(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Jacques Habert of the Diocese of Bayeux-Lisieux, France issued a statement last month that appeared to urge Catholics in his diocese not to attend prayer gatherings of the traditionalist Marian Movement of Priests (MMP), insinuating that they have hosted “mystical” prayer events without the diocese’s approval.
In the June 16 statement, the bishop emphasized that the faithful are forbidden from attending any “mystical” gatherings that haven’t been sanctioned by the diocese, indirectly mentioning the Marian Movement of Priests. The MMP responded by issuing a June 23 statement that stressed it had not hosted or endorsed any illicit prayer gatherings and reminded their members not to attend events that did not have the diocese’s authorization or spread any messages that had not been approved by the Church.
Several French bishops have previously cracked down on traditional Catholic orders or expressed their disapproval of traditional Catholicism.
“Any Christian who approaches an illicit sanctuary or fraternities without recognition from the Church can be put in danger, it is my duty to watch out for possible sectarian excesses,” Habert wrote in his statement.
The Marian Movement of Priests was founded by Father Stefano Gobbi in 1972, after the priest allegedly received visions from the Blessed Virgin Mary, which he documented in his “Blue Book” entitled To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons. The messages contained in the Blue Book have received imprimaturs — meaning they do not contradict divine revelation or Church teaching — from numerous bishops and cardinals worldwide.
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Part of these messages encouraged Gobbi to gather priests who would accept Our Lady’s invitation to consecrate themselves to her Immaculate Heart and help bring all the faithful into the refuge of her motherly heart. The apostolate regularly hosts cenacles, where members of the MMP gather to pray for the purification and sanctification of the Holy Spirit over the world.
“A powerful cohort would be formed and spread throughout every part of the world, created not with human means of propaganda, but with the supernatural power that emanates from silence, prayer, suffering, and constant faithfulness to one’s duties,” the MMP’s website states.
The bishop noted that, after a three-month discernment process with the Bishops’ Conference of France, they had determined that illicit celebrations and prayer gatherings were taking place under the guise of being a fraternity of prayer and had forbidden the faithful from attending these events.
“In my pastoral concern, I invite people to exercise great caution in order to remain in the communion of the Church,” he wrote.
In its response, the MMP first reminded the faithful of the apostolate’s commitment to unity with the Church and her hierarchy.
“I ask you to live it intensely second commitment of our Movement, that is to say, unity with the Pope and the Church united with him. This unity is manifested in prayer for the Pope and his ministry as well as in obedience to the Church,” the statement read.
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The MMP then noted that many members have attended the illicit gatherings mentioned by the bishop and reminded the faithful to attend only prayer events and share messages that have received the explicit approval of the Church.
“(I) hear that a number of MSM members go to places of apparition prohibited by the Church, or broadcast messages which the Church asks not to broadcast, having placed a negative judgment on them,” the MMP wrote. “And some, moreover, do so by making known their membership in the Marian Priestly Movement so that the authorities may be led to believe that the MSM endorses these attitudes. This is not the case.”
“So I ask you forcefully to stay true to what Mary expects of you, to be a support for the Church, as most of you have understood well, to pray with great love for the Holy Father and the whole Church and to multiply your Cenacles for the events we are experiencing, for the salvation of as many people as possible,” the statement concluded.
In recent years, several French bishops have criticized and in some cases suppressed traditional Catholics. In 2022, Bishop Dominique Rey, the ordinary of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, issued a decree suppressing the traditional Benedictine community of the Monastère Saint-Benoît after the group secretly ordained the community’s prior, Dom Alcuin Reid.
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Earlier this year, Archbishop Vincent Jordy, the president of the Commission for Catechesis and Catechumenate for the French Episcopal Conference, lamented the “traditionalist phenomenon” among French Catholics, particularly the young faithful who attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
