This afternoon, the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Nice will get to know their new bishop, Monsignor André Marceau, who has been installed in his new position during his Professio Fidei. The people of the Côte d’Azur will recognize a pastor who is engaged on a social level with a personal style that is sober and transparent.
His task is one of the most daring and complicated: In the face of prevailing relativism—especially in urban areas—there is a need to return to the fundamental principles of the Gospel, to the fidelity of its message, and to its profound identity. To assert that mercy is more important than strict observance, that love of neighbor is more essential to salvation than all rituals, and that love that uplifts is more important than the law that condemns.
We must prefer a Church that is bold enough to venture out among the people over a Church that is sick from its own confinement and clings to its own securities. It should reject its protocol and traditions in favor of acts for the most vulnerable and the outcasts of society, the poor and the afflicted.
We wish and hope that Monsignor Marceau will spread his message in a simple and joyful manner and that he will find in his pastoral mission the “beatitudes” of the Gospel.
