Institute of the Good Shepherd

Background

Father Paul Aulagnier, who had been provincial superior of the Society of Saint Pius X in France from 1976 to 1994 was expelled in 2003 for having spoken in favour of the 2002 agreement between the Holy See and the priests of Campos, Brazil who form the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney. These priests were authorised to use the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite on the condition of recognising the Second Vatican Council "in the light of Tradition" and the validity of the revised Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI.

In August 2004 Father Philippe Laguérie was expelled for having complained that the Society of Saint Pius X had serious problems which discouraged priestly vocations in its seminaries. As a disciplinary measure he had been transferred to Mexico, but refused the assignment.

Father Laguérie had for many years been in charge of the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris, occupied by traditionalist Catholics since 1977. In 1993, he made an attempt to take over another Paris church, the Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. He carried out the operation successfully at Bordeaux, obtaining the approval of the city council, but not of the archbishop's office, to take over the church of Saint-Eloi in January 2002.

Father Christophe Héry was expelled for supporting Laguérie, as was Father Guillaume de Tanoüarn. The latter was the founder of the religious association of Saint-Marcel and the Saint-Paul Centre in Paris.

On 15 June 2006, a French court in Nanterre (chambre du Tribunal de grande instance de Nanterre) ordered the reinstatement of Fathers Laguérie and Héry.

Foundation of the Institute

They had already decided to embark on a new path (while, according to at least one of them, remaining members of the Society of St Pius X). On 8 September 2006, the liturgical feast of Our Lady's Birthday, they, together with Father Henri Forestier, who also was stationed in Bordeaux, formed the Institute of the Good Shepherd, a society of apostolic life in full communion with the Holy See. Several seminarians joined the new fraternity, some of them close to ordination, and Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, who signed the decree approving their constitutions for a preliminary experimental period of five years, promised to confer the sacrament of orders on them.

Father Laguérie had declared in March 2006 that agreement with the Holy See was required by the very constitution of the Catholic Church, and he asked his parishioners to take note of the signs of good will on the part of Rome and of its intention to put an end to the doctrinal turmoil and the scandals of 1960-2000. He pointed to an address of Pope Benedict as a condemnation of using "the spirit of the Council" as a pretext for excesses.

Agreement with the Holy See

The Holy See granted the members of the new institute use, as the institute's own rite, of the "Tridentine" form of the Roman Rite, employing the 1962 Roman Missal. For their part, each of the founding members personally undertook to respect the authentic Magisterium of the See of Rome with "complete fidelity to the infallible Magisterium of the Church." The members of the institute may engage in a criticism of the Second Vatican Council that is serious and constructive and in accord with Pope Benedict XVI's address of 22 December 2005 to the Roman Curia, while recognizing that it is for the Apostolic See to give the authentic interpretation.

Present situation

In less than five months, by 6 February 2007, membership had grown to ten priests and two deacons - one close to priestly ordination - incardinated in the institute and listed by name on Father Laguérie's blog. In its two formation houses it also had a not-yet-incardinated deacon, a subdeacon and eight other seminarians. There was one brother (a lay member of the institute). The ordination on 3 March 2007 added another two priests, while maintaining the number of deacons at two. Priests from many places were requesting incardination, but the institute exercised prudence in their regard.

Cardinal Castrillón fulfilled the promise he made when the Institute was founded and on 22 September 2007 ordained five priests of the Institute, one of whom was a former member of the Society of St. Pius X. The archbishop of Bordeaux and president of the French episcopal conference, Jean-Pierre Ricard, was present.

By 8 September 2008, the priests of the Institute had grown to 18, and the seminarians to 30. The priests became 22 in the following month and 24 in the spring of 2009.

In September 2009, the Institute had in France a house of formation for its seminarians studying philosophy, and a residence in Rome for its students of theology. It had eight Mass centres in France, and one in each of five other countries: Chile, Colombia, Italy, Poland and Spain. It also had three schools. The Institute of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd had come into existence with two Sisters taking the veil.

Latin America District

On 1 November 2006, Father Rafael Navas Ortiz was nominated superior for the Latin America District. Today, as mentioned above, the district has 3 houses: one in Santiago, Chile and another in Bogotà, Colombia.

There were unconfirmed rumours in February 2008 that Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile ordered the Institute to cease celebrating the Tridentine Mass and leave the country. It is not authorized to celebrate the Tridentine Mass publicly in Santiago and his celebrations are therefore of private character, as permitted by the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

In March, 2011, an independent chapel located in Bogota, Colombia was officially incardinated into the IBP by the Archbishop of Bogota, and is now officially recognized by the Archdiocese. The priest of the chapel has been given faculties to say public Masses (TLM) and hear confessions.