At a time when many French dioceses are facing a marked shortage of priestly vocations, the Community of Saint Martin has just ordained twelve new priests and ten deacons, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The institution, present in more than fifty communities, has become one of the main sources of vocations for the French Church.
According to the French portal Aleteia, the ordinations took place on June 19 and 20 at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de l’Épine, bringing together numerous faithful and priests around a community that has experienced notable growth since its founding in 1976.
The Community of Saint Martin was born at the initiative of Father Jean-François Guérin with the aim of forming diocesan priests who would live in community, combining solid doctrinal formation with an intense liturgical and fraternal life. The project began near Genoa under the protection of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri and was gradually established in various French dioceses.
An anomaly amid the French vocational crisis
The reality of the Community of Saint Martin contrasts with the general situation facing the Church in France. In recent decades, numerous dioceses have seen a steady decline in the number of seminarians and priests, in many cases forcing the reorganization of parishes and the reduction of pastoral structures.
In this context, Saint Martin currently has 186 priests, 20 deacons, and 117 seminarians and propaedeutics. Its members carry out their work in 52 communities spread across France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Cuba.
The twelve priestly ordinations celebrated this month represent a significant figure for the French Church today and confirm the community’s ability to continue attracting young men willing to embrace the priesthood.
Twelve new priests and ten deacons
The central celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary took place on June 19 and 20 at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de l’Épine in Évron. Bishop Gérard Le Stang of Amiens ordained ten new deacons of the community, while Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon conferred the priesthood on twelve deacons of Saint Martin.
These ordinations constitute one of the largest groups of new priests ordained this year in France and reflect the vocational attraction that the community continues to maintain half a century after its foundation.
The community itself asked the faithful to accompany the new priests and deacons with prayer, as well as all priestly and religious vocations, in an ecclesial context marked by concern over the generational renewal of the clergy.
Community life, liturgy, and formation
One of the elements that characterizes the Community of Saint Martin is its emphasis on priestly fraternal life. Future priests undergo a long formation process that combines philosophical and theological studies with an intense life of prayer and communal living.
The leaders of the community advocate for integral formation that addresses not only intellectual preparation but also the human, spiritual, and affective maturity of the candidates.
Many of its seminarians highlight precisely the care for the liturgy, community life, and the clarity of doctrinal formation as some of the aspects that led them to join the institution.
After ordination, the priests are sent to different dioceses to collaborate in parishes, educational centers, shrines, and other pastoral works, usually in small teams that maintain the communal style proper to the congregation.
Growing presence in the dioceses
The expansion of Saint Martin has taken place mainly through pastoral assignments entrusted by French bishops. Its presence today extends to urban parishes, rural areas, schools, and shrines with high attendance.
One of the best-known examples is the Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon in Normandy, dedicated especially to prayer for the deceased and receiving around 160,000 pilgrims each year.
The community is also present in various educational centers, where its priests carry out formation, spiritual accompaniment, and teaching.
Its leaders insist that their vocation does not consist in creating structures parallel to the dioceses, but in placing themselves at the service of local Churches while maintaining the mutual support provided by community life.
Growth accompanied by prudence
The growth of the Community of Saint Martin is taking place while an ecclesiastical investigation continues into aspects related to the governance exercised by its founder, Father Jean-François Guérin. So far, this process has not significantly altered the life of the institution or its ability to attract new vocations.
Far from speaking of success, the leaders of the community prefer to refer to the dynamism of a work they consider to be at the service of the Church. Its priests emphasize that the purpose of the institution remains the same that inspired its origins: to form priests available to be sent wherever they are needed.
Fifty years after its foundation, the Community of Saint Martin has established itself as one of the most influential priestly realities in France. In a country where the issue of vocations increasingly concerns bishops and the faithful, its figures continue to be observed with interest both inside and outside the French Church.