“Peace being the supreme good […], I presented my resignation to the Holy Father, for whom I pray every day. The Archbishop of Strasbourg Luc Ravel, who had been targeted by an inspection ordered by the Vatican after criticism of his governance, announced his resignation in a press release on Thursday.
The clergyman does not reveal the reasons for his resignation but nevertheless suggests that his ousting would be linked to his handling of files related to sexual abuse in the Church. “I have always acted as closely as possible to the law and to my conscience, having consulted a lot at each decision, to take difficult measures, but which I would have been criticized later for not having taken, in view of the elements in question. my possession,” he says. “The penal implications of a certain number of files are the responsibility of the judicial institution”, he continues, “For the rest, the pontifical secret, which we have to respect, is the responsibility of the Apostolic Nuncio”.
Under the concordat regime in Alsace-Moselle, the Archbishop of Strasbourg is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, after decision of the Holy See.
Critics of his management of the diocese, described as solitary and authoritarian by certain collaborators, priests and faithful, went all the way to Rome, had pushed the pope to order a general inspection in June 2022. Since then, its results had not been communicated. , fueling local discontent.
About fifteen Catholics had demonstrated in front of the cathedral to demand the departure of this former bishop to the armies, appointed to Strasbourg in 2017. A petition demanding his resignation had also gathered more than a thousand signatures on Thursday.