It is usually at the end of their career that lay people choose to put their skills at the service of the Church, often accepting a reduction in their salary. But for some, working in a diocese or in a Church movement is only a step in their professional career. For them, the question then arises, when leaving this work in the Church, to be able to value their experience and the skills acquired to find another position, in the public or the private sector.
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However, the ability to bounce back professionally depends a lot on how you left your employer. “When a lay person on ecclesial mission (Leme) knows the date of the end of his mandate, things are clear to everyone. », estimates Albane de Beaurepaire, 53 years old and mother of 4 children. After working as a computer engineer in a company for more than ten years, she became parish responsible for catechesis in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine).
« It was a part-time salaried position, on a CDI, with a three-year engagement letter renewable once, she continues. I knew when I started that I was doing this for six years. » After a skills assessment in 2011, Albane de Beaurepaire turned to pedagogical training and set up on her own, while remaining involved in her parish, on a voluntary basis.
An opportunity to change direction
The end of an ecclesial mandate can thus be an opportunity to change direction. This was the case for Anne-Marie Chollier, 57 years old. After having worked for five years in the diocese of Paris and being part of it as part of a conventional break (by benefiting from an outplacement), she embarked on administrative translation, then, after five years, and after have benefited from new training provided by Pôle Emploi, in horticulture. She now works for the green spaces of the city of Paris and speaks of her years of work for the Church as “The best of my career as an assistant ».
Some take a break before returning to the job market. After having been delegated in charge of the national communication of the Scouts and Guides of France for a five-year term, François Mandil, 42, took a sabbatical year to walk through Europe and discover “Which would please me so much ». Shortly before his return to France, the environmental president of the Metropolis of Lyon, Bruno Bernard, offered to work in his office. Very satisfied with his new position, François Mandil recognizes that, for him, “The difficulty was to find something which made so much sense”.
Skills that are sometimes difficult to convey
The reconversion of former employees of the Church can also be facilitated by their ecclesial activity. Thus Jelle Lemaitre, who was episcopal delegate of information for the diocese of Rennes from 2012 to 2017, did not have to look for a new position since, shortly before he signed the renewal of a five-year mandate , the Catholic School of Arts and Crafts (Ecam) in Rennes offered him to teach law. “As an information delegate, we have the chance to be visible in the diocese, he smiles. It can help people think about you when a position becomes available. »
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On the other hand, it seems more difficult to find a new job when the departure from an ecclesial mission is abrupt. “It’s not easy to make my skills understood”, sighs Françoise Lefloch-Cayol, 56, who learned of her dismissal and that of thirteen other employees of the Keraudren reception center, in the diocese of Quimper (Finistère), following a decision of the board of directors last September 9, following health constraints and cancellations of reservations, “To cease all activity no later than December 31”.
“For a cook or a maintenance worker, we can see what they can do, pursuit Françoise Lefloch-Cayol. But when you have been responsible for such a center, with accounting, human resources, hosting groups, it is more difficult to explain. Not to mention that I was previously responsible for the catechumenate. » Françoise Lefloch-Cayol who, like the 13 other employees of Keraudren, benefits from support by Pôle Emploi, has therefore applied to list her skills for “Transpose my missions to other professions”.
Difficulties accentuated by the current context
“When you’re suddenly fired, you don’t have time to prepare by definition », insists Krystine Fayolle, former employee of the diocese of Montauban who is one of the 9 lay people who were laid off economically in July 2019, out of the 23 employees by the diocese.
Dismissed at 59 – “Three years from my retirement” – after more than twenty years as a pastoral assistant in the parish, Krystine Fayolle had no other choice but to set up her own business of organizing secular and civil ceremonies. This warm woman does not hide how this dismissal was a shock. “In the months that followed, I had no more goals when I got up; I felt like I was completely empty, anxious. “
She, who had previously been diocesan responsible for the liturgy (three-year mandate), then diocesan responsible for pastoral teams (for more than ten years), was able to benefit from a Professional Security Contract (CSP) and be helped by Pôle Emploi in its reconversion.
But other lay people who were laid off from the diocese of Montauban have not yet managed to find a new position. Jean-François Laparre, 60 years old, former director of the communication service of the diocese, who recognizes the difficulties linked to his age and the current context, thus comes to consider his ecclesial references as an obstacle. “When I say that I have been responsible for communication in the Church, with all the affairs which are attached to it in the minds of the greatest number, it is scary”, he says, referring to a job interview in an SME whose boss finally preferred “Take someone from industry”.
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