Dramatic footage of a trendy bishop being booed by Mass-goers

By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: January 6th, 2010
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In Normandy, a modernist Catholic bishop’s attempts to remove an orthodox parish priest have provoked an extraordinary outburst of fury from parishioners.
Mgr Christian Nourrichard, Bishop of the Leftist diocese of Evreux, has booted out Fr Francis Michel from the church of Saint-Taurin, Thiberville, where he has had an outstandingly successful ministry for 23 years. The bishop favours instead one of those team ministries where, as in England and America, the role of the priest is largely replaced by that of self-obsessed lay “ministers”.
On the feast of the Epiphany, January 3, the bishop arrived to celebrate Mass in Thiberville dressed in one of those disgusting rainbow chasubles favoured by Magic Circle clerics everywhere. As he haughtily explained his plans, some of Fr Michel’s supporters completely lost their rag.
The fiasco was filmed, and now, thanks to YouTube, it is being watched around the world by traditionalist Catholics with a mixture of dismay and approval. For one of the black marks against the priest, you see, was to celebrate Mass from time to time in the Extraordinary Form. And in trendy Evreux, following the wishes of the Holy Father is tantamount to heresy.
Here is another, longer, film of the disrupted service:

And there is also a Facebook group set up by supporters of Fr Michel, who now says Mass in a neighbouring church without episcopal permission. Does that ring any bells? As in Leeds, the diocesan authorities are implacable – though I’m told that such decisions can and have been reversed in France. We can at least hope that Bishop Nourrichard’s behaviour is noted in the Vatican, and that he misses out on any big job he may have set his sights on.
UPDATE: I gather that Hinsley Hall has generously offered to lend Bishop Nourrichard any padlocks he might need. “T’bishop had a whole load made, special-like, when Summorum Pontificum came out,” explains a spokesman.