CULT: Monsignor Antoine Hérouard, new Archbishop of Dijon

Auxiliary bishop of Lille, he succeeds Monsignor Roland Minnerath. It will be installed on Sunday, March 13.

Press release from the Diocese of Dijon of February 11:

Today, Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Mgr Roland Minnerath, Archbishop of Dijon and appoints Mgr Antoine Hérouard to succeed him.

Mgr Antoine Hérouard was until then auxiliary bishop of Lille and apostolic delegate for the Sanctuary of Lourdes.

We will have the opportunity to give thanks with Bishop Roland Minnerath for his 18 years of episcopate among us on Sunday February 27 at 3:30 p.m. at Saint-Bénigne Cathedral in Dijon.

Archbishop Antoine Hérouard will be installed as Archbishop of Dijon on Sunday March 13 at 3:30 p.m. at Saint-Bénigne Cathedral in Dijon.

The message of Mgr Roland Minnerath,

appointed Archbishop Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Dijon:

To the brother bishops of the province of Dijon
To priests, deacons, religious and faithful of the diocese

Today February 11 at noon appears the official announcement of the pope’s acceptance of my resignation as Archbishop of Dijon (can. 401 § 1) and of the appointment of my successor.

Your new archbishop is Mgr Antoine Hérouard, 65, of the diocese of Paris where he was vicar, chaplain and parish priest, until now auxiliary bishop of Lille and Apostolic Delegate for the Sanctuary of Lourdes. Mgr Hérouard is also the Delegate of the Conference of Bishops of France to COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community). From 2007 to 2013 he was Secretary General of the Conference of Bishops. From 2014 to 2017 he was Rector of the French Seminary in Rome. This means that Bishop Hérouard has a particularly dense and promising career.

We will welcome Bishop Hérouard with joy. We warmly welcome him and will do everything to facilitate his first contacts with the diocese. He will come to meet the diocese on February 21-23. Details can be given to you by then.

The installation of Bishop Hérouard in his new mission will take place at Saint-Bénigne Cathedral on March 13 at 3:30 p.m.
Until that date, I remain at the head of the diocese as an Apostolic Administrator with the faculties of a diocesan bishop. At the canon of the mass you can still pray for “our bishop Roland”.

I propose a mass of thanksgiving for the end of my ministry as bishop among you on Sunday February 27 also in St-Bénigne at 3:30 p.m.

In union of prayer, always

The message of Bishop Antoine Hérouard:

Dear friends,

As you have learned, Pope Francis appointed me Archbishop of Dijon, following the resignation, presented for reasons of age, by Mgr Roland Minnerath, whom I thank for his very fraternal welcome.

I look forward to joining you soon, to being able to meet you, to get to know all those who participate in the life of our Church in Côte d’Or, first of all my brother priests, but also the deacons, religious, nuns , lay people in ecclesial mission, volunteers involved in the life of parishes, movements and services, faithful seeking to live from their baptism…

My ministry as a priest has led me over the years to carry out missions in a wide variety of ministries, first in the diocese of Paris, my diocese of origin (parishes, youth chaplaincies, teaching, support for movements, responsibilities diocesan), then at the national level at the Conference of Bishops, in Rome with French seminarians, for 5 years as auxiliary bishop of Lille with Mgr Laurent Ulrich (well known here in Dijon!) and for nearly three years as Apostolic Delegate for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

I arrive in Dijon with humility, a desire to bring together the proclamation and service of the Gospel and the joy of serving a Church which has a beautiful history of holiness, commitment and vitality.

Times may seem harsh to us, in a fractured society, largely secularized and often a little lost in its bearings, within a Church which finds itself shaken and abused by the revelations on the extent of the abuses which have been able to develop too a long time within it and leave the victims in great suffering. We know that the transmission of the Faith is not self-evident and that the sharing of the Hope which animates us cannot be done without a true missionary conversion. From this point of view, the synodal approach proposed to the whole Church by Pope Francis invites us concretely to live the experience of communion, participation and mission. Beautiful program of Christian life in truth!

I will be happy to meet those who can during the welcoming Mass of your new archbishop on Sunday March 13, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. in Saint-Bénigne Cathedral.

While waiting to get to know each other better, I assure you of my prayers for the diocese and for each one of you and count on yours so that my future ministry will be a true service of communion.

–