Guerard des Lauriers
Encyclopedia
Michel Louis Guérard des Lauriers, O.P. (1898 - February 27, 1988) was a Dominican
theologian and, in later life, a traditionalist Catholic
bishop
.
and agrégé in mathematics, Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers entered the Dominican novitiate
of Amiens
in 1927 and was ordained a priest on 29 July 1931.
He became a professor of philosophy at the famous, clerical Dominican university of Le Saulchoir in Belgium in 1933. Under Pope Pius XII
(1939–1958) Fr. Guérard des Lauriers served as a professor at the Pontifical Lateran University
in Rome. Guérard des Lauriers O.P. was an advisor to the Pope on the dogma
of the Assumption of Mary
(proclaimed in Munificentissimus Deus
) before 1950. From 1954 until 1955 he served as personal Father Confessor to Pius XII, before being replaced by Fr. Augustin Bea S.J.
With the advent of the Second Vatican Council
in the 1960s, Guérard des Lauriers became concerned with the events taking place in the Church. In 1969 he co-authored the Ottaviani Intervention which was a critical study of the new Mass
. In 1970 Pope Paul VI
made public a document demanding the resignation of certain conservative professors at the pontifical universities of Rome, among them Guérard des Lauriers.
St. Pius X
seminary in Ecône
, Switzerland. He then presented his thesis that the Chair of Peter might be vacant because Pope Paul VI
was guilty of heresy (see sedevacantism
and sedeprivationism
). Because of this view, Lefebvre removed Guérard des Lauriers from his seminary teaching post in 1977.
He further developed his beliefs on the current state of the papacy, relying on Cardinal Cajetan
and St. Robert Bellarmine
, arguing that Pope Paul VI
, as a result of his heresy, was not a true pope, being only pope materially (papa materialiter) and not formally, known as the "Cassiciacum thesis".
Guérard des Lauriers further believed that the new rites of ordination and episcopal consecration (newest Pontificale Romanum, new forms by promulgation of 18 June 1968) promulgated by Pope Paul VI
were doubtfully valid (or even outrightly invalid) and therefore it was necessary to take action to secure a valid succession of bishops
for the preservation of the (Latin Rite) Roman Catholic Church
. He began discussions with Dr. Eberhard Heller and Dr. Hiller, German sedevacantist activists who were harboring Most. Rev. Ngô Ðình Thuc Pierre Martin (1897–1985), the former archbishop of Huế
, Vietnam
, and after Guérard des Lauriers O.P. agreed to abate his Sedeprivationism
and adhere to the theoretical tenets of Sedevacantism, it was agreed that Archbishop emeritus Ngo Dinh Thuc would consecrate him as a bishop.
Accordingly, after long consideration, on May 7, 1981, Guérard des Lauriers was consecrated bishop by Ngo Dinh Thuc in Toulon
, France. Shortly after, Guérard des Lauriers reiterated his Sedeprivationism and commenced a polemical war with the Sedevacantists, including Ngo Dinh Thuc and Drs. Heller and Hiller.
Guérard des Lauriers died in Etiolles
, France, in 1988 at the age of 90.
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
theologian and, in later life, a traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
.
Church career
A normalienÉcole Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
and agrégé in mathematics, Michel-Louis Guérard des Lauriers entered the Dominican novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
of Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
in 1927 and was ordained a priest on 29 July 1931.
He became a professor of philosophy at the famous, clerical Dominican university of Le Saulchoir in Belgium in 1933. Under Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
(1939–1958) Fr. Guérard des Lauriers served as a professor at the Pontifical Lateran University
Pontifical Lateran University
The Pontifical Lateran University is a university by pontifical right based in Rome, Italy. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family...
in Rome. Guérard des Lauriers O.P. was an advisor to the Pope on the dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
of the Assumption of Mary
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
(proclaimed in Munificentissimus Deus
Munificentissimus Deus
Munificentissimus Deus is the name of an Apostolic constitution written by Pope Pius XII. It defines ex cathedra the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the first ex-cathedra infallible statement since the official ruling on papal infallibility was made at the First Vatican...
) before 1950. From 1954 until 1955 he served as personal Father Confessor to Pius XII, before being replaced by Fr. Augustin Bea S.J.
With the advent of the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
in the 1960s, Guérard des Lauriers became concerned with the events taking place in the Church. In 1969 he co-authored the Ottaviani Intervention which was a critical study of the new Mass
Mass of Paul VI
The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite promulgated by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council...
. In 1970 Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
made public a document demanding the resignation of certain conservative professors at the pontifical universities of Rome, among them Guérard des Lauriers.
Sedeprivationism
Guérard des Lauriers then became a lecturer and professor at Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre'sMarcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing the changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.In 1970,...
St. Pius X
Society of St. Pius X
The Society of Saint Pius X is an international Traditionalist Catholic organisation, founded in 1970 by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre...
seminary in Ecône
Ecône
Écône is an area in the municipality of Riddes, district of Martigny, in the canton of Valais, in Switzerland. It is the location of The International Seminary of Saint Pius X.-External links:*...
, Switzerland. He then presented his thesis that the Chair of Peter might be vacant because Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
was guilty of heresy (see sedevacantism
Sedevacantism
Sedevacantism is the position held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics who hold that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of either Pope Pius XII in 1958 or Pope John XXIII in 1963.Sedevacantists...
and sedeprivationism
Sedeprivationism
Sedeprivationism is an ideological school or party of the traditionalist Roman Catholic movement that holds that Popes since John XXIII have been defective Popes, following the principles of the late French theologian Michel Louis Guérard des Lauriers, O.P., as Lauriers set it out in his thesis...
). Because of this view, Lefebvre removed Guérard des Lauriers from his seminary teaching post in 1977.
He further developed his beliefs on the current state of the papacy, relying on Cardinal Cajetan
Thomas Cajetan
Thomas Cajetan , also known as Gaetanus, commonly Tommaso de Vio , was an Italian cardinal. He is perhaps best known among Protestants for his opposition to the teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation while he was the Pope's Legate in Wittenberg, and perhaps best known among...
and St. Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
, arguing that Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, as a result of his heresy, was not a true pope, being only pope materially (papa materialiter) and not formally, known as the "Cassiciacum thesis".
Guérard des Lauriers further believed that the new rites of ordination and episcopal consecration (newest Pontificale Romanum, new forms by promulgation of 18 June 1968) promulgated by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
were doubtfully valid (or even outrightly invalid) and therefore it was necessary to take action to secure a valid succession of bishops
Apostolic Succession
Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were...
for the preservation of the (Latin Rite) Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He began discussions with Dr. Eberhard Heller and Dr. Hiller, German sedevacantist activists who were harboring Most. Rev. Ngô Ðình Thuc Pierre Martin (1897–1985), the former archbishop of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and after Guérard des Lauriers O.P. agreed to abate his Sedeprivationism
Sedeprivationism
Sedeprivationism is an ideological school or party of the traditionalist Roman Catholic movement that holds that Popes since John XXIII have been defective Popes, following the principles of the late French theologian Michel Louis Guérard des Lauriers, O.P., as Lauriers set it out in his thesis...
and adhere to the theoretical tenets of Sedevacantism, it was agreed that Archbishop emeritus Ngo Dinh Thuc would consecrate him as a bishop.
Accordingly, after long consideration, on May 7, 1981, Guérard des Lauriers was consecrated bishop by Ngo Dinh Thuc in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, France. Shortly after, Guérard des Lauriers reiterated his Sedeprivationism and commenced a polemical war with the Sedevacantists, including Ngo Dinh Thuc and Drs. Heller and Hiller.
Guérard des Lauriers died in Etiolles
Étiolles
Étiolles is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Étiolles are known as Étiollais.-References:** -External links:* * *...
, France, in 1988 at the age of 90.
By Guérard des Lauriers
- Le Saint-Esprit, âme de l'Eglise, Étiolles, Seine et Oise : Monastère de la Croix, 1948.
- Garabandal, S.l., 1965.
- Lettera ad un religioso di Simone WeilSimone WeilSimone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
; trad. di Mariella Bettarini. Risposta alla Lettera ad un religioso di Guérard des Lauriers ; trad. di Carmen Montesano (Lettre à un religieux), Torino : Borla, 1970. - La Mathématique, les mathématiques, la mathématique moderne, Paris : Doin, 1972.
- Homélie (prononcée le 15 mai 1971 pour l'anniversaire de la mort de l'amiral de Penfentenyo de Kervéréguin), Versailles : R.O.C., 1973.
- La Charité de la vérité, Villegenon : Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, 1985.
- La Présence réelle du Verbe incarné dans les espèces consacrées, Villegenon : Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, 1987.
On des Lauriers' doctrine
- Louis-Marie de BlignièresLouis-Marie de BlignièresLouis-Marie de Blignières, civil name Olivier de Blignières — traditionalist Catholic priest, founder of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer.-Writings:...
, Le mystère de l'être. L'approche thomiste de Guérard des Lauriers, Paris, J. Vrin, 2008.