The bishop of Fréjus-Toulon resigns at the request of the pope, after a Vatican audit into his controversial management of the diocese

The Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, M^gr Dominique Rey, considered one of the most conservative bishops in France, announced his resignation on Tuesday January 7 at the request of Pope Francis, two years after an audit requested by the Vatican into his controversial management of the diocese.

“The Holy Father has accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon (France) presented by HE M^gr Dominique Rey. He is succeeded by the coadjutor SE M^gr François Touvet »says a press release from the Holy See.

“The nuncio informed me that the Holy Father was asking me to lay down my office as diocesan bishop of Fréjus-Toulon”said M^gr Dominique Rey, 72 years old, in a press release, specifying that he had not taken “knowledge of new elements”a year after the Vatican appointed a sort of deputy bishop at his side, who was responsible for changing his controversial methods in the diocese.

“Faced with misunderstandings, pressures and controversies that are always harmful to the unity of the Church, the ultimate criterion of discernment remains for me that of obedience to the Successor of Peter [le pape] »adds the bishop after a quarter of a century at the head of this diocese.

Criticized within the Church

It all started in 2022 with an extremely rare decision from the Vatican: the suspension of the ordination of priests in the diocese then the triggering of an audit. At the end of the latter, the Vatican announced at the end of 2023 the appointment of M^gr Touvet, until now bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne), to manage the administration, the clergy, the training of seminarians and priests, leaving little power to M^gr Rey.

What he was accused of, however, had nothing to do with the numerous sexual violence scandals which have shaken the Church in recent decades. Coming from the Emmanuel community (a pillar of the “charismatic renewal”), this promoter of a re-muscled Catholicism was criticized within the Church for his style which may have been inspired by American evangelical pastors.

Its policy of welcoming new communities was also debated, concerning traditionalists and followers of the Latin mass for example, and other charismatics, particularly from Latin America.

If he refuses the label “too outdated” curator, M^gr Rey nonetheless provided strong support in 2012-2013 for La Manif pour tous, a movement which opposed homosexual marriage. The welcome offered in 2015 to Marion Maréchal during a Catholic summer school in the Var also caused excitement in Christian ranks.