Olivier de Germay

Olivier de Germay (born 18 September 1960) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Lyon since December 2020. He has been Bishop of Ajaccio since 2012. Before taking up his clerical career, he served as a paratrooper in the French army.

Olivier de Germay, 2017

Early life and career

Olivier de Germay was born on 18 September 1960 in Tours, France. He was the third of five children born to Christian de Germay, a general in the French army, and Claude Bullier.[1] He studied at the Military Lyceum in La Flèche and the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr in Coëtquidan, earning an engineering diploma and the rank of captain.[2] Beginning in 1986 he served five years as an army paratrooper based in Tarbes,[3] taking part in missions in Chad, Central Africa and Iraq.[4] He left the army with the rank of lieutenant. He later described a moment insight he experienced while on duty in Africa:[1]

I lived a few days in the desert. I met people there who lived on three times nothing and who were happier than me. People who exuded an inner peace, while I was grappling with diffuse feelings of unease. I suddenly realized that by leading a life centered on myself, I was moving away from the essential. At that time, I didn't think of becoming a priest, I only had the irrepressible desire to change my life...

He then entered the seminary in 1991 and studied at the seminary of Paray-le-Monial, the Pius XI university seminary, and the Institut Catholique of Toulouse. Living at the French Seminary in Rome, he obtained a licentiate in moral theology at the John Paul II Institute at the Pontifical Lateran University. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Toulouse on 17 May 1998.[2]

He worked as vicar of Castanet-Tolosan and diocesan chaplain of the Guides of France from 1999 to 2001; pastor of the parish ensemble of Catenet from 2001 to 2003; dean of the Banlieues-Sud area of Toulouse from 2003 to 2006; pastor of the parish ensemble of Beauzelle from 2006 to 2012; episcopal vicar for the suburb of Toulouse from 2004 to 2012; professor of sacramental and family theology at the Institut Catholique of Toulouse from 2008 to 2012; and assistant of the Diocesan Service of Family Pastoral Care from 2010 to 2012.[5]

Bishop of Ajaccio
Olivier de Germay, 2013
Coat of arms as Bishop of Ajaccio

On 22 February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Ajaccio.[2] He had never been to Corsica.[1] He received his episcopal consecration on the following 14 April.[6] He was only the second bishop to have been consecrated in Corsica in more than 200 years.[3] As bishop he chose to draw a priest's salary.[1] After an attack on an Islamic reading room in his diocese, where anti-Muslim sentiment is strong, he said:[4]

We cannot claim Christian identity if we do not seek peace, fraternity, openness to others. We cannot be satisfied with preserving the outward signs of Christendom. If we do this without worrying about the heart of the faith, we risk finding ourselves in front of an empty shell which will one day crumble. Because, alongside the defense of these external signs, Corsica is experiencing a real crisis of transmission of the faith.

The French Episcopal Conference elected him an alternate delegate to the 2015 Synod on the Family. Of the Synod's consideration of access to the sacraments for those divorced and remarried, he underlined its insistence on accompaniment and individual histories and added: "It was already being done but perhaps not enough: one can be divorced-remarried and have responsibilities in the Church."[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he supported the government's restrictions on gatherings, but protested when its relaxation of its confinement policy ignored the recommendations of the French bishops in anticipation of the public celebrations of Pentecost. He warned the government not to "muzzle" the Church.[4]

Archbishop of Lyon

Pope Francis named him Archbishop of Lyon on 22 October 2020.[5] He was installed there on 20 December 2020.[8] He had not been mentioned as a candidate for Lyon and his appointment was unexpected.[4][9] Given the drawn out crisis of sexual abuse and his predecessor's trial and acquittal, de Germay said he was "arriving on tiptoe" in Lyon.[9]

Within the Conference of Bishops of France he is a member of the Council for Movements and Associations of Faithful.[5] He is considered conservative and outspoken on issues of marriage and sexuality.[4][9]

References
  1. "La profession de foi d'Olivier de Germay". Corse Matin (Interview) (in French). Interviewed by Jean-Marc Raffaelli. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. "Rinune e Nomine, 22.02.2012" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. Chabanon, A.-C. (16 March 2012). "Olivier de Germay : "A la grâce de Dieu"". Corse Matin (in French). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. Kubacki, Marie-Lucile (22 October 2020). "Olivier de Germay, nouvel archevêque de Lyon : les raisons d'un choix". La Vie (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  5. "Rinunce e nomine (continuazione), 22.10.2020" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. "Retour sur l'ordination de Monseigneur de Germay" (in French). 17 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  7. "Pour Mgr de Germay, le rapport final du synode invite à " s'émerveiller devant le mariage "". La Croix (in French). 29 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. "Mgr Olivier de Germay officiellement installé archevêque de Lyon". Le Progrès (in French). 20 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. Chambraud, Cécile (22 October 2020). "L'évêque d'Ajaccio, Olivier de Germay, succède à Philippe Barbarin comme archevêque de Lyon". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
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