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T.R.P. Claude MARÉCHAL (1935-2023)
Former Superior General.
Italia
Religious of the Province of Europe, Provincial of France (1984-1987), Superior General (1987-1999).
Reputation as an intellectual and entertainer.
Claude Maréchal was born in Cramans, in the Jura, on May 3, 1935. He completed his secondary education at the Alumnae of Vellexon (Haute-Saône) and Miribel-les-Echelles (Isère). Chosen to the religious life of the Assumption, he entered the novitiate of Nozeroy (Jura) in 1953 and was admitted to his first profession, which he pronounced on October 7, 1954. He was perpetually professed in 1960, after a long period of military service in Algeria. , he studied Theology in Lyon (Rhône) and prepared a thesis in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) on the treatise De Sacramentis by Hugues de Saint-Victor, which would not see the light of day. At least he has the satisfaction of having enjoyed the teaching of a specialist in the subject, Professor Chavasse. At the end of his training, he was ordained a priest in Lyon-Valpré, on March 30, 1963. He was immediately appointed, for his teaching abilities, professor of Dogma at the Valpré scholasticate, then in full growth.
A close man, never short of ideas, always enthusiastic about intellectual work, he brings to the teaching team of the time a touch of originality and freshness that the chosen subject does not possess by itself. Over the years, the scholasticate emptied and Father Claude joined the Lyon Consortium, which brought together the living forces available from the religious institutes. From teacher, he soon became director, but due to lack of students, he was called to adopt another auditorium.
In the 1970s, Father Claude agreed to direct the Vivante Eglise magazine at Bayard Presse, which replaced Chrétiens ensemble. This experience as a journalist allows him to travel the wide world and enrich himself with another form of human knowledge, that of personal relationships, which he does not shy away from despite his intellectual nature.
On the other hand, in those turbulent years that shook the Valpré scholasticate, he had chosen to live in a small community inserted in the heart of the city of Lyon, on Thiers Avenue, and he divided his time between Lyon and the capital of Gaul (1973). . Out of realism, he allowed himself to be aspired to by the capital and in 1979 he became part of the Paris community of Charcot Valley.
There is no chapter session during those years 1970-1980 that did not see Father Claude called to play an esteemed role as principal animator; Likewise, together with Fathers Bruno Chenu and Marcel Neusch, he is the inevitable organizer of the summer sessions, called Les Essarts, which provide religious with a time for recycling and updating on current issues.
In September 1984 he was elected to replace Fr. Emmanuel Rospide in the position of Provincial of France. He was barely able to take steps towards his task when he was elected, on Saturday, May 30, 1987, successor to Father Herve Stéphan, at the head of the institute. At 52 years old, this religious of an intellectual nature, comfortable in discussing ideas, will be able to imprint on the Congregation the traits of his warm and dynamic temperament.
Lord, who shall we go to? You have words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One, the Holy One of God. You know this response from Pedro. It is in the Gospel of May 12 of this year. For me it has taken on a particular importance. I was leaving Father General's office. The next day, the Gospel of the Good Shepherd was also ready. Back in Paris, I made contact with some people and I ratified the proposal that was made to me. Your trust, that of those responsible for the Congregation, the exchanges that I had previously had with my community, have weighed on my decision. In these indications, I have recognized that service to the Kingdom for me involved accepting this burden. This obedience is a new turn in my life. Teacher and trainer, then journalist attentive to the thousand faces of the Church, here I am an animator of people and communities on a larger scale. Under different forms where faith recognizes the hand of God, it is the same mission…”
(Claude Maréchal, 1984,
in A.T.L.P. No. 35, p. 1)
Seventh successor of Father d’Alzon (1987-1999)
A new Curia takes office alongside Father Claude, with his almost compatriot Father Dominique Bouverot, promoted to Vicar General; a rookie, Father José Geraldo Da Cruz, Brazilian; a Flemish Belgian, Father Louis Augustijns; an American, Father Luc Martel, ensures the continuity of the previous team and the commissary; Father Pierre Charon accepts the position of secretary, provisionally replaced by Father François Bernard, documentary filmmaker. In 1993, at the time of Fr. Claude's re-election, two new men entered the general team: the PPs. Bernard Holzer and Marcel Poirier, the latter a Canadian from Quebec.
Immediately, Fr. Claude Maréchal encouraged internationality; He encourages the study of languages ??in the Assumption and leads by example, introducing himself to the languages ??of Shakespeare and Dante. It cannot be said that the results were very conclusive, since conceptual agility does not automatically unleash the arcana of speaking languages.
Father Claude likes to share his solid convictions, which he develops through his circular letters that are always very dense. A tireless traveler, he knows how to quickly measure the changes taking place on the planet, with the fall of the Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the chain transformations on all continents. He encourages the resumption of the ecumenical apostolate of the Assumption, supporting the pioneering or adventurous teams that set out again on the trails of the ancestors: in Moscow (Fr. Bernard Léannec in 1988), in Romania (Fathers Maurice Laurent, Hervé Stephan, Cornie Nélissen in Bacau in 1990), in Bulgaria (Fr. Daniel Gilier in Plovdiv in 1994).
He does not hesitate to take on a suggestion from the Council of Congregation that he proposes to found in Asia. South Korea is chosen, along with three volunteers: Fathers Frans Desmet, Léo Brassard and Thierry Cocquerez. The founding of the community took place at the end of 1991, in Kwangju. Father Claude also grants Colombia the status of Vicariate, directly dependent on the center of the Congregation; Hopes for vocations are born there, after a long time of maturation. Other significant foundations are: Riobamba (Ecuador) in 1996, East Africa (Kenya in 1988 and Tanzania in 1995).
But, above all, Father Claude devotes great attention to the objectives of formation and especially intellectual formation, for the life of the Congregation. After having requested the skills of several collaborators, in 1993 he managed to put together a booklet entitled: The Spirit of the Assumption according to Manuel d'Alzon (published in five languages). It stimulates the training of trainers, provoking international sessions especially in Africa (Goma) and supporting the practice already rolled out in South America. At the same time, it spares no effort to promote initiatives and international meetings of Vocational Promoters. He gathered in Rome, at the beginning of 1997, an assembly around the topic Specialized studies in the Assumption, with a view to revitalizing that essential pole in the Congregation which is its doctrinal character.
Finally, everyone knows that his letters to religious reflect his broad but essential concerns: ecumenism, religious indifference, lay-religious collaboration, insertion in the local Church, preparation for the 150th anniversary, mission without borders …are themes that appear in the General Chapters of 1993 and 1999, as well as in the annual meetings of the Council of the Congregation.
In November 1999, Father Claude left Rome. He was welcomed first in the community of Limas (Rhône) before being assigned to that of Lyon-Valpré, where his sense of fraternal welcome and generous openness to the great expanded public of the Assumption led him to be named Superior of community in 2001. He fervently participates in the festivities and celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Congregation, which in Valpré were marked by a televised mass on April 30, 2000 and by the History Colloquium in November 2000.
For many years, Father Claude distinguished himself by accompanying young people in formation. In recent years, he was in a care center, where on Saturday, October 28, 2023, he was called by God to his presence.
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