By Hannah Brockhaus
Rome Newsroom, Jan 7, 2025 / 11:30 am
Pope Francis accepted the early resignation of French Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon on Tuesday after years of Vatican scrutiny over the ordination of clerics using pre-Vatican II liturgical books and other concerns.
Bishop François Touvet, who was appointed coadjutor bishop of the same diocese in November 2023, now automatically succeeds Rey.
In a Jan. 7 press release, Rey, who has led the diocese since 2000, shared that he was asked by the nuncio to submit his resignation, despite previous encouragement not to resign in December 2023.
Rey mentioned that he is unsure of what changed in the past year but emphasized that obedience to the Pope is his guiding principle in making this decision.
The Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in southern France resumed ordinations after a pause when all ordinations were stopped by the Vatican in June 2022 following a visit by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille.
Six seminarians from the Missionaries of Divine Mercy community were ordained to the transitional diaconate at the Collegiate Church of Saint-Martin in Lorgues last month.
