View source for Jacques Gaillot

{{short description|French Catholic bishop (1935–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Bishop
| honorific-prefix = His Excellency
| name = Jacques Gaillot
| title = [[Parthenia (Mauretania)|Titular Bishop of Parthenia]]
| image = Mgr Jacques Gaillot 2007.jpg
| alt = Jacques Gaillot (2007)
| caption =  Gaillot in 2007
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| archdiocese =
| diocese =
| see = [[Partenia]]
| term = 1995–2023
| predecessor = [[José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán]]
| successor = Vacant
| ordination = 18 March 1961
| ordinated_by =
| consecration = 20 June 1982
| consecrated_by = [[Léon Aimé Taverdet]]
| rank = <!--   Personal details   -->
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|9|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Saint-Dizier]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|04|12|1935|9|11|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Paris]], France
| previous_post = [[Diocese of Évreux|Bishop of Évreux]]
}}
{{Infobox bishopstyles
|    name= Jacques Gaillot
|    dipstyle=[[The Right Reverend]]
|    offstyle=[[Your Excellency]]
|    relstyle=[[Bishop]]
|    deathstyle= |}}

'''Jacques Gaillot''' ({{Audio|Fr-Jacques Gaillot.ogg|pronunciation}}; 11 September 1935 – 12 April 2023) was a French [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] clergyman and social activist. He was [[Bishop of Évreux]] in France from 1982 to 1995. In 1995, [[Pope John Paul II]] removed him as head of his diocese because he publicly expressed controversial and heterodox positions on religious, political, and social matters. These views earned Gaillot the popular nickname "the Red Cleric."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=26 April 1996 |title=Deposed Bishop Invents Online Diocese |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/april29/6t555d.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014220529/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/april29/6t555d.html |archive-date=14 October 2006 |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=ChristianityToday.com |language=en}}</ref>

From 1995, Gaillot was bishop of the [[titular see]] of [[Parthenia (Mauretania)|Parthenia]].<ref name="cathhier">{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bgaillot|Bishop Jacques Jean Edmond Georges Gaillot|2022-07-23}}</ref> His online ministry to dissidents in the Catholic Church under the name ''Partenia'' has since been described as the Catholic Church's first virtual diocese.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Donovan |first=Ned |date=4 October 2018 |title=The bishops who've never seen their dioceses |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/bishops-whove-never-seen-their-dioceses/ |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=Catholic Herald |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eRPnmHD1nCwC |title=From one medium to another: communicating the Bible through multimedia |date=1997 |publisher=Sheed & Ward |isbn=1-55612-968-8 |editor-last=Soukup |editor-first=Paul A. |location=Kansas City, MO |page=4 |oclc=37862452 |editor-last2=Hodgson |editor-first2=Robert}}</ref>

==Early life and priesthood==
Jacques Gaillot was born in [[Saint-Dizier]], [[Haute-Marne]], on 11 September 1935. After his secondary studies, he entered the seminary in [[Langres]]. From 1957 to 1959, he performed his compulsory military service in [[Algeria]] during the [[Algerian War]]. From 1960 to 1962 he completed his studies in theology in Rome, earning a bachelor's degree. He was ordained a priest in 1961.<ref name="cathhier" /><ref name="bio">{{Cite web |title=Biography of Jacques Gaillot |url=https://www.partenia.org/english/biographie_eng.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421035559/https://www.partenia.org/english/biographie_eng.htm |archive-date=21 April 2022 |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=Partenia}}</ref>

From 1962 to 1964, he studied at the Higher Institute for Liturgy in [[Paris]] and taught at the major seminary in [[Châlons-en-Champagne]]. Beginning in 1965, he was a professor at the regional seminary of [[Reims]], where he chaired sessions for the implementation of the principles of the [[Second Vatican Council]].<ref name="bio" />

In 1973, he was assigned to the parish of St Dizier in his hometown and became co-manager of the institute for the training of seminary instructors in Paris. In 1977, he was appointed vicar general of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Langres|Diocese of Langres]]. When the see became [[Sede vacante#Other Catholic dioceses|vacant]] in 1981, he was elected [[diocesan administrator]].<ref name="bio" />

==Bishop of Évreux==
On 5 May 1982, [[Pope John Paul II]] appointed him [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Évreux|Bishop of Évreux]].<ref>{{cite book | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-74-1982-ocr.pdf | page = 805 | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis | date = 1982 | volume = LXXIV | access-date = 19 April 2023 }}</ref> He received his episcopal consecration on 20 June from [[Léon Aimé Taverdet]], Bishop of Langres.<ref name="cathhier" /> In his first Easter message he wrote: "I'm not here to convince the convinced or take care of the well. I'm here to support the ill and offer a hand to the lost. Does a bishop remain in his cathedral or does he go into the street? ... I made my choice."<ref name="pg_4"/>

In 1983, Gaillot publicly supported a [[conscientious objector]] in Évreux who declined to perform [[alternative service]] in [[forestry]] on the grounds that it did not contribute to the relief of the destitute or promote peace.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 April 1983 |title=Dix-huit mois de prison pour un insoumis |language=fr |work=[[Le Monde]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1983/04/16/dix-huit-mois-de-prison-pour-un-insoumis_2849071_1819218.html |access-date=24 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727235410/https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1983/04/16/dix-huit-mois-de-prison-pour-un-insoumis_2849071_1819218.html |archive-date=27 July 2019}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Aspects of contemporary France |date=1997 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-203-12921-0 |editor-last=Perry |editor-first=Sheila |location=London |chapter=The Church |oclc=51306752 |author-first=William | author-last=Smith}}</ref> During the annual assembly of the French episcopate, he was one of two bishops (of a total of 110) who voted against a text which supported [[nuclear deterrence]].<ref name="pg_4"/>

In 1984, Gaillot declined to join large-scale Church-led public demonstrations in favour of French [[parochial school]]s and signed petitions in favour of secular education.<ref name="pg_4" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Steven L. |title=Farewell, Revolution: disputed legacies: France, 1789/1989 |date=1995 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-2733-7 |location=Ithaca |page=128 |oclc=624274216}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

In January 1985, Gaillot drew sustained media attention for the first time when he signed an appeal on behalf of underpaid Catholic school teachers; also signing the appeal was [[Georges Marchais]], the head of the [[French Communist Party]]. In response, conservatives in Gaillot's diocese described him as "a tool of the church's worst enemies", while the right-leaning newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' spearheaded a campaign against him.<ref name="pg_4"/> Also in 1985, Gaillot supported the [[First Intifada|First Palestinian Intifada]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pelletier |first=Denis |title=Les catholiques en France de 1789 à nos jours |date=2019 |publisher=Albin Michel |isbn=978-2-226-43933-8 |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=1128276719}}</ref>

In 1987, he went to [[South Africa]] to meet a young [[Internal resistance to South African apartheid|anti-apartheid]] militant from Évreux sentenced to four years in prison by the South African régime. There he also appeared at a demonstration where some Communist militants were also demonstrating. In order to accomplish this trip, he had to renounce going with the diocesan [[pilgrimage]] to [[Lourdes]], a move that drew criticism. Further, in the same year, he also announced that the French Bishops "remain too preoccupied by the correct functioning of the church and its structures."<ref name="pg_4"/> This only ensured that the responses to Gaillot when he later attacked the right-wing French political party, the [[National Front (France)|National Front]], were even stronger. Also in 1987, Gaillot traveled to Athens to show solidarity with Palestinian refugees. Perhaps the most notable event he performed in 1987 was attending, by invitation, a special session of the [[United Nations]] in [[New York City|New York]] to speak out for [[disarmament]].

In 1988, during a closed-door session of the annual assembly of the French episcopate in Lourdes, he advocated the ordination of married men to the priesthood. After the proceedings had finished Gaillot spoke to the press about the discussions held and also promoted his own viewpoints. By promoting a revision of [[clerical celibacy]] and the use of [[condoms]], he caused considerable tension with the French bishops' conference, the situation being exacerbated by the fact that in speaking to the media about the session, Gaillot had violated convention regarding assembly conclaves. He later defended his previous actions, remarking that "I never broke the vow of celibacy ... I only questioned it. But that's worse."<ref name="pg_4"/> Also that year, Gaillot took the unprecedented step for a [[Roman Catholic]] bishop of blessing a [[gay marriage|homosexual union]] in a "service of welcoming," after the couple requested it in view of their imminent death from [[AIDS]].

In 1989, Galliot participated in a trip to [[French Polynesia]] organized by the peace movement, asking for the end to [[French nuclear testing]].

Gaillot also participated in the ceremony of the transfer of the ashes of the late bishop [[Baptiste-Henri Grégoire]] (1750–1831) to the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]], a necropolis for the great men of France. Grégoire had been instrumental in the first [[Abolitionism in France|abolition of slavery]], and the end of discrimination against Blacks and Jews during the [[French Revolution]]. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church had refused to give him the last [[sacraments]] because of Grégoire's acceptance of the [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]]. Gaillot was the only French bishop participating in this ceremony.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 27 July 2019 | url = https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1989/12/13/bicentenaire-au-pantheon-m-francois-mitterrand-preside-un-hommage-a-l-abbe-gregoire-a-monge-et-a-condorcet_4156869_1819218.html | work = Le Monde | language = fr | title = Au Panthéon M. François Mitterrand préside un hommage à l'abbé Grégoire, à Monge et à Condorcet | date = 13 December 1989 }}</ref>

The French journalist [[Henri Tincq]] wrote in ''[[Le Monde]]'' that Gaillot "has the merit of saying out loud what many people in authority in the church think deep down".<ref name="pg_4"/>

In 1989, the [[French Bishops' Conference]], to the extent that the members of the episcopate voted to censure him after Gaillot gave an interview to the publication ''[[Lui]]'', a publication known for its explicit sexual content. He also gave interviews to leading gay magazines and criticized his peers as incompetent to judge the circumstances of gays and lesbians. Gaillot offered to resign but the Vatican did not respond.<ref name="pg_4"/>

Toward late 1989, he made a conciliatory gesture by signing a promise of "loyalty" and "docility" to the papal authority. A week later, Gaillot appeared on television and spoke of the "feeble state of internal debate in the church" and express disappointment that progress had not been made since the [[Second Vatican Council]].<ref name="pg_4">{{Cite journal |last=Englund |first=Stephen |date=6 October 1995 |title=Provocateur or prophet? The French church & Bishop Gaillot |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/210396484 |journal=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]] |volume=122 |issue=17 |pages=12 |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 July 2022 |id={{ProQuest|210396484}}}}</ref>

In 1991, he opposed the [[Gulf War]], publishing a book called ''Open letter to those who preach war, but let it be waged by others''. He also condemned the embargo on [[Iraq]]. By the end of 1991, the French Bishops' Conference had censured Gaillot three times, most recently for his intervention in [[Haiti]], rousing support for [[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]].

Gaillot's book ''A Rant on Exclusion'' (''Coup de gueule contre l'exclusion'') was published in March 1994.<ref>{{cite book | first =Jacques| last = Gaillot | language = fr | title = Coup de gueule contre l'exclusion  | date= 1994 | publisher = Ramsay| isbn= 9782841140084}}</ref> It criticized the French laws on [[immigration]] proposed by [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Minister of the Interior]], [[Charles Pasqua]].<ref name=lib95>{{cite news |access-date = 28 July 2019 | url = https://www.liberation.fr/france-archive/1995/01/24/pasqua-ne-s-est-pas-immisce-dans-la-revocation-de-mgr-gaillot_117712 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190727235230/https://www.liberation.fr/france-archive/1995/01/24/pasqua-ne-s-est-pas-immisce-dans-la-revocation-de-mgr-gaillot_117712 | archive-date = 27 July 2019 | language = fr | title = Pasqua ne s'est pas "immiscé" dans la révocation de Mgr Gaillot | date = 24 January 1995 | work = La Libération }}</ref>

On 12 April 1994, Gaillot appeared on television in a discussion with dissident Catholic theologian [[Eugen Drewermann]]. On 14 April, Archbishop [[Joseph Duval]], the president of the [[Bishops' Conference of France|Bishops Conference of France]] and Gaillot's superior as metropolitan archbishop of Rouen, wrote to Gaillot: "For all to see you are in solidarity with Drewermann. But how do you show your solidarity with us, your fellow episcopal brothers and the Pope? Are you aware that your position is unsustainable? The distance from your brothers in the episcopate that you emphasize makes us suffer and has become a scandal for many Catholics."<ref>{{cite book | first = Eugen | last = Drewermann | title =Jacques Gaillot, Der Traum von Menschlichkeit| language = de | editor-first= Peter |editor-last= Eicher| publisher =Kösel |date= 1997 | isbn=978-2226075840 | page= 91}}</ref> Gaillot at one point offered to resign, but withdrew his offer, fearing that the Vatican might resolve his case as it had that of Archbishop [[Raymond Hunthausen]] in 1987 by appointing an auxiliary bishop with special authority.

Gaillot was the target of a bitter campaign to disparage his name. Unsubstantiated allegations of homosexuality, racism, anti-Semitism, and psychosis and neurosis were made by highly placed authorities in the French hierarchy.<ref name="pg_4"/> Gaillot responded by calling Duval an "ayatollah" seeking to impose "ideological uniformity" within the French Bishops Conference. He compared the leadership style of Cardinal [[Bernadin Gantin]], head of the Vatican's [[Congregation for Bishops]], to that of the [[Stasi]], the East German security police.<ref name="pg_4"/>

===Sexual abuse===
In 1988, Jacques Gaillot received into his diocese the Québécois priest Denis Vadeboncœur, who had been sentenced to twenty months in prison in Québec in 1985 for multiple counts of sexual abuse of minors. Gaillot assigned him as a pastor in [[Lieurey]], putting him in contact with children again. Following a new charge, Vadeboncœur was sentenced in 2005 to twelve years in prison for raping a minor. Gaillot, after having claimed in 1988 that he was ignorant of Vadeboncœur's history, ultimately admitted that he had in fact been informed: "We are doing you a favor. We asked you to accept this undesirable priest and you accepted him. What I did over twenty years ago was an error."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ternisien |first1=Xavier |title=Mgr Gaillot connaissait le passé pédophile d'un prêtre québecois avant son arrivée dans son diocèse |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2000/12/10/mgr-gaillot-connaissait-le-passe-pedophile-d-un-pretre-quebecois-avant-son-arrivee-dans-son-diocese_3716331_1819218.html |website=Le Monde |access-date=13 March 2025 |language=fr |date=10 December 2000}}</ref>

==Removal from Évreux==
Gantin summoned Gaillot to a meeting at the Vatican on 13 January 1995 and offered the choice of resigning his see or being removed from his office. Gaillot returned to France and issued a statement that said: "I was asked to hand in my resignation, which I thought I had good reasons to refuse." Having refused to resign, he was removed and denied the use of the title "bishop emeritus". As all bishops need to be assigned to a see (diocese), he was assigned the [[titular see]] of [[Parthenia (place)|Parthenia]]<ref name=":1" /> on 13 January 1995.<ref>{{cite web | website = Catholic Hierarchy | access-date = 19 April 2023 | url = https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgaillot.html | title = Bishop Jacques Jean Edmond Georges Gaillot }}</ref>

The Church named two bishops to stay in contact with Gaillot.<ref name=lib95/>

===Reaction to removal===
This removal sparked an emotional response from thousands of people across France and the rest of the world. Twenty thousand people gathered outside the cathedral in Évreux when he offered his last Mass there on 22 January. Four French bishops demonstrated their support by attending the service, where Gaillot said: "This should be a Church of the marginalised, not a Church that marginalises."<ref name=tabletobit>{{cite news | access-date = 20 April 2023 | work = The Tablet | url = https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/16964/french-rebel-bishop-jacques-gaillot-dies-at-87 | date = 17 April 2023 | title = French 'rebel bishop' Jacques Gaillot dies at 87 | first = Tom | last = Heneghan }}</ref> The crowd stayed on the streets protesting the Vatican's decision. Protestors united under the leadership of the [[Communist]] mayor of the region and marched through the streets in the rain. Although still a bishop he left his cross, mitre and staff behind in Évreux.

The decision to remove Gaillot as ordinary of Évreux was widely seen as a mistake by both lay people and clergy, and also by many non-religious people who had come to view Gaillot favorably. After his removal, a reported forty thousand people wrote letters to the cathedral office at Évreux, with more being sent to the Vatican and eminent prelates. He was perceived favorably by a significant number of people, particularly due to his ministry to all people without distinction. In addition, he had become a national figure after the sanctions taken against him.<ref name=":0" />

Polls taken at the time consistently revealed the French public to be against the punishment brought upon Gaillot. One CSA survey showed that total of 64 percent of the public was against the firing of Jacques Gaillot as bishop of Évreux, with only 11 percent approving of his firing and the remaining 25 percent being undecided.<ref>''[[La Vie (magazine)|La Vie]]''. January 1995</ref> Some later polls showed that support for Gaillot might even have been as high as 75 percent.<ref name="pg_4"/>

Reactions from other French bishops varied. No French bishop expressed public support for Gaillot, but the spokesperson for the hierarchy reported that both Cardinal [[Robert-Joseph Coffy]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Marseille|Marseille]] and Archbishop [[Joseph Duval|Duval]] were "visibly troubled" by the Vatican's action. Duval released a statement that said: "I pleaded for patience in Rome." Duval later said that he "regretted" what Rome had done and called it "an authoritarian act which cannot be accepted by society, even if it is carried out by the Church."<ref>{{cite book |date=1996 |publisher= Doubleday| title = His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of our Time |url=https://archive.org/details/hisholinessjohnp00bern |url-access=registration | page= [https://archive.org/details/hisholinessjohnp00bern/page/509 509] | first1 =Carl |last1=Bernstein |author-link= Carl Bernstein | first2=Marco |last2= Politi |isbn= 9780385472371}}</ref>

The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai|Archbishop of Cambrai]], [[Jacques Delaporte]], defended Gaillot and called his removal "a wound for our church... a source of misunderstanding for the poor and for all those who seek the truth and who put their trust in the church."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Protests+follow+French+bishop%27s+removal.-a016531819 | title=Protests follow French bishop's removal | work=[[National Catholic Reporter]] | date=27 January 1995 | accessdate=14 May 2015 | last=Skinner |first= John}}</ref>

By the time he left his position in Évreux, he had visited more prisons than any bishop in France's history.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

==After Évreux==
After being removed from his position as prelate of Évreux, Gaillot wrote:

{{Quote|I had a dream: to be able to accompany the poor, the excluded, the ignored, without having to explain myself or justify myself to the rich, the secure, or the comfortable. To be able to go where distress calls me without having to give advance notice. To be able to show my indignation at destitution, injustice, violence, the sale of weapons, and managed famines without being considered a meddler in politics.

I dreamed of being able to live my faith within the church, but also in society, in my time and with my times. I dreamed of the freedom to think and express myself, to debate and criticize, without fear of the guillotine. I dreamed of being different within the unity of faith, and remaining myself, alone and yet in solidarity with others. Ultimately, I hoped to be able to proclaim a Gospel of freedom without being marginalized.|Jacques Gaillot, ''Voice from the Desert''}}

After leaving the Bishop's Palace, Gaillot immediately moved in with illegal squatters in Paris' infamous [[Rue de Dragon]]. Since then he had shown similar solidarity with the homeless. Bishop Gaillot continued to defend human rights and engage in activism, regularly publishing information about his activities on the website of Parthenia.

Gaillot remained active as a pastor to the excluded. He also travelled throughout France and also internationally, spreading the word of the Christian Gospel and defending those who are considered "outcasts" (namely immigrants). He was an avid anti-war protester and is considered by many to be a strong [[socialist]]. Gaillot had a strong friendship with [[Abbé Pierre]].

In 1995, after his removal as Bishop of [[Évreux]], Gaillot attended a [[Call to Action]] conference in Detroit as one of the keynote speakers. He held three sessions, proving to be popular despite speaking through a translator. He hosted the conference alongside other controversial Catholic theologians including [[Hans Küng]] and [[Thomas Gumbleton]].<ref>Call to Action. [http://www.cta-usa.org/resgaillot.html My Option for the Poor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015090350/http://www.cta-usa.org/resgaillot.html |date=15 October 2006 }} 1996</ref>

Free of responsibility for a functioning diocese, Gaillot became even more daring in his activism. In July 1995, Gaillot engaged in protests against French [[nuclear testing]] at [[Mururoa Atoll]] in the [[Tuamotu Archipelago]] of [[French Polynesia]].  Aboard the [[Greenpeace]] vessel ''[[Rainbow Warrior (1978)|Rainbow Warrior]]'', part of a fleet of protest ships, he was removed from the ship along with its other protestors and journalists by French [[Naval commandos (France)|commandos]], after the ''Rainbow Warrior'' sailed within the exclusion zone, and escorted back to the atoll.<ref>{{cite news | work = The Militant | url = http://www.themilitant.com/1995/5928/5928_5.html | title = Protesters Say 'No Nukes In Pacific!' | date = 7 August 1995 | first1=Bob | last1= Aiken | first2=Doug | last2= Cooper | access-date = 20 April 2023}}</ref>

Twice bishops prohibited Gaillot from speaking in their dioceses. In 2000, [[Pope John Paul II]] forbade his participation in a conference in Rome about religion and homosexuals.<ref>{{cite news | work= BBC News | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/816332.stm |title=Bishop's Gay Conference Ban | date= 2 July 2000 | access-date = 27 July 2019 | first = David | last = Willey }}</ref> Cardinal [[Joachim Meisner]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne|Cologne]] prohibited Gaillot from addressing a [[World Youth Day]] event in Bonn in 2004.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 16 April 2023 | url = https://catholicleader.com.au/news/german-cardinal-gags-bishop_40003/ | work = Catholic Leader (Australia) | date = 7 November 2004 | title = German cardinal gags bishop }}</ref>

Also in 2004 Bishop Gaillot met with [[Maryam Rajavi]], an Iranian political activist president-elect of the [[National Council of Resistance of Iran]]. Gaillot strongly criticized the actions of some extremist religious leaders in Iran, going on to comment that "One must not forget that the strength of truth will make it [the Iranian resistance] triumphant. Darkness will give way and truth will prevail despite all the lies and ruses". Rajavi publicly thanked the bishop and expressed that his support had been very effective in promoting the cause of the Iran resistance.<ref>Secretariat of the [[National Council of Resistance of Iran]]. {{cite web |url=http://www.maryamrajavi.info/meeting/gaillot.htm |title=Maryam Rajavi, President-Elect of the Iranian Resistance – MGR. Jacques Gaillot |accessdate=5 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928030149/http://www.maryamrajavi.info/meeting/gaillot.htm |archivedate=28 September 2007 }} 17 August 2004</ref>

Gaillot also took the position as a well-known public figure in France, fighting for a number of causes; Gaillot served as the co-chairman of one of France's foremost [[human rights]] activist groups, '{{Interlanguage link multi|Droits devant !!|fr}}' (Rights First), among other groups.

In 2007 Gaillot posted a video interview on ''[[Google Video]]'', attempting to bring attention to the escalating [[War in Darfur|violence in Darfur]].<ref>Diocese of Partenia. [http://www.partenia.org/english/carnet_eng.htm#a1 Darfur: conscience awakening] 1 May 2007</ref>

He wrote a book shortly after his removal from Évreux, which was published in 1996 and titled ''Voice from the Desert: A Bishop's Cry for a New Church'' (English translation).<ref>{{cite book | last = Gaillot | first = Jacques | date = 1996 | location = New York | title = Voice from the Desert: A Bishop's Cry for a New Church | publisher = Crossroad | isbn = 0824515846 | translator1 = Joseph Cunneen | translator2= Leon King }}</ref> It is a largely autobiographical discussion of the events surrounding his removal.

==Reconciliation with Church authorities==
In 2000, [[Louis-Marie Billé]], Archbishop of Lyon and president of the French Episcopal Conference, invited Gaillot to attend a national ecumenical service in Lyon on 14 May alongside other senior members of the French hierarchy. Billé said the invitation came from the bishops as a group: "It is important that Catholics, and public opinion in general, are aware that the communion that links us as brothers is real, even when it is lived out in a special fashion. What happened five years ago remains a wound even for those who don't necessarily share Mgr Gaillot's opinions." There was no indication that the pope or anyone in the [[Roman Curia]] was involved. Gaillot accepted, writing that he was "happy to demonstrate my communion with the Church".<ref>{{cite news | work = The Guardian | access-date = 26 July 2019 |first= Paul| last = Webster| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/may/13/paulwebster | date= 13 May 2000 | title = Disgraced bishop is welcomed back }}</ref><ref name=obs2000>{{cite news | access-date = 28 July 2019 | url = https://www.nouvelobs.com/societe/20000511.OBS4309/monseigneur-gaillot-revient-parmi-les-siens.html | language = fr | work = Le Nouvel Observateur | title = Monseigneur Gaillot revient parmi les siens | date = 11 May 2000 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | access-date = 28 July 2019 | language = fr | url = https://www.la-croix.com/Urbi-et-Orbi/Archives/Documentation-catholique-n-2227/Echange-de-lettres-entre-Mgr-Bille-et-Mgr-Gaillot-2013-04-10-937139 | date = 10 April 2013 | title = Échange de lettres entre Mgr Billé et Mgr Gaillot | work = La Croix | archive-date = 28 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190728001301/https://www.la-croix.com/Urbi-et-Orbi/Archives/Documentation-catholique-n-2227/Echange-de-lettres-entre-Mgr-Bille-et-Mgr-Gaillot-2013-04-10-937139 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

On 1 September 2015, shortly before his 80th birthday, Gaillot, accompanied by Daniel Duigou, a priest and former journalist, met privately with [[Pope Francis]] in his Vatican City residence for 45 minutes. Gaillot said the pontiff encouraged him to continue his activism on behalf of migrants and refugees. After the meeting, Gaillot said he was "in love" with Francis.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/le-pape-francois-a-mgr-gaillot-nous-sommes-freres-01-09-2015-1961114_23.php |title=Le pape François à Mgr Gaillot: "Nous sommes frères"|first= Jérôme|last=Cordelier |date= 1 September 2015 |newspaper=[[Le Point]]|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | work = La Croix | access-date = 26 July 2019 | url = https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Actualite/Mgr-Jacques-Gaillot-a-Rome-misericorde-jusqu-a-Partenia-2015-08-31-1350505 | language = fr |first= Sébastien| last = Maillard| title = Mgr Jacques Gaillot à Rome : miséricorde jusqu'à Partenia | date= 31 August 2015 }}</ref>

==Death==
Gaillot moved to a retirement home in Paris in November 2022.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 16 April 2023 | language = de | url = https://www.kath.ch/newsd/kirchenkritiker-und-bischof-jacques-gaillot-stirbt-mit-87-jahren/ | title = Kirchenkritiker und Bischof Jacques Gaillot stirbt mit 87 Jahren | date = 13 April 2023 | publisher = Catholic Media Center (Switzerland)}}</ref> He died in Paris on 12 April 2023, at the age of 87.<ref>{{cite news | work = La Croix | access-date = 12 April 2023 |first= Claire| last = Lesegratain| url = https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Mort-Jacques-Gaillot-leveque-rebelle-2023-04-12-1201263165 | date= 12 April 2023 | title = Mort de Jacques Gaillot, « l'évêque rebelle » }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2023/04/12/jacques-gaillot-ancien-eveque-et-figure-contestataire-de-l-episcopat-est-mort_6169262_3382.html | work = Le Monde | date =12 April 2023 | first = Henri | last = Tancq| title = Jacques Gaillot, ancien évêque et figure contestataire de l'épiscopat, est mort | access-date = 15 April 2023 | language =fr}}</ref> He suffered from pancreatic cancer and had been hospitalized a week earlier.<ref name=lindell>{{cite news | language= fr | access-date = 17 April 2023 | work = La Vie | url = https://www.lavie.fr/christianisme/jacques-gaillot-leveque-qui-prenait-la-liberte-87980.php | date = 14 April 2023 | title = Jacques Gaillot, l'évêque qui prenait la liberté | last = Lindell | first = Henrik }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Abbé Pierre]]
* [[Call to Action]]

==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}

==Bibliography==
* Christophe Wargny: ''Die Welt schreit auf, die Kirche flüstert. Jacques Gaillot, ein Bischof fordert heraus''. Herder, Freiburg 1993, {{ISBN|978-3451230752}} (de)
* Christophe Wargny: ''Jacques Gaillot : Biographie'', Syros, 1 April 1995, {{ISBN|978-2841461899}} (fr)
* Jean-Marie Muller: ''Guy Riobé, Jacques Gaillot : Portraits croisés''. Desclée de Brouwer, 1 May 1996, {{ISBN|978-2220038018}} (fr)
* Pierre Pierrard: ''A nous la parole : Partenia, dix ans''. Harmattan 17 October 2012, Kindle Edition, ASIN B00814BKFQ (fr)

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060220034527/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n12_v113/ai_18188257 Biographical article about Bishop Gaillot]
* {{cite news | url = http://www.highbeam.com/library/docfree.asp?DOCID=1G1:17320532&ctrlInfo=Round20:Mode20d:DocG:Result&ao= | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130125131554/http://www.highbeam.com/library/docfree.asp?DOCID=1G1:17320532&ctrlInfo=Round20:Mode20d:DocG:Result&ao= | url-status = dead | archive-date = 25 January 2013 | title = Bishop moved from highways to byways: storm follows Gaillot's option for the margins | date= 14 July 1995 | work= National Catholic Reporter | first = Michael J. | last = Farrell}}
* {{cite web | url = http://www.partenia.org/textes/archive_f.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040808153543/http://www.partenia.org/textes/archive_f.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 8 August 2004 | title = Biography of Jacques Gaillot | language = fr }}
* {{cite web | url = http://www.cta-usa.org/resgaillot.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061015090350/http://www.cta-usa.org/resgaillot.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 15 October 2006 |title= Bishop Gaillot's speech at the Call to Action Conference }}
* {{cite interview | url = http://gvanv.com/compass/arch/v1404/gaillot.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061029193041/http://gvanv.com/compass/arch/v1404/gaillot.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 29 October 2006 | title = Interview with Bishop Gaillot }}
* {{cite web | url = http://www.droitsdevant.org/ |title= Official site of Droits Devant | language = fr}}
* {{cite web | url = http://www.partenia.org/english/partenia_eng.htm |title = Official site of the See of Partenia }}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|
  before=[[Jean Marcel Honoré]]|
  title= [[Bishop of Évreux]]|
  years=1982–1995|
  after=[[Jacques David (bishop)|Jacques David]]}}
{{Succession box|
  before=[[José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán]]|
  title= [[Partenia|Titular Bishop of Partenia]]|
  years=1995–2023|
  after=Vacant}}
{{Succession box|
  before=New post|
  title= Chairman of Droits Devant|
  years=1996–2023|
  after=Vacant}}
{{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaillot, Jacques}}
<!--[[Category:French bishops]] & [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops]] covred via Category:Bishops of Évreux-->
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:Catholic pacifists]]
[[Category:People from Saint-Dizier]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic activists]]
[[Category:Dissident Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:Bishops of Évreux]]
[[Category:Founders of Catholic religious communities]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:French Christian pacifists]]
[[Category:French human rights activists]]
[[Category:20th-century squatters]]

{{Authority control}}