In Evreux, the former parish priest of Thiberville sued for breach of trust

(For those not yet aware of the Thiberville saga, please read  this and this)

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Father Francis Michel, at odds for several years with his bishop, appeared in Evreux court Thursday, October 8 for embezzling over € 100,000 of donations made by the faithful

October 10, 2015

Father Francis Michel, a priest of the diocese of Evreux who has been in conflict for several years with his bishop, appeared Thursday, October 8 in Evreux court accused of embezzling over €100,000 of donations made by the faithful.

Father Michel, who has long been the pastor of Thiberville (15 km west of Lisieux), was charged with "breach of trust" by the diocesan association who acted as a civil party. The prosecution requested a fine of €5000 and a hearing was scheduled for October 23.

The events occurred between 2006 and 2008. After a complaint from the diocese, investigators found 
€116,000 in eleven bank accounts held by the priest who in principle earned only €900 per month.

Father Francis Michel, who celebrates Mass in Latin, in both forms of the Roman Rite (according to the Missal of Paul VI or according to the Tridentine Missal) had failed to turn over to the diocese donations made by the faithful, nine of whom have testified in his favor in court.

Resistance pays off

A tiny church in a tiny village - but just a couple of miles southwest of his old parish church. Father Francis Michel, the hero of Thiberville, will become the rector of the smallest church in his diocese, in Le Planquay (5 km from Thiberville, Eure/27, Normandy). His resistance paid off - though it was far from a perfect solution, the direct intervention of the Congregation for the Clergy, through its designated mediator (Bp. Boulanger, of Bayeux/Lisieux), assured that the local ordinary, Bp. Nourrichard, would not be able to keep Father Michel more than a short distance away from his dear flock. 

It is easier said than done, we know it, but we still believe that priests who have nothing to hide should not fear reprisals for standing up for Tradition - there is only so much harm that a hostile bishop can do. (Source: Perepiscopus.)

The Drama of Thiberville

(NB: The link has just been been fixed! My apologies to those who read this post in the last several hours. - Pascal.)

(For the background story to this tragedy, please read Rorate's post of April 15, 2011: No more oasis in the desert of Evreux)

A video (with Spanish subtitles) from Pagina Catolica: Después del padre Michel

The contrast between the situation in the church before and after Fr. Michel's removal is striking indeed, as is the massive walk-out of the parishioners (beginning at 1:47) when his replacement tries to offer Mass without a chasuble. (The same scene is repeated at 5:24 when the faithful -- who are praying the rosary -- walk out when a priest comes in to offer Mass, again without a chasuble.) Most pathetic is the botched "TLM" that Fr. Michel's replacement tries to offer (shown beginning 5:49).

Noteworthy as well is the presence of acolytes in copes and tunicles at Fr. Michel's TLM and of various liturgical peculiarities that many of our readers will readily identify.

No more oasis in the desert of Evreux

Msgr. Nourrichard (to the right, and yes, he's wearing cope and miter) standing with an Anglican bishop and a Lutheran bishop at the ordination of Anglican priestesses in Salisbury Cathedral in July 2010. More on this here, here, here (with more photos) and here.

Paix Liturgique's English-language Letter # 15, dated April 14, 2011:

Thiberville: a French scandal!

First Bishop Nourrichard of Évreux gave the parish priest of Thiberville the boot after a two-year long cabal. Now he has just excommunicated him on the simple grounds that. . . he is still living in his rectory. A rectory in which Father Michel lives legitimately, actually, since the township of Thiberville, which has been supporting its pastor since the very beginning of the polemic, is the one that granted him its use.

The story of Thiberville is a simple one: a progressive bishop, whose diocese is fast becoming dechristianized, wished to dismantle the last remaining parish that was fully living out its Catholicism. The local parish priest for the past twenty years refused this decision; he had the support of the faithful as well as that of the town's elected officials. So the bishop tried to come down and impose his decision. He was literally driven out by the parishioners early in 2010, however.

Nevertheless the bishop persisted in his will to incorporate the parish of Thiberville into a new grouping. He ended up obtaining satisfaction from the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, to which Father Michel had appealed this decision.