Monthly Archives: February 2019

Another glimpse into the heart of the Founder and Superior General. Eugene loves the Oblates and considers them friends – in the same way that he wrote elsewhere that Lazarus was the friend of Jesus …through all this, although I … Continue reading →

Eugene shows the concerns of his fatherly heart: severe when correction was needed, but loving nevertheless. The two young Oblates he writes about had been ordained priests for a couple of months. Give G[ignoux] a good shaking up, show him … Continue reading →

We have been following the events around the difficulties between Eugene and the French government, and I have focused only on these for several weeks. While all this was going on, he was always Superior General of the Missionary Oblates. … Continue reading →

The Pope and the authorities at the Vatican were steering a delicate political situation with the French government because they saw the larger picture of maintaining relations between Church and state. In the process they “sacrificed” Eugene, who wrote to … Continue reading →

Yvon Beaudoin narrates: “It is the crucial point in this difficult episode of Bishop de Mazenod’s life. The faithful “Roman” appears abandoned by the Curia, at a time when the police are free to expel him from France whenever they … Continue reading →

Yvon Beaudoin continues the narrative. “In consequence Bishop de Mazenod renounces his action and keeps as much as possible out of the public eye. Even so he does preside at some religious ceremonies in Marseilles and conducts some pastoral visitations … Continue reading →

As we reflect on this period of conflict that Eugene was living, let us remember the personal suffering he was undergoing. Persecuted by the government, removed as Vicar General to his Uncle Bishop Fortuné in Marseilles, and not experiencing any … Continue reading →

Eugene remained in Rome for four months. Yvon Beaudoin continues the narrative of the conflict between the French authorities and Bishop de Mazenod: “A short time after his return to Marseilles, in December 1833, the Bishop of Icosia decides to … Continue reading →

We have been following the progress of the conflict between the government and Eugene. We saw how he had been summoned to Rome in the middle of 1833 and perhaps you are finding some of the events confusing. Thus, Yvon … Continue reading →

Frustrated in Rome with the slow progress in resolving the situation with the French government, Eugene chides Father Tempier for having waited six weeks before responding to an unjust condemnatory letter sent to the diocese of Marseilles by the antagonistic … Continue reading →