The spiritual testament of a young priest from the diocese of Paris who died prematurely

“In everyday life, it doesn’t make a lot of noise, a priest like Abbé Gordien. He gets up early every morning to work in the Lord’s vineyard, and he goes to bed late every night, having given all his strength to the mission. Very humbly, very ordinarily, very discreetly. Very joyfully too (…) And then he dies, one day, in a small hospital room, surrounded by Christ and his loved ones. That day, without anyone having to say it, the truth imposed itself: how great was this little parish priest! “.

Like this tribute from Elisabeth Geffroy published on the La Nef website, strong emotion has been expressed in recent days on social networks and among the faithful who knew Cyril Gordien. This priest of the diocese of Paris, parish priest of Saint-Dominique (XIV arrondissement) since 2019, died Tuesday evening March 14, at the age of 48, after having fought for a year against cancer. .

“We are losing a very holy priest, a great man who will have marked all those who approached him”, notably greeted on Facebook Father Guy-Emmanuel Cariot, rector of the basilica of Argenteuil. While many faithful marched all weekend in the Saint-Dominique church to meditate near his coffin, exposed to the Blessed Sacrament since Friday afternoon.

“A wonderful spiritual fight”

National manager of Guides and Scouts of Europe between 2012 and 2018, Father Gordien had trained many scout leaders in France and was, more broadly, very involved with young people, which also explains the influence that has been shown by them. days beyond the diocese.

“He was keen to transmit to these young people his faith, his hope and his audacity”, paid tribute to him the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Laurent Ulrich, in a letter addressed to the priests of the diocese, before celebrating his funeral this Monday. in Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge.

“His physical fight has always been an admirable spiritual fight,” he further highlighted as the priest fought selflessly and discreetly against this late-diagnosed cancer.

spiritual testament

“Traditional abbot” for some, who had left the parish on the arrival of this young priest in a cassock to pre-conciliar ecclesiology; “Pastor with homilies of fire” for the others, marked by his kindness and his piety, Father Gordien did not leave anyone indifferent. “Dividing”, some would say.

Ordained in 2005, this priest from Touraine and the Landes had chosen the Curé of Ars as his model, claimed to be of the “Jean-Paul II generation”, admired Benedict XVI in particular and regularly quoted Cardinal Robert Sarah. The latter had also come to Paris in April to celebrate the mass during which he had received the sacrament of the sick.

His career was punctuated by several difficult episodes that deeply bruised him. He opened up about it – with the full tone that was his own – in his spiritual testament, an incisive text of around thirty pages entitled “Priest in the heart of suffering”, which the faithful will find printed, this Monday, at Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge.

In this text where he testifies to his spiritual itinerary, he returns in particular to the “Gerson affair”, named after the Parisian high school of which he was then chaplain and where, in 2014, a pupil and a teacher had complained in the media. the way in which the speakers from the Alliance Vita association had approached the question of abortion. “I saw again on this occasion how our leaders do not take care of the priests”, he laments, affirming that “the hardest thing is to suffer through the Church”. A regret that he never mentioned to those he accompanied.

Facing his death in this text written in January, he also fully assumes his choice of 2020 which earned him a certain number of criticisms: he then continued to celebrate mass in his church, open during confinement, despite the ban. of the government. “What is a society worth which absolutely privileges the health of the body, leaving people to die in appalling loneliness, depriving them of the presence of their loved ones? What is a society worth that comes to prohibit worship of the Lord? »

In this plea for prayer and the interior life of priests, Father Cyril Gordien reaffirms his convictions on the sacredness of the Mass or on the meaning of suffering, determined to “lead this last fight with the courage and strength of the faith “.

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