In 2022, France will have 122 new priests. Many have already been ordained last weekend, and others will be ordained in the coming days.
Newsroom (28/06/2022 8:09 PM Gaudium Press) In France, June is traditionally reserved for priestly ordinations.
Most ordinations took place last weekend, 25 and 26 June, a few days before the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
122 priests in 2022
In all, 122 priests in the European country will be ordained in various dioceses in 2022, representing a slight drop compared to 2021, when 130 priests were ordained.
Of those ordained this year, 77 are diocesan, 20 are religious, 19 are from congregations or societies of apostolic life, and 6 will be ordained in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Community of Saint Martin and Archdiocese of Paris
Among the various ordinations, it is worth mentioning those of the St. Martin’s community, an association of secular priests and deacons who live in community.
Last Friday, June 24th, eight seminarians of the community were ordained deacons by Most Rev. Francis Bestion, Bishop of Tulle, in Evron Cathedral. Already on Saturday, fourteen deacons of the community were ordained priests by the hands of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.
“The best way to be an apostle of peace, according to the heart of Christ, will be to remain full of flavour, full of wisdom and love for those around us,” Monsignor Paul Préaux, general moderator of the community, explained to the newly ordained.
In Paris, the newly appointed Archbishop Laurent Ulrich celebrated the ordination of 9 new priests in the Church of Saint-Sulpice.
From pizza maker to priest
Each person receives the priestly call in an individual way and at a specific moment in life. Such is the case of Father Christophe Rébéccai, ordained a priest on June 6th on the French island of Martinique.
Christophe followed in the footsteps of his older brother, also a priest. Before that, however, Christophe was a pizza maker and even won the prize of champion of acrobatic pizza.
In a country marked by a lack of vocations and rocked by the Church’s sexual abuse report, new priests have a great challenge to face in France. (FM)
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
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