Outsider archbishop

...With regard to the liturgy, however, he was punctilious to a fault...

...His selection was something of a challenge, as he possesses all the qualities for reconciling - or alternatively alienating - the warring factions of French Catholicism...

...Certainly, to judge from the splash made by Archbishop Lustiger's headlong dive into controversial waters, his appointment is the sign of a new form of leadership for the French church...

...We belong to the generation that will witness the restoration of the links of unity between the churches...

...We should also remember that our divisions are not purely accidental, but a constant feature of our past, and that perfect unity will always be an ideal in the future...

...But because he represents those values that the pope appears to prize above all others in choosing bishops: namely, a deep spirituality, a sound and traditional theology, intelligence and a strong personality...

...To take an image from the energy crisis, I don't intend to deal with the refining or distribution of petrol...

...is still relevant today...

...But there can be no doubt that the ultimate choice was John Paul IPs...

...Atheism, unbelief, the undermining of morals are partly to blame...

...Archbishop Lustiger is in many ways a Wojtylian figure...

...What, finally, is Archbishop Lustiger's conception of his role as bishop...

...In the city of Joan of Arc, he was faced with the unenviable and almost impossible task of reconciling a community divided by the controversial positions adopted by Bishop Guy Riobe, in favor of conscientious objectors and the ordination to the priesthood of married men, and in opposition to the French nuclear deterrent...

...And it would seem that the fourteen months the new archbishop spent as bishop of Orleans served as a time of rest and trial...

...Archbishop Lustiger's aims are ambitious, Time will tell whether he will succeed in ushering in a new missionary age for the French church, after fifteen years of crisis, deception, and unseemly squabbling between the Christian-marxists on the one hand, and the integrist followers of Archbishop Lefebvre, on the other...

...He is likely to modify this tradition since he is known to be critical of what he calls "feunionitis...

...No, the only plan I have is to meet with the clergy and laity of the diocese so that we can draw up a plan together...

...He is a voracious reader, converted to Christianity at fourteen-years-old, then tempted by atheism and marxism...

...And we must seek to answer this question once more, together with the faithful and the committed Christians - for it is by no means a simple change in episcopal strategy...

...Obviously it is impbssible to be the parish priest of millions of people, but I refuse to remain imprisoned in an administrative role...

...Doctrinally he is classical and the impression he left with the students of the Sorbonne, where he was chaplain for many years, was that of a man of certitudes...

...In spite of his heavy commitments, the new archbishop of Paris met the religious press recently...

...Unfortunately, a large sector of this committed generation - my generation - lost its faith...

...Archbishop Lustiger's stay in Orleans was too brief to give a very clear idea of his episcopal style, and the word most often used to describe him by those who knew him there was "disconcerting...

...Obviously, it will also depend on our degree of separation, -and it will be easier to restore unity between Catholics and Orthodox or even Anglicans than with the Protestants...

...It is difficult to discover the criteria behind the choice, or the role played by the new papal nuncio, Msgr...

...In fact, the choice of such forceful and individualistic, prelates as Jean-Marie Lustiger suggests the opening of a new era of episcopal appointments which will no doubt alter the physiognomy of the conference of bishops...

...In any case, he could well adopt as his motto: Another way of being archbishop...

...I am deeply convinced," he said, "that what was historically impossible ten years ago is in the realm of possibility today...

...The description could be aptly used to characterize the new archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger...

...I have neither trje time nor the taste for the star system," he explained, "and I know the temptation of regarding public opinion as a mirror, which only leads to narcissism...

...What is needed first of all," replied Archbishop Lustiger, "is a critical examination of our pastoral and apostolic methods...

...His most controversial statement, made repeatedly, was that he still considers himself to be a Jew, in spite of his conversion...

...His intelligence is wide-ranging and his personality striking...

...s correspondent in France...

...How did he react to the labels that had been attached to him, such as "a man of doctrinal certitude," "a hardliner sent to restore law and order," etc...

...He added, however, that he had not read the majority of the articles which had appeared about him...

...Does this mean that the strategy developed by Catholic Action with its social and political commitment, and by the worker-priest movement with its insistence on fully sharing in the life of the milieu to be evangelized, is now to be abandoned...

...He also discovered on arriving in the capital that the meetings he is expected to preside over as archbishop take up a quarter of his time...

...Not on account of his Polish origin, since he was born in Paris and claims that the only Polish words he knows are "hello," "vodka" and "solidarity...

...This means that the famous cry of Yvan Daniel and Henri Godin which resounded in our ears forty years ago: France, pays de mission?' (Is France a missionary country...

...The French hierarchy naturally regard him with suspicion as an outsider whose designation was an implicit disavowal of the present system of promotion...

...I have no intention of allowing myself to be turned into a manager, or spiritual Prefect...

...Some weeks after his installation, Archbishop Lustiger took a step backward out of the limelight, and is setting about his task of facing his new responsibilities...

...On the ecumenical front, Archbishop Lustiger is surprisingly optimistic...

...His first move was to invite the priests of the diocese to come and meet him informally, in groups of ten to fifteen - which means more than sixty sessions, two hours at a time...

...Does he have a blueprint for the future...

...He always insisted on the most beautiful vestments, the dignity of the service and would brook no laxity with the rubrics...

...The archbishop refused to comment, simply stating, "My arrival in Paris has released a certain number of phantasms into which people project their own hopes or fears...

...On one occasion, when the faithful began to join in during the Eucharistic prayer, he banged his fist on the altar to express his displeasure...

...He accepted every interview and, for three days, appeared in all the media: newspapers, radio, and television...

...I want to celebrate my faith, be accessible to the priests and laity, in short fulfill a priestly and sacramental task, as witness of the Word...

...He devotes one day a week to meditation and places more emphasis on prayer than politics or social action...

...He escapes the conventional classifications of "left" and "right," "progressive" and "conservative," but the forthright stands he will undoubtedly take will serve as a touchstone of his popularity...

...With regard to the theological formation of the laity, however, Archbishop Lustiger agreed that this is one of his "major objectives...

...Under the barrage of questions he didn't lose his sense of humor and generally gave as good as he got...

...Maybe he will provide the authoritative voice needed by the silent majority...

...He was somewhat brutal in his disavowal of the positions defended by his predecessor, and yet he did nothing to ingratiate himself with the bourgeoisie, since he constantly wore a threadbare, velvet, black suit, "which made him look," said one lady councillor, "like a gamekeeper...

...These qualities Jean-Marie Lustiger has in abundance...

...Angelo Felici, known for his conservative positions and for the part he played, when he was nuncio in Holland, in the nomination of the two conservative bishops, Gijsen and Simonis...

...I am determined to get out and about, and I like traveling in the metro...

...Defining the good journalist as someone who "does not merely ask questions but begins by asking himself questions," Archbishop Lustiger recognized the important role played today by the media in the mediation of truth...

...ALAIN WOODROW (Alain Woodrow is Commonweal's correspondent in France...

...Report from France OUTSIDER ARCHBISHOP JEW & CHRISTIAN BOTH Among THE posters covering every available space on walls and hoardings in Paris recently, one praising the merits of the Socialist presidential candidate Francois Mitterrand bore the slogan: "Une autre facon d'etre president" (Another way of being president...

...It is true that the immediate pre- and post-war generations discovered a new type of commitment, generous and courageous, based on the idea of sallying forth from the Christian bastion to bring the Gospel message to the de-christianized masses...

...The see was left vacant for eighteen months after the untimely death, by drowning, of Bishop Riobe...

...John Paul II's choice of this relatively obscure parish priest, first to succeed the charismatic and controversial Guy Riobe in the difficult see of Orleans, and then Cardinal Francois Marty at the head of the most prestigious diocese of the land, reveals something of the pope's overall strategy...

...The most dedicated Christians have been unable to bring their own children to follow the same path...

...His most lasting, and significant, legacy to the diocese of Orleans was his decision to reopen the diocesan seminary and to set up theological study cycles for the laity and married deacons, whose role he intended to develop in the coming years when the number of priests will be at its lowest ebb...

...It is the petrol itself which is in short supply, and my first task is to look for new oil wells...

...I am more of an infantryman then a commanding officer, and I have no intention of translating my personal experience into a general, hard and fast rule...

...His claim to a "dual affiliation," Jewish and Christian, was not received too kindly by certain leaders, of the Jewish community, who pointed out that "it is as contradictory to be both Jew and Christian as to attempt to square a circle...

...But," he added, "this should not be taken in the academic sense...

...I am less concerned with erudition than with the release of spiritual energies...

...This Jewish convert, of Polish origin, fifty-five-years-old and consecrated bishop just over a year ago, was a complete outsider in the episcopal stakes...

...Ten important sees will fall vacant in the near future, and the trend would appear to be the replacement of middle-of-the-road, "low-profile" bishops, co-opted from Catholic Action circles, by younger, more dynamic and conservative figures, who do not regard col-legiality as an excuse for anonymity or endless compromise...

...As soon as his nomination was made public, Archbishop Lustiger decided to face the press without flinching...