Following testimonies received in early March, the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon opened a canonical investigation against Father Antoine Coelho, founder and moderator of the House of the Holy Spirit, a former Legionary of Christ incardinated in the diocese.
“The latter has recognized and confirmed his intention to marry and start a family with a woman of Spanish nationality whom he affirms to be the ‘incarnation’ of the Holy Spirit”, explains Bishop Dominique Rey, in a press release published on the diocesan website. “For these doctrinal and moral reasons, Father Antoine Coelho has been suspended and he is prohibited from exercising the priesthood”, continues the bishop, who has also received the members of this new community to “notify them of the dissolution immediate of their association.
In his decree of suspension, Bishop Rey forbids Father Coelho any act related to the priesthood and in particular exorcisms. “He was obsessed with the attacks of the demon. He performed two exorcisms on me, without really asking my opinion, ”says a young woman interviewed by La Croix. “I remember in particular a session of several hours, locked up with him and an evangelical laywoman. It was exhausting. He had said to me: “We are going to release what you have in you.” I didn’t really feel free to leave but, at that time, it seemed normal to me, ”continues the young woman, while affirming that she has also received a lot from this community.
A listening cell and psychological and spiritual support have been made available to former members.
Who is Antoine Coelho?
Antoine Coelho was ordained a priest within the Legionaries of Christ in 2008. In 2010, he received the “baptism in the Spirit” within the Charismatic Renewal and felt invested with a new mission, “to bring God’s healing to many more people”.
From 2012 to 2013, he was the chaplain, in the Paris region, of the “Alliance of United Hearts”, to which La Croix devoted an investigation in October 2022. He then accompanied the founder of this alliance, Virginie (pseudonym) , a “mystique” whose first book of “revelations” he prefaced, before distancing himself. “Today I no longer believe in it,” he confided to La Croix.
Willingly mystical, this priest with sometimes barely intelligible homilies left the Legionaries of Christ in 2013 and joined the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon. Bishop Rey first sent him to train for two years in the exercise of charisms and healing prayer within the English Catholic community Cor et Lumen Christi, founded by the charismatic preacher Damian Stayne.
A charismatic priest
Then the bishop authorized him in 2017 to found with four young people a small fraternity in Castellet, the House of the Holy Spirit, recognized as a private association of the faithful ad experimentum in May 2021 and counting ten members. “Our charism is to make the person of the Holy Spirit known so that people have a passionate relationship with him,” he explained in an interview with Alfa & Omega, a Spanish Catholic weekly, in January.
A school of mission, the Holy Spirit House, is born, welcoming for a year of formation in evangelization students from all countries, in order to “raise a new generation of missionaries of the Holy Spirit”. Father Coelho also animates with several couples street evangelizations, spiritual retreats, as well as, every summer, an international session for 18-35 year olds in Solliès-Toucas (Var). He participates in many healing sessions across France and broadcasts videos seen by thousands of people.
On March 4, he was still leading a Lenten retreat in Paris, in the Sainte-Odile church, on the theme “Grace and healing”, which was attended by the one he intends to marry, Amanda, a 26-year-old Barcelona girl he met two years before. He would also have said in public that “it is the Holy Spirit who manifests himself” when it would have started to tremble in all its members in the audience, according to the testimony of a participant.
It was three days later, Tuesday March 7, when leaving for a worship group, that Father Coelho announced his departure to the members of his community. He informed them that he was getting married in Krakow, Poland, but that he intended to remain a priest, as it was “the time of the new Church”. This announcement would have caused a split in his community, some deeming it “prophetic”, others distancing themselves from their moderator.
“How can you keep love in a box? »
In his interview with Alfa & Omega in January, Antoine Coelho asserted, sibyllinely, that “humanity has changed. We are in a new era in which we must live our faith in a different way, (…) a new era marked by falling in love, in the manner of the Song of Songs. We are called to live in a much more loving relationship with God, as husband to wife. God wants to come even closer to us. »
His words are interpreted today in another light: “The Holy Spirit breaks our stratagems and that scandalizes us, especially those who like to put everything in a box, he continued in this interview. How can you keep love in a box? It is a time characterized by a greater sense of freedom, because the obedience that God wants for us is freedom in the Spirit. Asked about marriage, he did not hesitate to affirm: “When the spouses make love, God makes love to one through the other. That’s why I strongly recommend that couples have sex (laughs), but from a mystical point of view, which is the most real. »
Asked by La Croix, the priest did not respond. The sanction of Father Coelho and the closure of his community were communicated this Thursday when an apostolic visit to Toulon ended on March 10. The Vatican has asked to shed light on the serious dysfunctions of governance reported in the diocese, and in particular the lack of discernment, vigilance and support for problematic priests and communities with sectarian aberrations.
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