The Vatican described, Saturday April 13, as “serious violation” of freedom of religion the condemnation by a French court of the community of Dominicans of the Holy Spirit and of Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet for the dismissal ” without motive “ of Sister Marie Ferréol.
The judgment of the civil court of Lorient (Morbihan), of which the Holy See says it was only aware “through the press”, “could have given rise to a serious violation of the fundamental rights to freedom of religion and freedom of association of the Catholic faithful”we can read in a press release released by the Vatican press room.
On April 3, the Lorient court sentenced this religious community to pay its former resident 182,400 euros for his material damage and 10,000 euros for his moral damage, in solidarity with the Canadian cardinal and the “apostolic visitors” from the Vatican Jean-Charles Nault and Maylis Desjobert, who went to investigate on site.
The Holy See explains the severity of its accusations by the fact that the court ruled “about internal discipline and membership in a religious order”also arguing that “Cardinal Marc Ouellet never received a summons from the Lorient court”. He further confirms, in his press release, that a note verbale concerning this matter was sent by the Secretariat of State, the central organ of the Vatican government, to the French Embassy to the Holy See.
An exclaustration without reason
The Vatican, however, recognizes that the cardinal “actually made an apostolic visit to the community of Dominicans of the Holy Spirit by virtue of a pontifical mandate” and that’“at the end of this visit, canonical measures were taken against Mr.me Sabine de la Valette [ex-sœur Marie Ferréol]including his dismissal ».
Sister Marie Ferréol, 57, was expelled in October 2020 from her community located in Berné, near Lorient. An exclaustration without reason, imposed in the middle of the night, after thirty-four years of life within his community. She has since lived on RSA (active solidarity income) alone.
During the trial, the president of the first civil chamber, Armelle Picard, was surprised not to be able to have access to the Vatican indictment file. Bertrand Ollivier, the lawyer of the two “apostolic visitors”replied that there was no “no right of access to the file in canonical matters”.
The nun had lived without incident since 1987 in this community close to traditionalist Catholic movements. According to her lawyer, from 2011, things had changed, when Sister Marie Ferréol denounced “serious abuses and facts”.
According to the court, no proof was provided by the association showing that the cancellation had been carried out in compliance with its statutes. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who was prefect of the dicastery, an administrative body assisting the Pope, for bishops in the Vatican at the time of the events, resigned from these high functions in January, officially “due to age limit”while he was accused of sexual assault in Quebec.