Institute of The Good Shepherd - Background

Background

Father Paul Aulagnier, who had been provincial superior of the Society of Saint Pius X in France from 1976 to 1994 was expelled in 2003 for having spoken in favour of the 2002 agreement between the Holy See and the priests of Campos, Brazil who form the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney. These priests were authorised to use the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite on the condition of recognising the Second Vatican Council "in the light of Tradition" and the validity of the revised Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI.

In August 2004 Father Philippe Laguérie was expelled for having complained that the Society of Saint Pius X had serious problems which discouraged priestly vocations in its seminaries. As a disciplinary measure he had been transferred to Mexico, but refused the assignment.

Father Laguérie had for many years been in charge of the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris, occupied by traditionalist Catholics since 1977. In 1993, he made an attempt to take over another Paris church, the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. He carried out the operation successfully at Bordeaux, obtaining the approval of the city council, but not of the archbishop's office, to take over the church of Saint-Eloi in January 2002.

Father Christophe Héry was expelled for supporting Laguérie, as was Father Guillaume de Tanoüarn. The latter was the founder of the religious association of Saint-Marcel and the Saint-Paul Centre in Paris.

On 15 June 2006, a French court in Nanterre (chambre du Tribunal de grande instance de Nanterre) ordered the reinstatement of Fathers Laguérie and Héry.