Father Barthélémy Port is parish priest of Sainte-Cécile parish in Boulogne-Billancourt.
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July 26, 2016 / August 9, 2021, the assassination of two priests: Father Jacques Hamel and Father Olivier Maire. How can we not bring together these two dramatic events which once again upset and shock not only the Christian community but the whole of France? Two priests assassinated during the exercise of their ministry, one during the celebration of Mass, the other taking seriously the word of the Gospel inviting to see in the hungry, sick, foreigners, in prison, the very features of Christ.
Many questions arise with in their wake controversies that are as inevitable as, very often, sterile and reductive.
Everyone will agree on the reception of migrants, the naivety of Catholics, the inconsistency of justice which leaves a psychiatric patient free, thus reducing a complex subject through the prism of simplifying opinions, most of the time being , a few snippets of realities gleaned from the internet.
Inexplicable inconsistency of a man helped, accompanied, even protected, by the Christian community, who will become the arsonist of the cathedral of Nantes.
And who could have imagined that a second time the hand of Emmanuel Abayisenga would fall to bruise not a stone building as venerable as it is, but the Church itself in the figure of a priest?
Bartholomew Port
If it is legitimate to be shocked and indignant, if it is necessary to question oneself, history is never understandable on the spot.
Wisdom therefore recommends that we give ourselves time to think and for Christians as well, time to pray.
In a survey provided, published on July 16, 2021, the newspaper
La Croix
attempted to retrace the complex story of Emmanuel Abayisenga, updating the traumas of the war in Rwanda, the loss of an executed father, psychiatric frailties ... Already, had appeared the inexplicable inconsistency of a man helped, accompanied, even protected, by the Christian community, which will become the arsonist of the cathedral of Nantes. Reasons, for no reason that neither explain nor excuse anything. Scattered elements which can in no case absolve an individual of his responsibility. Excesses of psychologization very often risk building a society of irresponsible people.
Who could have imagined that history would repeat itself again, that a second time the hand of Emmanuel Abayisenga would fall to bruise not a stone building as venerable as it is, but the Church itself in the figure? of a priest?
It is likely that we will never manage to understand what went on in the mind of this man.
It is too easy to pass a retrospective judgment qualifying as imprudence the gesture of welcome and charity of the Montfortians.
The Gospel is too intense, too demanding and too pure: we have to cut it so often.
Bartholomew Port
A few years ago, I attended the trial of an assassin who savagely put to death a retired, holy and pious practicing Catholic woman. At the end of the judgment, the family left without an answer, to the only question that could have alleviated their immense pain: why had the murderer acted like this? It's a safe bet that we too had to bear this incomprehension and this frustration.
Of course, some may blame the lack of realism and pragmatism of the Montfortians, who gave a chance through their hospitality to a man who had already seized it. Many of us would not have done this. It is too easy to pass a retrospective judgment qualifying as imprudence the gesture of welcome and charity of the Montfortians. It is obvious that they did not wish in any way to contribute to such a tragedy to happen. They believed in repentance. They believed in a possible conversion. Can we blame them for wanting to forgive?
The Christian will always be torn between earth and heaven, between inevitable accommodations and a Gospel as powerful as it is inaccessible.
Who can boast of loving his enemies, of praying for those who persecute him?
Who has ever plucked out his eye or his hand because they lead him to sin?
The Gospel is too intense, too demanding and too pure: we have to cut it so often.
I want to see in Father Olivier Maire, the madness of holiness which had already led the monks of Thibèrine to choose to stay in their monastery, despite the risk of possible death.
Bartholomew Port
I know my weaknesses, my imperfections, my compromises which tarnish my desire to follow Christ.
So I will never be able to raise my voice to reproach Father Olivier for having wanted to live the Gospel to the letter.
On the contrary, I want to see in him the folly of holiness which had already led the monks of Thibirine to choose to stay in their monastery, despite the risk of a possible death.
If the time for questions will come, for the time being, let the Montfortians community, the family and loved ones of Father Olivier have time for tears and mourning.
Let us not allow polemics to disfigure and damage what Christianity has most beautiful: Charity.
