Canada: Star Priest Leaves Novus Ordo Priesthood

Dominic LeRouzès, 48, who had overseen youth and vocations ministry in Quebec Archdiocese since 2021, has given up his priesthood.

Until three years ago, LeRouzès was a member of the Canadian movement Famille Marie-Jeunesse (FMJ), which attracted many young people, many of whom later left.

Now he wrote in a statement that there was "no real vocational decision" and that he "bore this shortcoming silently for years."

LeRouzès was ordained as a member of the FMJ for Sherbrooke Archdiocese in May 2003. He later became private secretary to Cardinal Ouellet, first in Quebec, then at the Vatican.

In Rome, he completed his doctorate at the Gregorian University. His work on Lévinas and von Balthasar was published in 2018. Cardinal Ouellet, also a Balthasar devotee, wrote the preface.

At this point, LeRouzès left FMJ to join the Archdiocese of Quebec in 2021. During Covid, he was assigned to speak four times a day on the archdiocese's web TV, offering a Eucharist, short messages, moments of reflection and vespers.

He took time off in June 2022 and left two months later.

Picture: Screenshot ECDQ.tv, #newsOusjsofxrh