Cardinal Philippe Barbarin begins busy, early “retirement”

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was accused and then absolved from covering up clergy sex abuse, is on the verge of becoming a "simple" chaplain. 

The 69-year-old cardinal this past Sunday celebrated a moving farewell Mass in Lyon, the ancient archdiocese he led for 18 years until Pope Francis allowed him to step down in March. 

During the liturgy in St. John the Baptist Cathedral, the French prelate did not speak about the next stage of his life and ministry.

However, two days earlier, in an exclusive interview with the local station of the French-Belgian Christian radio, RCF, the cardinal spoke of his imminent departure for Brittany on the other side of France. 

He said he was available for whatever mission Pope Francis might entrust to him.

Incidentally, RCF was one of the primary networks that reported on the “Preyant Affair”, the clergy abuse case that Barbarin was accused of covering up.  

The cardinal appeared to be at peace and was quite loquacious in this first interview after three months of retreat and silence. He announced that he would move from Lyon in July and go to Brittany in northwest France where he’ll take up residence at the motherhouse of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Saint Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879) founded the Little Sisters principally to care for the elderly. 

“The pastoral dimension”

Cardinal Barbarin will live in a private home at the back of their property. The local ordinary -- Archbishop Pierre d’Onellas of Rennes -- has asked him to teach classes at the archdiocesan seminary.

"I hope that I will be able to do it," Barbarin laughed, saying that he was "always happy to do something new".

Although this will mark a radical change from his life of the past two decades, he did not seem to be particularly apprehensive or concerned.

"My true vocation is to be a priest,” said the cardinal, who was ordained to the presbyterate in 1977.

“Even though I will not have the responsibility of pastor in a parish, the most beautiful dimension of being a priest is the pastoral dimension, which is the most joyful and the deepest thing in the life of a priest or a bishop," he said.

Barbarin will be reunited with retired Archbishop Émile Marcus who headed the Archdiocese of Toulouse from 1996 to 2006. 

The 90-year-old prelate has been chaplain at Little Sisters’ motherhouse since his retirement. He and Barbarin go back many years when Marcus was rector of the seminary the future cardinal attended.

Barbarin, who has been a bishop since 1998, is expected to assist Archbishop d'Ornellas by presiding over confirmations.

The Near East 

"I welcome him like a brother,” said the 67-year-old d’Ornellas, a priest and former auxiliary bishop of Paris.  

“He is a man of God, who is unanimously recognized as a teacher of the Word of God," the archbishop told the local media.

Cardinal Barbarin has already received numerous invitations to preach retreats. 

Bishop Michel-Marie Calvet of Noumea in New Caledonia has already asked him to celebrate Christmas in the South Pacific diocese and, afterwards, to give a retreat to the local clergy. 

However, the pope gets first dibs on Barbarin’s time and has asked him to "remain available", especially for missions in the Near East.

Francis is well aware of his commitment to the Christians of the region. The cardinal, who was born in Morocco, spent the past three months in Israel and Palestine.

He helped establish Lyon and Mosul (Iraq) as sister cities and is a close friend of Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church. 

Barbarin is planning to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in November.

He was unusually effusive and upbeat during the RCF interview, insisting that he was moving away from his institution and the public role to help lead people towards the interior life.

"The only thing that interests me is that people read the Word of God: turn off the television and turn on the Gospel,” he said. 

“If it is a word of God, it should be our compass. The Word of God must continue to run its course!"