A bishop attacks his priest to better defend Islam

Everybody remembers the legal proceedings brought against Archbishop Marcel Lefèbvre by LICRA in 1989, following his warning against the rise of Islam. The curé of Domqueur in France, Fr. Sulmont, well known for his shrewd mind and his excellent parish bulletin, has just suffered a similar fate. Following his remarks on the subject of Islam, the Ligue de défense des droits de l’homme launched an action against him, attempting to seize copies of his bulletin. They did not succeed… in spite of the help of Mgr. Noyer, bishop of Amiens, who wished to profit from the occasion by dismissing this priest whom he judged too “integrist”. The perseverance of Fr. Sulmont has been making life difficult for his bishop for several years now. Mgr. Noyer, in an official order on 28th September 1997, had withdrawn from Fr. Sulmont his charge of curé and joined the seven parishes served by this valiant priest to the neighbouring group of parishes, already comprising almost 30 churches! Not succeeding in his aims, the bishop thought that the “blunders” due to “age” would finally be the means of stirring up the parishioners against their priest, which gave rise to an intense episcopal activity: public statements and media releases, a visit to the presbytery, a long exchange of letters.

All this to no avail: Fr. Sulmont is still in his parishes, with the support of his faithful, far from edified by the bishop’s “human rights-ish” crusade.

A good employer looks after his good employees, especially the most hard working. A fortiori, a bishop, not merely employer but pastor of a diocese, should support his good priests. Nothing like that is found in the diocese of Amiens. Fr. Sulmont is curé of the smallest group of parishes, but it is this priest who confers the most baptisms (545 in 2002) and marries the most couples (40 in 2002). He has been spared nothing. Having lost his brother, a priest in the same diocese, one month ago, following a heart illness, he had to assist at the funeral as a spectator at a Mass concelebrated by sixty priests…