In 2008, Laurent Lenne landed in the House of Secrets, in season 2 of Secret Story with for secret: “”I am an Anglican priest“. Twelve years after his remarkable televised appearance, he continues his religious mission in the south of France. As specified by our colleagues from Purepeople, Laurent had been hired as oven conductor at the crematorium of La Seyne-sur-Mer and vicar of The Ecumenical Apostolic Church of France since 2016. To provide all his support to his church during the health crisis, Laurent offered his services to support bereaved families and presented himself to his superiors as a “Presiding Bishop of the Apostolic and Ecumenical Church of France“.
“Usually, it is the Communion Saint Lazare, a network of volunteers and Catholic priests, which takes care of the ceremonies for families wishing to give a religious aspect to this event or who need accompaniment. With the Covid, they were less present, so when our employee offered to help us, explaining that he was a priest in an ecumenical church, we accepted“confided to Figaro the director of the crematorium of La Seyne-sur-Mer Alexandre de Carlo. However, Laurent Lenne never acquired the status of priest and quickly found himself qualified as a “false priest”.
Faced with the scandal, the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon alerted the faithful on January 19, 2021, stressing that the apostolic and ecumenical church in France was not recognized by the Catholic Church. “Any celebrations or sacraments that might be pronounced would not be considered valid for the Catholic Church, which may confuse people who think they are dealing with a priest of that denomination.“explains the director of cabinet of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon Yves-Marie Sevillia to Figaro. What push Laurent to submit his resignation to apologize for the wrongs he has caused.
Laurent Lenne defended by his management
His bosses, however, refused to let him leave his post because they are obviously very satisfied with his work. “He didn’t do anything wrong in our eyes. We are a public service and we don’t have to get involved in religious issues, we open our doors to everyone without exception, and we only offer rooms to funeral operators. In addition, we have only had positive feedback on it.“said the director of the crematorium.
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Eleanor de la Fontaine
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