Jean Vernette was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 of the diocese of Montauban

Montauban

Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....

. In 1973, he was appointed national secretary of the French episcopate for the study of cult

Cult

The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

s and new religious movements. He published several books on cults and new therapies. In 2000, he was auditioned by the French Senate

French Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...

about the opportuneness of a law strengthening the prevention and repression of cults.

Main works

• Dictionnaire des groupes religieux aujourd'hui, with Claire Moncelon, Presses universitaires de France, 2001
• Les sectes, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, « Que sais-je ? », n° 2519, 1990
• Le New Age, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, « Que sais-je ? », 1992
• L'athéisme, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, « Que sais-je ? », n° 1291, 1998 (ISBN 2-13-049301-7)
• L'Église catholique et les sectes, Cerf ed.
• Réincarnation résurrection. Communiquer avec l'au-delà, Les mystères de la vie après la vie, Mulhouse, Salvator ed., 1988, 188p
• Les Nouvelles Thérapies, mieux vivre et guérir autrement, with Clermons Lons, Presses de la Renaissance ed.
• Nouvelles Spiritualités, nouvelles sagesses, Bayard ed.
• Seront-ils chrétiens ? Perspectives catéchuménales, with H.Bourgeois, Chalet ed.
• Sectes et réveil religieux, quand l'Occident s'éveille