop.”
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Rey tells Christians to make reparation for blasphemous Olympics opening ceremony
An undercurrent of Rey’s longstanding consternation at the Vatican’s handling of issues in his diocese was present in his resignation statement. However, he was at pains to outline his “obedience to the successor of Peter” and to resign as requested:
Faced with misunderstandings, pressures, and polemics always harmful for the unity of the Church, the ultimate criterion of discernment remains for me that of obedience to the Successor of Peter.
Rey highlighted his attempts to implement the various priorities of recent popes, though notably did not specify any one particular aspect of Francis’ pontificate:
Just as I have always endeavored to respond to the calls to the new evangelization of St. John Paul II, then to the encouragement of Benedict XVI to welcome and form priestly vocations, and finally to the orientations of Francis, I have accepted, in this case, to hand over the pastoral charge that had been entrusted to me in the year 2000 by John Paul II.
He will celebrate a farewell Mass for the diocese on February 1.
Speaking to Famille Chrétienne, Rey added that “my mission does not belong to me; it comes from the Pope, as does every bishop.”
Having sent his resignation letter to the Vatican on December 31, Rey stated he informed his clergy of the news today.
Rey’s requested resignation is being interpreted by seasoned journalists and French Catholics as a power move by the Vatican against a bishop who had become “too” friendly to traditional communities at a time when the Holy See is attempting to restrict the ancient liturgy.
Before the suppression of ordinations in June 2022, the diocese had undergone a “fraternal visit” in 2020 conducted by now-Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseille and a favorite of Pope Francis. The visitation came at the order of the Vatican and the Dicastery for Bishops. The diocese was also subjected to an apostolic visitation led by Archbishop Antoine Hérouard of Dijon earlier in 2023.
But even since Touvet’s arrival Rome has still prevented the ordination of seminarians attached to the traditional liturgy.
READ: Rome blocks ordinations of seminarians in French community that offers Latin Mass, superior says
Their ordinations eventually took place some months later than planned, after Touvet ensured the community accepted “the validity of the current missal,” even though they themselves celebrate the Latin Mass.
Commenting on Rey’s resignation, respected French outlet La Salon Beige opined it was chiefly due to his affable welcome for traditional clergy:
With this new sanction, Bp. Rey is paying for his excessive closeness to the ‘Trad world.’ No, he wasn’t a ‘Trad,’ but he did welcome ‘Trads’ into his diocese. Note the precision of the accusation! Anyone can be close to a ‘Trad’ or to someone who is close to a ‘Trad,’ and so on. Like the plague, this disease is likely to be contagious, and anyone who isn’t rolling on the floor and foaming at the mouth at the sight of traditional liturgy is likely to find themselves accused.
Though not as outspoken as Bishop Joseph Strickland, Rey’s forced resignation bears notable similarities to that of the ousted Texas bishop, which took place in November 2023.