SANCTIFYING OFFICE
“The Priest’s Vocation”
Sanctity and sanctification are not words frequently used by Cardinal Bustillo. But in La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation”), he states: “The priest’s mission is to sanctify the people entrusted to him. This ad extra mission, so crucial to the quality of the faithful’s spiritual life, must not make us forget personal sanctification… Being a priest is a way of being united to Christ in a more radical, more authentic and less formal way.”1La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 148) After quoting Benedict XVI, he adds: “The emphasis on consecration and on immersing oneself in Jesus saves us from a formal or functional conception of the priesthood… From that moment on, the priest is for God and for others. He no longer belongs to himself.”2La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 150) However, the cardinal generally places more emphasis on the welcome to be given to each person than on grace communicated through the sacraments.
His book consists of the transcription of the meditations offered to priests during a retreat and several training sessions, and it is above all a call to set aside routine in order to make room for a “creativity” inspired by the Holy Spirit. But rather than giving concrete examples, it offers advice for living through a time when the Church seems to be in decline.
“In a time like ours, we might ask ourselves: where is the springtime of the Church?” are its opening words3La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 9). “We look back with nostalgia to a recent Christian past when our codes of conduct were well defined and assimilated… We are forced to build new relationships with a society where we encounter ignorance, sometimes hostility, and more often indifference. For all priests, this is an uncomfortable situation, a place that requires conversion and creativity,” the cardinal writes.4La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 12) However, he does not address the question of the reasons for this religious ignorance, other than to say: “Parents have broken the chain of transmission.”5La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 115)
Instead, he asserts that:
“Everyone has his own coping mechanisms. The Presbyterium is a diverse reality in which priests join together to form a single body: some priests are traditionally minded, others are more charismatic, others still are more socially aware, others again were passionately involved in May of 68… The Presbyterium is a place where generational and cultural differences are welcome… If we move away from the Catholic vision, in the universal sense, the result can be a tribal version, where small like-minded groups support each other not with the others but sometimes against others. The challenge for the Church is to create a happy communion embracing all differences.”6La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 15)
Referring to the need to shed the “armor” represented by “much of the unwieldiness in the Church and in our internal codes”, François Bustillo asserts: “From head to toe, the Church must change. Conversion is change. Change is evolution. Evolution is progression.”7La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 23-25)
This is stated more clearly on page 28 of La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation”):
“We sometimes hear: ‘The leftist thought and action of the recent past which focused on the social and the horizontal dimension and forgot that which is sacred, must be replaced by a just thought and action in which that which is sacred is cherished.’ With this line of reasoning, we can indeed sink into ideology. A system that is considered wrong is replaced by another that is considered right. Change is brought about with a note of violence. Underlying it may be a certain thirst for revenge: “You did it this way, now it’s our turn to do things our way!”… But the effects of these passion-fueled movements will be felt in the future. In forty years’ time, we will have another wave reacting to a style that is over-characterized. A new way of being and acting should instead appease the priests’ mission.”
In his book, Bustillo looks to the Covid pandemic for pedagogical insights, seeing lockdowns (without sacraments) as a “lesson.” “Some bishops encouraged media creativity to maintain communion, while others called on priests not to reduce their vocation to being ‘purveyors of the sacred,’ as if they were ‘salesmen of the sacred,’ as if they were afraid of silence. A Spanish bishop told his priests to stop rushing around on the Internet in an escalation of spiritual activities!… After Easter and Pentecost, we were called to emerge out of the lockdown both converted and transfigured.”8La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 45) He strongly urges priests to nurture their interior life, prayer and friendship, to cultivate friendships with lay people who can “help them see reality more clearly”, and to be faithful to spiritual guidance and the sacrament of reconciliation.9La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 62)
He sees the priest’s mission as being above all about “repairing the human being who has strayed from his vocation to happiness.” Bustillo writes: “Through our spiritual heritage we can build a society that is less superficial and more profound, less emotional and more reasonable, less intransigent and more flexible, less violent and more peaceful.”10La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 73)
He presents the priest, and even more so the bishop, as a “shepherd,” a guide who walks ahead of the flock in order to lead it: “We become pastors when we allow ourselves to be permeated by the odor of the sheep, as we so often say quoting Pope Francis, but also when, through the power of our ministry, the people entrusted to our care are permeated by the odor of our priestly anointing… The pastor gathers, guides and protects.”11La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 80) But he must also “free those who are in chains, dependent and oppressed… The Church is still a little timid in the way she interacts with the most deprived, with those who are deeply affected, with those who are waiting to be liberated”… in order to save “humanity from all the social ills of our time: individualism, hermeticism, violence, fear…”12La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 100)
While Cardinal Bustillo points out that “the priest, through his ministry, begets children of God through baptism, encourages them and lifts them up through the sacrament of reconciliation, nourishes them through the Eucharist, educates them through instruction and celebrations,” and that these actions “are an exercise of fatherhood, and are related to life,” he adds that alongside the “usual Catholics,” “occasional Catholics… will increasingly come in search of a benevolent face, a listening ear, dialogue, a relationship, understanding and comfort.”13La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 105) “The Lord’s shepherd will increasingly have to accompany lost sheep. They will bear the signs and wounds of their life journey. Without doubt, their lives will not be in order because of their tormented and disorientated existence. It is precisely in these complex situations that these new members of our family will need a father and a pastor. They will need someone to help them believe in themselves and in life, and to give them new hope.”
“I am convinced that our materialistic and nihilistic world will, at a certain point, come to a halt in order to experience a qualitative leap, and move from knowing to believing,” writes Bustillo14La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 123), for whom the proclamation of the “kerygma,” “the death and resurrection of Christ,” is something that “our Western culture” needs. He adds: “Our world seeks salvation but focuses on health and well-being. Our Christian anthropology looks to the future, to our ultimate destiny.”15La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 126) Although Cardinal Bustillo refers to eternal happiness, he does not mention the risk of losing true salvation, nor of damnation or hell.
During the Mass for the Corsicans celebrated at Notre-Dame de Paris on February 20, 2025, Cardinal Bustillo said in his homily that Jesus “saves us from our fears, he saves us from our uncertainties, he saves us from our anxieties, from our maladjustments. Jesus saves us on the inside… Jesus came to save us, sometimes from ourselves, sometimes from this complex relational life, from a polluted professional life, from a labored spiritual life.”
In La vocation du prêtre, Cardinal Bustillo deplores the watering down of rites which, he emphasizes, must “introduce man into the time of salvation.” He writes: “In the past, no doubt for lack of adroitness, the Christian language became commonplace under the pretext of favoring communication with modernity, so as not to use a language that some consider esoteric. In order to avoid behaviors that were perceived as magical, the spiritual world was impoverished by the elimination of gestures and rites.”16La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 134) He mentions the “pseudo-liturgies” performed on television and observes: “The investiture of the President of the Republic in France follows an extremely solemn secular liturgy….”17La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 135)
On p. 136, he writes:
“Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that life must be respected and protected. Through its rites, the Church celebrates the rhythms of human life and sees man grow; through the sacraments, gestures and celebrations are performed that bring families and believers together. The stages of life are not trivial, they are accompanied and celebrated. A Christian life without the sacred is impossible.”
During a conference on secularism organized by the Ajaccio Tourist Office on December 10, 2024, Cardinal Bustillo explained, in regard to processions in Corsica described by the event’s organizer as involving a lot of “paganism,” that “the sacred is not exclusively Catholic. It touches on other dimensions. It also touches on other religions and other traditions. Indeed, each tradition has its rites and its way of expressing the sacred… If you go to India, there are pilgrimages, as you know, there are physical movements, the crowds move. If you go to Mecca, there is movement, the crowds move. And in a way, physiologically, as well as psychologically and spiritually, there is the physical movement that expresses the inner movement. I find it interesting to also broaden my horizons to other traditions, other religions, and there we can find common ground. There too there is a certain equality. If we delve into theology, we will very quickly see the differences, but we also see that in all religions, in all traditions, there is this dimension of transcendence, of collectivity,” Bustillo said.
He notes in La vocation du prêtre that young people who love the liturgy, “are fascinated by the aesthetics of our rites,” and want to “learn the art of celebrating well.” But Cardinal Bustillo believes that “for some priests, this is a step backwards, a taste for aestheticism and escape from the world. These liturgical attitudes alone would, in fact, be problematic because they are hermetic and perhaps narcissistic.”18La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 137)
With regard to our times, Cardinal Bustillo emphasizes Christ’s encounter with all: “He risks the encounter even when it does not have a positive outcome” … “Jesus takes the risk of breaking away from the idea that ‘it has always been done this way,’ and constructs a new mindset… Jesus breaks away from the overly academic religious conception of his time.”19La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 202)
The cardinal adds, quoting one of the spiritual influences on Freemasonry, : “As Pythagoras said: ‘Leave the roads, take the trails.’ There are moments in history when it is vital to explore new ways of acting and living differently.”20La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 204) Pointing to the example of the Samaritan woman, he says: “Jesus, faced with a woman thirsting for love, educates: instead of sanctioning her moral and spiritual behavior, he educates her desires and scrutinizes her heart.”21La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 206)
Refusing to Judge
This idea is reiterated in his conclusion: “Our ministry can bring order to people’s lives if we act according to the logic of blessing.”22La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 235) Paris Match of November 2023 elaborates on this ideal, quoting Bustillo:
“He is a Franciscan in search of a concrete ideal: ‘We must not judge others. God alone knows. Is not the man who reacts incessantly a primitive and narrow-minded man? From 1994 to 2018, I stayed twenty-four years in my convent in Narbonne. In those lands, I understood that idealism cannot be opposed to pragmatism. Idealism is perhaps the best method for guarding oneself against the errors of the virtual. In Ajaccio, I often walk in the street. In summer, near the citadel, on the beaches, the women are topless and I am wearing the Franciscan habit – like a scene from an Almodóvar film. But moving beyond the cinematic image, I have a duty to be present everywhere. There is no such thing as the elect on one side and the outcast on the other. A bishop without his people is a mutilated bishop.”
Traditionis Custodes
Open to all, Cardinal Bustillo is also open to Catholics attached to the traditional rite.
Shortly before Bustillo’s elevation to the cardinalate, Riposte-catholique, a traditionally-minded website, wrote: “He has the best of relations with Father Hervé Mercury, formerly a member of the FSSPX, and has no problem letting him officiate, as he did before the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, at the Notre-Dame de Lorette chapel in Ajaccio, which has all the aspects of an informal personal parish.”
In addition to Ajaccio, the traditional Mass is celebrated in Bastia and Balagne, in locations served by a priest of the Fraternité Saint-Pierre (Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter).
In both cases, Masses are also offered on weekdays and their schedules are announced under the heading “extraordinary form of the rite” on the website of the Diocese of Ajaccio.
Watching Over People
Cardinal Bustillo’s pastoral approach does not focus on affirming dogma or morality. In a 2023 interview with La Croix given shortly before receiving his cardinal’s hat, he said he does not like to “make people feel guilty by telling they should go to Mass” and tries to engage people where they are, preferring a psychologist’s approach that appeals to people’s “inner GPS.”23“The whole question is how we can be present in the lives of our contemporaries. When I go to sporting events, it’s not only because I like it, but also because it’s a way of meeting people I would never have seen at Sunday Mass. I’m there to create a relationship, a bond, and to give the Church visibility… If I arrive in the stands of a stadium dressed as a Franciscan, it won’t take long for me to be spotted. But my aim is not to make people feel guilty by telling them they should go to Mass. I focus on the quality of the relationship. I am interested in people and what they are going through. And maybe they will take an interest in me…
“To find love and inner peace, our contemporaries today go to the Amazon to meet shamans, or to Tibet… Who has heard of the Christian tradition? Who talks about love today? The Church has an important message of love to bring. We meet people around us who are extremely vulnerable: emotionally, existentially, spiritually. Now love heals and comforts.”
“It is important to rediscover a spirituality of the incarnation that is neither soft nor vague. That speaks to modern man. In our Western society, there is a lot of talk about having, about power, knowledge and doing, but who talks about being? Psychologists and coaches perhaps, but in an equally commercial way. Who in our society looks after people for free? We need to provide a quality of being to Western man who has lost his inner GPS, whose inner being is without density, and sad.”
Religious Practice
In an interview with France3 Corse on April 8, 2023, Bishop Bustillo acknowledged the decline in religious practice among Catholics, saying: “I ask myself: are we becoming better? If the values that have made our civilization desert us, I believe we risk falling back into animality.” He spoke of “the backbone that Christianity gave to Europe”, he said: “I believe that tensions, violence and friction are due to the fact that we have rejected God.”
Confession
On March 25, 2024, local press asked Cardinal Bustillo what advice he would give the faithful so that they might fully experience the spirituality of Easter and meaningfully celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. He responded, saying:
“I encourage all the faithful, young and old, to make a short pilgrimage to their parish or church during this period. Confession just before Easter is also important. It is a time to take sincere stock of our lives, our love for others and our commitment to giving the best of ourselves. Instead of trivializing Confession by focusing only on small sins, we should use it as an opportunity for deep reflection on our attitudes and behavior, seeking to improve ourselves and to embrace God’s mercy to help us in this process of inner transformation. And like St Augustine, to throw ‘into the ocean of God’s mercy all my frailties, all my sins.’”
GOVERNING OFFICE
Whether as a parish priest, bishop or cardinal, François Bustillo has always cultivated a close relationship with people of all ranks. At times, this has involved efforts to charm and attract the crowds. In Narbonne, for instance, he invited rugby players from the local team, USAP, who were originally from the Samoan Islands, to play the role of the Three Wise Men at the Epiphany Mass on January 5, 2014. It was the fourth Epiphany celebrated by top athletes in this church, the local press reported. Welcomed into the packed church and up to the altar amid applause from the crowd, they later distributed traditional cakes in the church’s forecourt. “Here in Narbonne, rugby is almost a primary religion, so it is also important for us to come together on the common ground of values,” commented Bustillo, who was parish priest at the time.
Even before arriving in Corsica, an island jealous of its identity and part of whose population is calling for autonomy from the French mainland, this Franco-Spanish man applied himself to learning the local language.
He is careful in cultivating his public image, and the regional state television channel, France 3 Corse, helped him spread his message: on November 25, 2024, a report in the form of a portrait is broadcast, showing François Bustillo close to the people, kicking off a football match or visiting an agricultural fair: “He has managed to transcend political divides…Nationalists, figures from both the right and the left, seem to appreciate his message.”
“Brother” François Bustillo governing style became more visible when he was ordained a bishop. In an interview with the Catholic television channel KTO, shortly after his accession to the cardinalate on September 30, 2023, he recalled what he had said to himself regarding his episcopal appointment two years earlier: “I have not come to manage a diocese, I have come to love. (…) When you are present, as Pope Francis says, it is as if you can smell the sheep. A priest is ordained to be given to the world, to be close to people at their bio-existential milestones.”
He added:
“There is always a risk in the Catholic Church, and in times of crisis, of becoming too focused: to say, ‘the traditional ones are us, we are the best – watch out,’ or ‘we must all be equal and the same;’ or ‘the modern ones are the best, so we must follow the path of the modern;’ or the ‘charismatic ones are the best, so we must follow the path of the charismatic;’ and in the end we risk falling into the temptation of having clone-like visions, and what a pity that would be.”
He went on to show himself a liberal in the classical sense of embracing difference: “In the Church, when you consider Pentecost, there is diversity, a welcome diversity. If you are traditional and I am modern, and you are better, then go ahead, I have no problem with that! Carry on! If you are charismatic and I am traditional, and thanks to your kind of prayer of praise, you become better, go ahead! It is a blessing for the Church.”g
“The tribal risk is a reality,” he added. “The problem with the Church is not open ecclesiology; the problem with the Church in France is fear.”
“It’s normal to talk about certain current issues, it’s not a danger to the Church. But it’s also up to us to be intelligent and take the Church’s heritage into account.
“When the synod on the Amazon took place, I heard comments along the lines of: ‘That’s it, we’re going to do just about anything, it’s going to be a mess, etc.’ Was the Church turned upside down? No, we carried on, we were able to talk, decisions were made, but the Church was not completely turned upside down. So I think that with the synod we mustn’t be afraid to talk about certain subjects, which are sometimes touchy and difficult, but we mustn’t forget our common heritage, because sometimes we place so much emphasis on diversity that we forget that we are Christians and that we believe in God.”
He went on to speak of his “dream” of a Church “full of hope” and the need for Western society to “live in the moment of life.”24“I dream of a Church full of hope, which communicates hope to the world. We are lacking in hope, or have lost it. We talk about death, we are very fond of death, the death of the planet, the death of political systems, the death of economic systems, the death of the Church… We celebrate the dead, it’s tragic! I think that the essence of Christianity and the Gospel is life, it is the bearing of life… Our French Western society needs to live in the movement of life.”
In 2017, during an interview with the weekly Famille chrétienne (no longer available online but cited in the May 11, 2021 issue), François Bustillo spoke of France as mission territory. He expressed the need to preach peace and reconciliation before doctrine and be able to touch hearts.25“The Franciscan charism is resurrected in the street, in contact with the world. Our cloister is the world, said St. Francis. The first Franciscan teachings were not doctrinal but moral, preaching peace and reconciliation. With its fraternal and simple dimension, it manages to touch hearts.”
Peace Efforts
The cardinal is widely remembered for his well-publicized statements on violence that followed the assassination of Corsican independence activist Yvan Colonna in 2022. His words, in which he stressed the importance of “dialogue” and “encounter,” reportedly helped calm the situation.26“A man, Yvan Colonna, was brutally assaulted in Arles prison. This act has created anger, tension and incomprehension. Our prayers and compassion go out to him and his family… In the face of social tension, we believe in the duty and power of dialogue to restore trust and reconcile citizens. The path of force is deadly, that of encounter and respect strengthens freedom and democracy. We sincerely hope that Isaiah’s prophecy will come true: ‘Remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech.’” Bustillo allowed vigils to be organized in Corsica’s churches following the atrocity.
Two years later, in December 2024, the cardinal also managed to calm and win over some of the island’s young people who were “demonstrating their dissatisfaction over the ban on the use of the Corsican language in the Corsican Assembly, the cardinal called for calm and won over part of the demonstrators,” France3 Régions reported.
Presence in Corsica
Cardinal Bustillo travels to the parishes of Corsica, where he celebrates Mass and meets with the local priests and the population, as well as the civil authorities. By doing this, he establishes connections with the mayors of the towns and villages, the prefects, and the officials responsible for public order. He describes these unceasing journeys as his place of solitude, and his little grey Renault Clio as the “hermitage” where he recites the office in Italian with the help of an app.
Political Presence
Described in the media as “the most political bishop that Corsica has known for a long time,” Bustillo has not been reticent about inserting himself into the political arena. In January 2024, at a time of political tension between local Corsican officials and the government in Paris, he took sides in favor of Corsica, saying the island dependency “must recover its autonomy, its freedom and its ability to manage its political, economic and cultural life and even its sanitary policy at all levels.”
The cardinal has shown himself to be open to various political trends and factions. The state channel francetvinfo.fr reported that figures “from the far right gravitate around him and express views contrary to those of the pope on the reception of migrants.” To which Bustillo responded: “We have to talk to everyone and a bishop cannot be sectarian … You can’t say, ‘Look, there are the good guys, I’ll talk to the good guys. There are the bad guys and I’ll just ignore them.’ Let’s not forget that Jesus went to eat with sinners and he was criticized for it. People see me with autonomists, with others who want independence, with people who are right-wing, with people who are left-wing, with certain individuals. I don’t share their outlook on life, but I don’t want to make enemies of them,” the cardinal said.
In November 2024, Le Monde presented a detailed portrait of Cardinal Bustillo emphasizing his eclecticism: “I really like politics,” the cardinal confessed, “but I assure you, I am not gifted for power.” He has become acquainted with numerous high profile French figures. For example, he is close to famous French restauranteur Mathieu Pacaud and other prominent personalities and politicians; he has debated a former grand master of the most important left-wing masonic lodge in France, the imam of Paris’ grand mosque, and had at least two meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, one at the Elysee Palace and an earlier one in Ajaccio.mfn]As a guest at Laurent [Mathieu Pacaud’s restaurant], Bustillo got to know former French President François Hollande. He had already met French politician Laurent Wauquiez during the “Franciscan meetings” that he organized with political figures in his diocese of Narbonne (south-west France). He met with French European parliamentarian Raphaël Glucksmann in the summer of 2024 in Cap Corse. He has debated at the University of Corte with Philippe Guglielmi, the former Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France [the most important left-wing Masonic Lodge in France], and Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the imam of the Grand Mosque of Paris. In December 2023, he was received by Emmanuel Macron for a confidential tête-à-tête. At the Elysée, they recall that the cardinal had to be provided with a car so that he could reach the Boulevard de Montmorency where Vincent Bolloré [a right-wing billionaire] was waiting for him ‘for a cup of coffee’, as François Bustillo admits. Moreover, he remains on the best of terms with the Saadé family, owners of the inescapable Corse-Matin [the main Corsican daily].” A previous meeting with President Macron had taken place in September 2023 in Ajaccio, just before the French president offered “the Corsican Assembly ‘autonomy within the Republic’ for the island and its 350,000 inhabitants,” recalled the daily L’Opinion on December 15, 2024.[/mfn]
In December 2024, the cardinal spoke on state media channel France Télévisions, saying that: “A bishop cannot be sectarian. You have to talk to everyone.” To which the journalist replied: “Like a candidate on the campaign trail.”
That same month, Bustillo was invited onto France 2’s morning news program by the channel’s star presenter, Léa Salamé, who presented the cardinal as “perhaps the next pope.”
Reality Show
Léa Salamé had already interviewed him a year earlier on her show called “Quelle époque” to discuss a show filmed in Corsica with the permission of the cardinal, “Bienvenue au monastère’ [Welcome to the monastery], and especially his new book with Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra and Nicolas Diat, Le cœur ne se divise pas [the heart should not be divided]. Before the cardinal arrived on set, former porn star Clara Morgane performed a lascivious routine. She was one of the celebrities who took part in this Catholic “retreat” broadcast as a kind of reality show made by the private channel C8.
During the show, Cardinal Bustillo said: “The purpose of life is to love. And this can be achieved through the path of a religion, a tradition or other paths.”
“Le Monastère” was filmed in Corsica, at the Corbara convent, in the presence of two religious, Brother Baudouin Ardillier of the Community of Saint John, and Sister Catherine Thiercelin of the Community of the Beatitudes. Both communities are at the center of abuse scandals. The left-wing Catholic magazine Golias had this to say about the two religious: “Neither he nor Sister Catherine has formally denied the depravity of their founders.”
A former brother of the Communauté Saint-Jean, who has been convicted of sexually abusing two women and banned from celebrating Mass or hearing Confessions for two years, was present, observed journalist Natalia Trouiller on X on March 4, 2024. The same man was present and photographed among the priests surrounding Cardinal Bustillo during a retreat, wearing liturgical vestments.
Conventual Franciscans
François Bustillo’s governance of the Conventual Franciscans of France and Belgium should also be mentioned. According to Golias of September 15, 2023, some of these convents presented “grave deviations, fueled in particular by Brother Daniel-Marie Thévenet, guardian of the Saint-Antoine convent in Brussels.”
This friar had founded the convent of Narbonne with François Bustillo in 1994. “In addition to providing pastoral care and teachings that are in blatant opposition to the catechism (e.g. ‘errant souls’), Daniel-Marie promised his followers that he would immediately cure them of serious illnesses, help them overcome academic failure or free them from the esoteric practices carried out by their ancestors up to the tenth generation. He even claimed to be able to plunge his followers back into their memories during the nine months they spent in utero, until their birth, comparing the maternal vagina to that of the Virgin Mary, described as a ‘tunnel of glory’,” summarizes the Golias website, which devoted an investigation to the topic in Golias Hebdo No. 783 of 14 to 20 September 2023 under the title “The strange friends of the neo-cardinal Bustillo.”
Fr Daniel-Marie appears in a video of the chapter of the Conventual Franciscans presided over by Bishop Bustillo in 2022.
According to the Golias report, he celebrates “healing Masses” all over France and openly mentions “Masses over the family tree,” which were banned by the French Bishops’ Conference. He claims to attend psycho-spiritual sessions of Agapè-therapy, which destroyed families and damaged retreatants at the time when he and the future Cardinal Bustillo founded their convent in Narbonne. “It is hard to believe that the future cardinal could have been unaware of the origins of his colleague’s pastoral work,” notes the Golias report.
When asked about the situation by Libération in November 2023, the cardinal said that he had “advised caution.” The article stated that, according to those close to Bustillo, he “would not have had a completely free hand to solve the problem.” As Father Thévenet’s former superior, Cardinal Bustillo was quoted in the same article as saying: “So far, there have been no complaints.”
Father Thévenet, who joined the convent of Cholet, then of Brussels, both of which were also under the responsibility of François Bustillo, continues his practices of “Praise and Healing” (for example, from February 28 to March 2, 2025), prayer vigils marked by prophecies, speaking in tongues and quasi-exorcisms.
After viewing “videos on the healing practices carried out by certain Conventual Franciscan friars in France and Belgium,” Father Dominique Auzenet, an exorcist and head of the “Pastoral Care for New Beliefs and Sectarian Deviations” of the diocese of Le Mans, noted a “disturbing tendency to mix notions of illness and sin and to associate with them, sometimes erroneously, the faults of past generations.” This, he noted, contradicts the Gospels, where “Jesus clearly marked a break with the idea that illness would be a consequence of sin (John 9:3).” On the topic of healing practices themselves, Dominique Auzenet recalls that “the history of the Church, gradually emphasizing the salvation of souls rather than the healing of bodies, testifies to the desire to emphasize that healings are signs (and not something akin to magic).” According to Dominique Auzenet, “a psycho-spiritual approach that assimilates (even implicitly) illness and sin can lead to serious abuses, as the practices of agape-therapy have shown” (quotes taken from the sosdiscernement.org website).
Adherence to Pope Francis’ Style of Governance
François Bustillo is keen to express his support for Pope Francis’ style of governance, and he quotes him very often.
In an interview with the Catholic channel KTO on July 10, 2023, he said: “It seems to me that the Church must be repaired, but from within, as Pope Benedict XVI did, as he set out to do, and Pope Francis has continued. I also see the dynamic of the dream…”
In December 2024, Cardinal Bustillo delivered a lecture in Aix-en-Provence on ‘Repairing the Church’ in which he emphasized the “concerns” and “fears” of young people, and the thirst for spirituality to which the Church must respond. He said this is easier to do today because young people “have not known clericalism, the domination of the Church,” but “emptiness.”
Emphasizing psychology more than the sacraments, Bustillo insisted on the need to look after one’s own health. “Health and joy,” he said, “are two parameters for assessing the state of our life.” The cardinal further emphasized the model of “listening” to Jesus in relation to “fragility.” And he invited the Church to “dream,” saying: “If we want a new heaven and a new earth, a new Church, our discernment must project themselves beyond the obvious” adding that “it is essential for us believers to leave our comfort zones.” The cardinal did not mention the worship of God.
Dicastery for the Clergy
Four days after being created a cardinal, François Bustillo was also named a member of the Dicastery for Clergy. Asked in early 2024 about the appointment, he said: “The Holy Father has entrusted me with another task, namely the so-called Dicastery for the Clergy, which deals with everything concerning the priests and deacons of the diocesan clergy, their person, their pastoral ministry and what is necessary for its exercise. When we talk about priests, we tend to have a Western view. However, in Africa, Asia and America, the problems are not the same. In my Roman and Catholic responsibility, I must therefore take into account the different cultures, traditions and challenges of each individual priest.”
TEACHING OFFICE
In Narbonne, Father Bustillo was admired by some for focusing more on psychology than on doctrine in his homilies. This trait is particularly evident in his book on The Vocation of the Priest and in his numerous public statements on religion. His anthropocentric approach has led some to note a “mystique of psychology” that he expresses particular in secular venues, as well as relativism in his thinking. As noted above, the Cardinal said on French television that: “The purpose of life is to love. And this can be achieved through the path of a religion, a tradition or other paths.”
Bustillo rarely speaks about Catholic doctrine, and if he speaks of the afterlife, it is only in reference to heaven. In La vocation du prêtre, there is little mention of sin. The cardinal does talk about the “sacrifice” of Jesus to “save humanity” (France catholique, September 28, 2023), but when speaking about redemption, he is silent. About hell, he says Jesus took on our “imperfect flesh,” as he calls it, to save men from eternal damnation.
In an interview with the Journal du dimanche on September 24, 2023, he spoke about the message that the Church must convey:
“Often, in the media, when people talk to me about the Church, I see the hideous parade of the Crusades, the Inquisition, pedophilia, or the Vatican’s moral prohibitions and finances. Very well, but you can be sure that this is not why I gave my life as a priest! Jesus gave his life to save us, out of love, that is what the Church has to say. Some think this trite, but true love, unconditional love, is as powerful as it is demanding. It will have the last word. The Church must speak of the last things, of death, which rightly scandalizes people. The Church has the answer, and I say this because I believe it: Christ is risen, we pass from darkness to light, from death to life. It is an exceptional message that we must not withhold from anyone.”
Popular piety
The Virgin Mary is rarely mentioned by the Cardinal, except in the context of “popular piety,” a term he prefers to “popular religiosity.” “Be mindful that religiosity can be Christian or pagan,” he said in an interview with Famille chrétienne in November 2024. “I prefer to speak of popular piety. This reality is an expression of the inner life of the human being. At a certain point, it needs to manifest itself externally through processions, the sign of the cross, candles or public prayers.”
Asked by the journalist why popular piety has sometimes been despised, he said such a view was a “mistake.”
“There is a perfect complementarity between the intelligence of faith – with its intellectual dimension – and simpler expressions that involve concrete gestures. I am thinking of Lourdes with its rites involving water or light. To be popular, piety touches the inner being. Whether this piety is more intellectual or more popular is of little importance, as long as it touches the human heart.”
In his words of welcome to Pope Francis, who came to close the conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean in Ajaccio on December 15, 2024, Cardinal Bustillo spoke of the importance of “simple practices of faith, without strategies or tactics,” and how “dialogue and encounter” can “repair a wounded human civilization.”27“We fulfil our spiritual calling with our minds, of course, but also with our hearts and our bodies.
“In the 21st century, our society needs to rediscover simplicity and freedom in order to move forward. Our social system has become complex and harsh. Simple practices of faith, without strategies or tactics, can help us to recover cohesion around that which is essential.
“The Mediterranean is rich in spiritual traditions. We wanted to open up a dialogue to get to know each other better. The idea is to extend it to other religions, other traditions and other lands.
“Through these bonds that you encourage us to experience, we will be able to repair a wounded human civilization through dialogue and encounter, not opposition and conflict. We will be able to build a new humanity that is more serene and peaceful because it is at peace with itself, and capable of guaranteeing free and trusting fraternal bonds.”
Confraternities
Popular piety is manifested in a very special way in Corsica through “Confraternities” (religious brotherhoods): the island has “more than a hundred with some 4,000 members,” reports Corse-Matin. François Bustillo’s predecessor, Bishop Olivier de Germay, initiated their revival within the Church. These associations, which originated in fifteenth century Corsica, have in recent decades enjoyed a resurgence in popularity through a local affirmation of identity, and even a demand for independence. Their Catholic roots are also making a strong resurgence, after the secularization and liturgical reform in the 1960s, following Vatican II, almost led to their disappearance.
Cardinal Bustillo makes no secret of his desire to encourage this return and he summarized his views on the subject in his New Year’s greetings on January 30, 2025, praising the role of these groups of lay faithful, both men and women.28According to Aleteia: “The confreres come together in lay associations, wearing uniforms and carrying banners bearing their colors, with the aim of serving the Church and their neighbors. They play an essential role in the organization of processions – particularly those of Holy Week – in the maintenance of churches, in liturgical singing, but also in the promotion of solidarity within a given community.”
Cardinal Bustillo said in his 2025 New Year wishes: “I believe that the confraternities have an urgent mission to accomplish in Corsica if society is to be pacified. Since the Middle Ages, the confraternities have had a liturgical and fraternal mission, but also a social one. They are not just pseudo-religious folklore. I would like us to work on this social dimension. You are valuable intermediaries in society. You know the traditions, the villages, the valleys, the neighborhoods, you know the families and the individuals. You can work, through your commitment, to educate young people about respect for others, about a responsible and free life. You can guide them towards those who are most materially and morally deprived to help them get their lives back on track. You can be a GPS of values for children and young people. You can offer them security and courage. You can show them the fruitfulness of commitment to others. The confraternities must be the cement that creates social bonds between the people of Corsica. Through the confraternities, our young people will find faith, hope, stability, meaning and friends to lean on, instead of getting lost in dark and troubled worlds.”
The proven fruits of the confraternities is why Cardinal Bustillo wants to put them at the service of evangelization and does not hesitate to create new ones: thus in Orto, on October 28, 2024, the confraternity of Sant’Antone Abbate d’Ortu, which had disappeared since the middle of the twentieth century, was re-formed in the presence of the cardinal. A few months earlier, on July 31, 2024, the new confraternity of Santa Croce in Campile was created: Cardinal Bustillo personally blessed its members.
Islam and Other Religions
His words of welcome to Pope Francis in Corsica, quoted above, echo those of Pope Francis’ own teachings on “human fraternity” and bear witness to Cardinal Bustillo’s attitude towards other religions, in particular Islam.
Regarding Pope Francis’ visit to Corsica, Cardinal Bustillo said on the private channel TF1 shortly before the event: “You know his interest in the Mediterranean, and he thought he could send a strong message for the Mediterranean, for peace in the world and for friendly and fraternal ties between all peoples.”
In December 2024, the economic magazine Challenges posed this question to Bustillo: “What does the Pope want to achieve by creating cardinals all around the Mediterranean?” He replied: “The Mediterranean needs personalities capable of rousing consciences and minds to create this dialogue between north and south, between the Muslim world and the Christian world. He thus created the archbishop of Tehran as cardinal. We need to meet figures capable of speaking to us better about Islam so that we are not in a logic of fear but in a movement of creating fraternity.”
Appearing on France3 Corse, Cuntrastu in April 2024, the cardinal said: “I had the privilege of speaking in front of 300 people at the mosque [at the end of Ramadan]. They gave the floor to the cardinal and so I was able to speak with them. There were also elected representatives. I think it’s a privilege and it’s fair in society that when we are believers – there will be Muslims, there will be Christians, there will be other traditions – we can agree on the unity of our approach, that is to say we are believers. Some will say, ‘Yes, but they’re Muslims and we’re Christians.’ I say that if we agree on the fact of belief, we can build a more just and fraternal society.”
Synodal Church
Cardinal Bustillo has sought continually to reassure the faithful about “synodality.”
In his interview of September 24, 2023 with the Journal du dimanche, while the press at large was discussing the controversial issues that would be debated during the first Roman stage of the synod on synodality (LGBT, female diaconate, etc.), he commented: “The issues that will be addressed impose themselves at this time in history. But we must not believe that the conclusion is a foregone conclusion. We must succeed in putting our emotions aside in order to confront our intellects. We must also succeed in separating people from their actions. The Church condemns certain acts as a mother would do for her child: out of love! Objective morality is necessary, but it is important never to judge men, whose complexity we can never know. Only God can judge.”
One week later, in an interview with KTO in the lead up to the October 2023 Synod assembly, he said: “The Church must not be afraid to talk about certain subjects that are sometimes delicate or difficult.” Diversity of opinions among Catholics can be a “welcome diversity,” he said, without forgetting the “common heritage: we all believe in God.”
Respect for Life
Although his strong personal opposition to abortion is well known and he expresses it very vigorously in private, Cardinal Bustillo never talks about it publicly or in the media.
When the French Parliament, with the very visible support and agreement of President Macron, voted to enshrine “freedom of access to abortion” in the French Constitution, Bustillo does not appear to have expressed his personal views on the matter.
However, he was one of three French bishops who took part in the press conference at the end of the plenary assembly of the French bishops in Lourdes on November 8, 2023, several months before the vote on the measure, during which the press release referring to the “concern” of the French bishops was mentioned.
Bustillo praises “Corsican-style secularism,” telling Le Point in December 2024:
“In Corsica, there is an original and dynamic form of secularism. The way it is embodied is different, depending on history and culture. When there is a procession, the island’s public authorities participate in the celebration with the people. Each one retains his or her function. A man of the Church will never tell an elected representative what to do, and vice versa. We exchange in a mature way, without wanting to dominate or manipulate one institution or the other, where, on the mainland, there is often conflict. I think that Corsica can be a laboratory of secularism and bring a form of serenity to France to create less tension on this issue.”
In May 2024, as the French Parliament was preparing to debate an “end of life” law on euthanasia, he told Corsenetinfos:
“If citizens reach the end of their lives, can’t take it anymore and ask for death, there is a problem. I can perfectly understand that people ask for an end to suffering, it’s completely natural. That is why palliative care exists. There is also the Leonetti law [a 2005 French law which critics say has led to quasi-euthanasia] is not outdated. That is why I think the question of the end-of-life bill is a serious one… I think that in a social debate, without wanting to impose, but on the principle of responsibility, we must express our vision. We are not imposing it, but we are participating in the social debate with our thoughts, with our vision of man and his destiny. And I believe that the mission of the State, by its very nature, is to help people live. (…)
“It is not for the Church to tell the State what it should do. It is not for us to govern. It is for those who have been legitimately elected to govern and propose just laws for society… What I think is important and what I believe the State should do is to work to enable people to live with pain as best they can. We all have physical or psychological pain, we are not yet in paradise. We bear it more or less well, but we all live with pain. It is part of our imperfection. We can understand that there are horrible, painful illnesses. But should we legislate on the basis of a minority or on the basis of a particular suffering? Isn’t the Leonetti law enough? I ask myself this question and this is my concern. What kind of future are we preparing for the new generations?”
Named after their promoter Jean Leonetti, a French politician, two “Leonetti laws” were passed in 2005 and extended in 2016. It authorized the killing of a seriously disabled or sick person by depriving them of food and water. Since 2016 this can be done following a collegiate medical decision even if the patient’s family is opposed, and by applying deep sedation which it is forbidden to suspend. In March 2007, Archbishop André Vingt-Trois, then Archbishop of Paris, and the Chief Rabbi of Paris, David Messas, signed a Joint Jewish-Catholic Declaration on the care of the terminally ill, stressing the unacceptable nature of the Leonetti law on the refusal of ordinary care.29The Declaration states: “It is clear in our respective traditions that the provision of water and nutrients to sustain life meets a basic need of the patient. Food and hydration by natural means must therefore always be maintained for as long as possible. Should this truly be impossible, or if there is a risk of the patient choking, which would endanger his life, an artificial route should be used. Only duly recognized serious reasons (non-assimilation of nutrients by the body, disproportionate suffering caused by the intake of these nutrients, endangering of the patient’s life due to the risk of infection or regurgitation) may in certain cases lead to the restriction or even suspension of the intake of nutrients. Such restriction or abstention must never become a means of shortening life.”
In May 2024, as the debate of the French “end of life” bill approached, Cardinal Bustillo published an article in FigaroVox (this is a text reserved for subscribers; it does not contain any reference to God or the natural law), which opened with these words: “The land of human rights and fraternity has enabled remarkable social achievements. But man is not just a cluster of cells. He has a soul. A heart too. And the struggle between Eros and Thanatos continues.”
The cardinal continued: “Our so-called civilized society, having devoted itself of having, power, doing and knowledge, has forgotten to take care of being. And we see bland and empty lives finding some escape in tranquillizers or drugs. We exist but we no longer live. We passively walk towards death, experiencing a crisis of hope. The disenchanted West is an implacable and morbid Sartrian closed room” (a reference to Huis clos, No Exit).
Priestly Celibacy, Married Clergy
Cardinal Bustillo does not appear to have addressed the issue of changing the Church’s discipline regarding priestly celibacy. In The Vocation of the Priest, he refers to the “sexual continence” of the religious (p. 196), but priestly celibacy is presupposed throughout the book, in his frequent mentions of the “fruitfulness” of the priestly ministry, its self-denial and the fact that the priest bears witness to “a fulfilled life” through “communion” with Christ.
Appearning on France3 Corse in December 2021, Bustillo argued that the priestly celibacy “is an ecclesiastical law, it is not divine, so it could change. Today it is considered inappropriate to change this law. The question is not divine.”
In a September 2023 interview with AFP, on the eve of his elevation to the cardinalate, Bustillo said: “My mission will be to be faithful, docile and attentive to what the Pope tells us,” and called proposals for a married clergy and the ordination of women as “somewhat cosmetic or political issues.” He added: “Before touching on these issues, we must start with the essentials. In the West, there is a lot of violence, social fragmentation and anxiety, and people are looking for peace. What worries me is that they go to the Amazon to find a shaman, to Tibet to find a monastery, or to India to look for a guru. There is a breakdown in communication about the spirituality of the Church.”
Ordination of Women
The cardinal has expressed his opposition to female ordination, believing that the role of women in the Church does not require ordination.
On KTO on December 2, 2024, when asked about a ceremony organized by feminist Catholics in which women were ordained, Bustillo insisted that it was a “ceremony of their own,” whereas ordination is a “collective and responsible procedure.”
“It’s not for us to get worked up, saying it’s a scandal, a catastrophe,” he said. “They are a minority, people who are suffering, no doubt, they ask themselves questions, and they ask us questions, but the questions are not to be resolved in a celebratory way, if I may say so, but through dialogue, through encounter, by putting forward the elements and the arguments, so that we can discuss the essentials,” he said.
In a lengthy interview organized by the state channel France3 (“Cuntrastu” of April 17, 2024), the cardinal also expressed his opposition to a women’s diaconate: “I think that we can’t say that they are of paramount importance regarding transmission in particular and not give them any official role; it goes together. In my opinion, there is a risk with diaconal ordination, that is my personal opinion: (…) the risk of introducing a logic of power and not of authority. (…) The risk of giving diaconal or priestly ordination is that the priesthood or the diaconate will be seen not as a service but as a power.”
Bustillo also recalled that “Jesus called men.”
He went on to say: “I think that women must be given more space in the Church, I am convinced of it, because we are experiencing intellectual and social developments and I think that we can give them an important place without going through a rite or an institution… Tradition and evolution, there is no divorce between the two.”
On France3 Corse, Bishop Bustillo had stated on December 9, 2021 that women have an “important role in the begetting of the priesthood.”
Fiducia Supplicans
After the publication of Fiducia supplicans, which opened the door to the blessing of homosexual couples, Cardinal Bustillo said he considered it a “pity” to react to it “with the logic of the world, ‘a bit like on Facebook: ‘like,’ ‘don’t like.’” He explained that “in the tradition of the Church, caring solutions are always proposed to painful and difficult situations.”
On Cuntrastu in April 2024, he expanded on the subject, voicing his disapproval of approaching the issue in a “legalistic way” which he called “childish.” He urged an understanding of the “struggles” and “dreams” of those involved.30“Here in the West, I mean for us in our mentality and our tradition, it is not upsetting. It doesn’t shock me in my mentality because we look around us, I mean our immediate environment, and we know people living in an irregular situation. What seems important to me is to understand, to know and to respect the journey of each individual. For me, behind an irregular situation, I see people. As a bishop, or a priest or a deacon, do I know what is behind it? Do we know the struggles, do we know the dreams, do we know the suffering that is behind a person? We do not know. So it could be easy to behave in a legalistic way; we say it’s allowed, it’s not allowed: that would be immature, it would even be childish.”
Referring to African opposition to the text, he recognized their unwillingness to accept such an imposition but added that it was important to “ask ourselves where the good is, where the good of the people lies.”31“We have a rather Eurocentric view; the Western mentality is our mentality… Some in Africa interpret it as an imposition of Western culture onto Africans. And the Africans said to me: but we have our culture, we have our traditions, we don’t want Europe or the West to impose on us. Okay, very well. But here too I tell myself: we are not in a political debate, there is not one position against the other that must elaborate or develop. We must ask ourselves where the good is, where the good of people lies; for me that is the fundamental criterion.”
Further on, the cardinal stated: “When we consider the issue of regular, or irregular couples, it affects behavior and social evolution, so it can change and evolve. On the issue of life, the Church believes that we are not masters of everything… The law provides a framework. That being said, everyone does as he wishes with regard to the end of life, abortion, etc.”
Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games
The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games shocked many Christians, particularly with its parody of the Last Supper featuring drag queens, but also with its depictions of sexual libertinism and other shocking scenes.
But Cardinal Bustillo downplayed the affair, reducing it to a matter of sensitivity, telling the regional radio station FranceBleu in July 2024, saying: “I fully understand that some Christians may have felt offended. When you touch religion, you touch something intimate.” He emphasized the importance of understanding the artistic intention behind the scene, saying:
“I listened to the author of the scene. He wasn’t thinking of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, but of a mythological scene, that of Dionysus. You have to go back to the source. It was the pagan festival, the festival of wine, Olympus, the gods. That said, everyone can have their own interpretation. It is not healthy to live and to get caught up in constant controversy… When there is controversy over Muslims or Jews, there are also very strong reactions. It is important that other believers, who are not Christian, are sensitive and say: ‘We must not hurt Christians, we must respect their sensitivities.’”
He continued: “While we are accustomed to certain controversies and tensions in France, in Europe, in the West, Christians in Asia, Africa or North or South America are less so. They are not as good at dealing with this kind of tension. Many countries have even removed the scene from the broadcast.”
“I have seen that many priests, many people have reacted sometimes moderately, sometimes disproportionately, to this controversy which, in my opinion, was both gratuitous and unwelcome. For my part, I retain that which is beautiful and I also recognize the point of vigilance,” he said, calling for mutual respect and understanding. “You have to have a sense of humor and respect. If people react, it’s because they are sensitive. And you must always respect people’s sensitivity,” he insisted.
Cardinal Bustillo did not touch upon it being an offence to God, but remained at the level of the sensitivities of Christians.
Ties to Freemasonry
When François Bustillo was vicar, and later parish priest, of Saint-Bonaventure in Narbonne, he was tasked by Bishop Alain Planet with engaging with the Freemasons. The city has a large number of them. Midi-Libre of April 11, 2011 gives an idea of the situation: “Nearly 870 brothers and sisters are now active in the Narbonne area. The phenomenon (…) seems more pronounced than ever. With 17 Freemasons per 1,000 inhabitants (the national average is 2.5!), Narbonne has become one of the most Masonic cities in France.”
On April 13, 2011, L’Indépendant reported: “Could Brother François, the unanimously appreciated Franciscan, be the link between the Bishopric and a number of Masonic Obediences? ‘He is educated, very open, and it is true that François Bustillo seems to have links with some “Anglais” [Masons],’ according to a Freemason who admits to being appreciative of certain initiatives taken by the Franciscans of Narbonne and, ultimately, their open-mindedness.”
L’Indépendant of November 15, 2018 published an interview with journalist Jacques Molénat, who had just published a book, Voyage indiscret chez les frans-maçons du Midi (Indiscreet Journey Among the Freemasons of the South). The interview focused on the city of Narbonne, and highlighted how his book revealed “that in Narbonne, an attempt is being made to bring the Catholic Church and Freemasonry closer together.”
Jacques Molénat responded: “I believe it was launched by Bishop Planet, who values contact and dialogue. He encouraged discussions, especially with the GLNF [Grande Loge Nationale de France], which is the ‘spiritual’ branch of Freemasonry, and he appointed Brother François Bustillo as a pilot fish for this endeavor, so much so that his parish of Saint-Bonaventure has become the parish of the Catholic Freemasons of Narbonne. And that he has been received several times by the Lodge to debate with the people of Narbonne affiliated to the GLNF.”
A knowledgeable source claims that François Bustillo took part in Narbonne in a “closed white meeting,” where a non-Freemason addresses a lodge audience made up solely of initiates, to talk about the Gospels; his remarks were said to have been very well received.
It is also said that at François Bustillo’s farewell reception on leaving Narbonne in 2018, more than half of those present were identified as Freemasons. From this perspective, and also through his approach to “fraternity” and his frequent remarks on the relationship between different religions, nothing suggests that Bustillo believes there to be a fundamental incompatibility between Catholic doctrine and Masonic thought. In any case, he never says so. However, he is reported to have denied being a Freemason himself.
- 1La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 148)
- 2La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 150)
- 3La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 9).
- 4La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 12)
- 5La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 115)
- 6La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 15)
- 7La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 23-25)
- 8La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 45)
- 9La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 62)
- 10La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 73)
- 11La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 80)
- 12La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 100)
- 13La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 105)
- 14La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 123)
- 15La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 126)
- 16La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 134)
- 17La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 135)
- 18La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 137)
- 19La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 202)
- 20La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 204)
- 21La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 206)
- 22La vocation du prêtre (“The Priest’s Vocation,” p. 235)
- 23“The whole question is how we can be present in the lives of our contemporaries. When I go to sporting events, it’s not only because I like it, but also because it’s a way of meeting people I would never have seen at Sunday Mass. I’m there to create a relationship, a bond, and to give the Church visibility… If I arrive in the stands of a stadium dressed as a Franciscan, it won’t take long for me to be spotted. But my aim is not to make people feel guilty by telling them they should go to Mass. I focus on the quality of the relationship. I am interested in people and what they are going through. And maybe they will take an interest in me…
“To find love and inner peace, our contemporaries today go to the Amazon to meet shamans, or to Tibet… Who has heard of the Christian tradition? Who talks about love today? The Church has an important message of love to bring. We meet people around us who are extremely vulnerable: emotionally, existentially, spiritually. Now love heals and comforts.”
“It is important to rediscover a spirituality of the incarnation that is neither soft nor vague. That speaks to modern man. In our Western society, there is a lot of talk about having, about power, knowledge and doing, but who talks about being? Psychologists and coaches perhaps, but in an equally commercial way. Who in our society looks after people for free? We need to provide a quality of being to Western man who has lost his inner GPS, whose inner being is without density, and sad.” - 24“I dream of a Church full of hope, which communicates hope to the world. We are lacking in hope, or have lost it. We talk about death, we are very fond of death, the death of the planet, the death of political systems, the death of economic systems, the death of the Church… We celebrate the dead, it’s tragic! I think that the essence of Christianity and the Gospel is life, it is the bearing of life… Our French Western society needs to live in the movement of life.”
- 25“The Franciscan charism is resurrected in the street, in contact with the world. Our cloister is the world, said St. Francis. The first Franciscan teachings were not doctrinal but moral, preaching peace and reconciliation. With its fraternal and simple dimension, it manages to touch hearts.”
- 26“A man, Yvan Colonna, was brutally assaulted in Arles prison. This act has created anger, tension and incomprehension. Our prayers and compassion go out to him and his family… In the face of social tension, we believe in the duty and power of dialogue to restore trust and reconcile citizens. The path of force is deadly, that of encounter and respect strengthens freedom and democracy. We sincerely hope that Isaiah’s prophecy will come true: ‘Remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech.’”
- 27“We fulfil our spiritual calling with our minds, of course, but also with our hearts and our bodies.
“In the 21st century, our society needs to rediscover simplicity and freedom in order to move forward. Our social system has become complex and harsh. Simple practices of faith, without strategies or tactics, can help us to recover cohesion around that which is essential.
“The Mediterranean is rich in spiritual traditions. We wanted to open up a dialogue to get to know each other better. The idea is to extend it to other religions, other traditions and other lands.
“Through these bonds that you encourage us to experience, we will be able to repair a wounded human civilization through dialogue and encounter, not opposition and conflict. We will be able to build a new humanity that is more serene and peaceful because it is at peace with itself, and capable of guaranteeing free and trusting fraternal bonds.” - 28According to Aleteia: “The confreres come together in lay associations, wearing uniforms and carrying banners bearing their colors, with the aim of serving the Church and their neighbors. They play an essential role in the organization of processions – particularly those of Holy Week – in the maintenance of churches, in liturgical singing, but also in the promotion of solidarity within a given community.”
Cardinal Bustillo said in his 2025 New Year wishes: “I believe that the confraternities have an urgent mission to accomplish in Corsica if society is to be pacified. Since the Middle Ages, the confraternities have had a liturgical and fraternal mission, but also a social one. They are not just pseudo-religious folklore. I would like us to work on this social dimension. You are valuable intermediaries in society. You know the traditions, the villages, the valleys, the neighborhoods, you know the families and the individuals. You can work, through your commitment, to educate young people about respect for others, about a responsible and free life. You can guide them towards those who are most materially and morally deprived to help them get their lives back on track. You can be a GPS of values for children and young people. You can offer them security and courage. You can show them the fruitfulness of commitment to others. The confraternities must be the cement that creates social bonds between the people of Corsica. Through the confraternities, our young people will find faith, hope, stability, meaning and friends to lean on, instead of getting lost in dark and troubled worlds.” - 29The Declaration states: “It is clear in our respective traditions that the provision of water and nutrients to sustain life meets a basic need of the patient. Food and hydration by natural means must therefore always be maintained for as long as possible. Should this truly be impossible, or if there is a risk of the patient choking, which would endanger his life, an artificial route should be used. Only duly recognized serious reasons (non-assimilation of nutrients by the body, disproportionate suffering caused by the intake of these nutrients, endangering of the patient’s life due to the risk of infection or regurgitation) may in certain cases lead to the restriction or even suspension of the intake of nutrients. Such restriction or abstention must never become a means of shortening life.”
- 30“Here in the West, I mean for us in our mentality and our tradition, it is not upsetting. It doesn’t shock me in my mentality because we look around us, I mean our immediate environment, and we know people living in an irregular situation. What seems important to me is to understand, to know and to respect the journey of each individual. For me, behind an irregular situation, I see people. As a bishop, or a priest or a deacon, do I know what is behind it? Do we know the struggles, do we know the dreams, do we know the suffering that is behind a person? We do not know. So it could be easy to behave in a legalistic way; we say it’s allowed, it’s not allowed: that would be immature, it would even be childish.”
- 31“We have a rather Eurocentric view; the Western mentality is our mentality… Some in Africa interpret it as an imposition of Western culture onto Africans. And the Africans said to me: but we have our culture, we have our traditions, we don’t want Europe or the West to impose on us. Okay, very well. But here too I tell myself: we are not in a political debate, there is not one position against the other that must elaborate or develop. We must ask ourselves where the good is, where the good of people lies; for me that is the fundamental criterion.”
