Supporting migrants
Olivier de Berranger (pp. 324–325)
«I believe I have gradually developed a certain international awareness and a sense of the catholicity of the Church, thanks to the journeys I have made to visit the priests of the Prado in various countries. Furthermore, in Algeria, as in Spain, Italy or Portugal, I heard people talking about those who had emigrated to France; I heard the opinions people held about France; and, finding myself here, I heard the reactions of the French towards our migrant brothers (…).
»Personally, I am happy to acknowledge what I have received from our brothers abroad during the journeys I have made to various countries, particularly Italy and Spain. On each visit, I learnt a great deal and received so much, and I felt the need to thank them.’
Father Ancel gave this account on 21 November 1971 during the first Lyon session on «pastoral care for migrants», in which he had taken part as the head of this pastoral ministry. He was appointed to this role, at his own request, immediately following the International Assembly at El Prado, which had elected Pierre Berthelon to succeed him upon the completion of his fifth term as head of the Institute. This session had been prepared by his predecessor as delegate for migrants, Antoine Goutagny, who had died suddenly the previous July. Thus Father Ancel, who had been introduced by Father Goutagny to a particular focus on the young Italians of Gerland in the 1930s, found himself, forty years later, the heir to a role that Father Goutagny had carried out with great dedication and imagination. These two personal traits are, moreover, indicative more broadly of a wider effort by the Church in France to reach out to the diverse ethnic groups that have settled on its soil since the last war. In discussing Father Ancel’s involvement in this remarkable endeavour, we must not forget that his contribution, whilst certainly significant, forms part of a broader tradition of work that preceded and followed it in this field.
Priests at work
Olivier de Berranger (pp. 262–263)
From 8 to 10 June 1965, just as the final session of the Council was about to begin, the «Prado Chapter» took place in Caluire.
Father Ancel was leaving the «Prado de France» there permanently in the hands of Fathers Sabin Saint-Gaudens and Pierre Homery, so that he could devote himself to the «International Prado». He had spoken on the subject of «priests at work», saying: «I confess that I would prefer it if we did not speak of »worker-priests«. No one ever said of Saint Paul that he was a »worker-apostle”. He was an apostle of Christ; that was enough for him (…). So this, then, would be my conclusion: the priest’s presence amongst people is required of him by virtue of his very apostolic mission; it is required of him in a special way towards the poor and all those who are far from the faith; but it must never constitute a choice of a temporal nature. Consequently, in our presence amongst people—and this applies above all to those who will be granted permission to work with their hands—we shall always act as priests solely focused on our mission of salvation and deeply united with the laity, whom we shall help to assume all their responsibilities both in the earthly city and in the Church of God. ’ For its part, the Mission de France had held its General Assembly in Pontigny from 30 August to 3 September, and Bishop François Marty had declared there before the press, regarding priests in the workplace: “The issues raised by this form of apostolate must be examined as seriously as possible in collaboration with the Workers’ Mission, whilst remaining faithful to the Church.”
It was this same Bishop Marty who ensured, during the drafting of the conciliar decree on «the ministry and life of priests», that the priest’s apostolate in the workplace was duly mentioned. Finally, on 23 October 1965, the Plenary Assembly of the French Bishops« Conference was held in Rome. It was there that its decision was made public, »to authorise a small number of priests to work full-time in factories and on building sites, following appropriate preparation«. The communiqué provided the following guidance regarding temporal matters: »The priest at work may join a trade union, but, recognising that temporal tasks are the specific responsibility of labour activists, he shall refrain from assuming responsibilities in trade union and political activities at any level whatsoever.’
Over the course of the following year, the group of priests who were to embark on this path was formed diocese by diocese, in accordance with criteria laid down by the Mission ouvrière. An agreement between the Mission ouvrière and the Mission de France was reached on 30 May 1966. And, on the following 4 October, a final preparatory session for these priests took place at the seminary for adult vocations in Morsang-sur-Orge. Father Ancel was called upon to lead the retreat there. He began as follows:
«I would like to express my joy at seeing you all gathered here. We have suffered greatly, all of us who, in the past, were forced to stop our work; but it is a source of joy for us and gives us immense hope to see that what was begun yesterday will continue tomorrow. Admittedly, the approach will not be the same, but the underlying impetus is identical. Through a priestly presence right at the heart of the working world, we wish to show the workers in a tangible way that the whole Church, with its laypeople and its priests, stands with them. We also wish to bring them the message of Christ—in its entirety, of course, but in such a way that they can understand and accept it. A presence as a sign, a presence for evangelisation: this is what the first worker-priests sought; this is what you, too, seek as you go out to work. The second wave follows the first; it is the same tide.»
