The procedure is extremely rare: The Vatican is officially contesting a judgment handed down against a cardinal of the Catholic Church, Mgr Marc Ouellet, by a French court, following his decision to exclude a nun from his congregation. A “note verbale” from the Secretariat of State transmitted to the French Embassy to the Holy See, was made public by the Vatican this Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Referring to the Lorient court where this case was judged on April 3, the Holy See - which is not in the habit of publishing this type of document - warns, on the principle of the immunity of a head of dicastery, a minister of the Roman curia, as on respecting the Church-State separation: “
A possible decision of the Court of Lorient could raise not only important questions concerning immunity, and in the case where it concerns discipline internal and on membership in a religious Institute, it could have given rise to a serious violation of the fundamental rights to religious freedom and freedom of association of the Catholic faithful
.
Moreover, the note adds, that "
the Holy See learned only through the press of the supposed decision of the Court of Lorient, in France, on a civil dispute concerning the dismissal from a religious Institute of Madame Sabine of the Valette (ex-Sister Marie Ferréol)
” and that “
Cardinal Marc Ouellet never received any summons from the Court of Lorient
” where he was therefore not represented.
Last point of the note, the Vatican specifies that Cardinal Ouellet did not act without a pontifical mandate: “
Cardinal Marc Ouellet actually led an apostolic visit within the Community of the Dominicans of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with a pontifical mandate ; At the end of this visit, a series of canonical measures were adopted against Madame Sabine de la Valette, including her dismissal from this religious Institute
.
Decision to exclude a French nun from a congregation
On April 3, the Lorient court had in fact sentenced at first instance Cardinal Marc Ouellet, 79 years old, Canadian, prefect emeritus of the dicastery for Bishops, to pay Sister Marie Ferréol the sum of 182,400 euros, as material damage, 10,000 euros for moral damage, and 10,000 euros in legal costs, for “
abuse of rights
” and “
lack of impartiality
” in the decision to exclude Sister Marie Ferréol from the congregation of Dominicans of the Holy Spirit (DSE) of Pontcallec (Morbihan) on October 21, 2020.
On the merits, the French court considered that this act did not fall within the competence of the cardinal who was then responsible for appointing bishops for the entire Catholic Church, without direct responsibility for religious congregations. However, Cardinal Ouellet had been specially commissioned by the Pope to resolve this matter.
But this decision of exclusion had motivated Sister Marie Ferréol, born Sabine Baudin de la Valette, to file a complaint against the prelate but also against her own religious congregation, denouncing a dismissal “
without reason, without the possibility of defending herself, in harsh conditions and vexatious"
, after 34 years of consecrated life.
The association of the Dominicans of the Holy Spirit, administrative support of this religious congregation, was therefore also ordered on April 3 to pay 33,622 euros to the former nun for “
non-compliance with the dismissal procedure
” of the congregation and “
non-compliance with the duty to provide assistance
”.
The Dominicans of the Holy Spirit immediately decided to appeal, arguing that Cardinal Ouellet had indeed been mandated “
specially by the Holy Father
” and that the decision to dismiss was “
taken by the Sovereign Pontiff following the apostolic visit
» led by the apostolic visitors, the Benedictine Jean-Charles Nault and the Cistercian Maylis Desjobert - also ordered to pay part of the estimated damages.
Governance divergences
The origin of this affair is complex but it seems that differences regarding the governance of this religious congregation, then expressed by Sister Marie Ferréol, were sharpened by personality factors, which ended up creating opposition with those responsible for the congregation, triggering this canonical investigation which led to exclusion, the most radical option. This type of procedure usually aims to restore harmony.
The Vatican recognized on Saturday that the manner in which Sister Marie Ferréol had been excluded from her community was questionable, but that the outcome of the trial was neither admissible in form nor in substance, especially since the main accused, Cardinal Ouellet, according to the Holy See, was neither informed nor even summoned by French justice for his trial.
The Dominicans of the Holy Spirit of Pontcallec, is a traditionalist institute which was founded in this town in Morbihan in 1943. Today it has around a hundred sisters spread across five non-contract educational establishments in France.