Alain Planet (born 18 November 1948) is a French prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who was bishop of Carcassonne-Narbonne from 2004 to 2023.

Biography

Alain Emile Baptiste Planet was born on 18 November 1948 in

Privas Privas (; oc, Privàs , also ) is a city located in France, in the department of Ardèche. With its 8,465 inhabitants (2019), it is the least populated prefecture (capital of a department). It was the location of the 1629 Siege of Priva ...

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Bourg-de-Péage Bourg-de-Péage (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect of oc, Lo Borg dau Peatge, ; ca, Lo Peatge de Pisançon) is a commune in the Drôme department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. Its inhabitants are called ''Péageois''; in 2017, the populat ...

and

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, he studied at the Faculty of Law and Modern Literature in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, earning a licentiate in literature and a secondary school teaching certification. He taught French at the Marist college in Bourg-de-Péage and was then director of the Lycee Saint-Maurice in

Romans-sur-Isère Romans-sur-Isère (; Occitan: ''Rumans d'Isèra''; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère, northeast of Valence. There are more than 50,000 in ...

. He entered the Saint Irenaeus Seminary of Lyon in 1978 and obtained his licentiate in theology from the Catholic Faculty of Theology there. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Valence on 24 May 1981. He was head of the Pastoral Care for chaplains in public education there from 1981 to 1988. From 1988 to 1995 he was moderator of the team of parish priests responsible for the center of Valence. From 1988 to 2001 he was episcopal delegate for vocations and for liturgical pastoral care and from 1988 to 2003 he was responsible for seminarians and their formation. He was secretary of the Diocesan Synod from 1992 to 1994. From 1995 to 1999 he worked on the inter-parish team of Sainte-Marie-Jean-Catherine. In 1999 he was appointed archpriest of Valence cathedral and deputy delegate for the diaconate. From 2003 to 2004 he was moderator of the team of parish priests of the parish of Notre-Dame-du-Rhône in

Montélimar Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; la, Acumum) is a town in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in north Provence, Southeastern France. It is the second-largest city in the department after Valence. In 2018, ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him bishop of Carcassonne-Narbonne on 28 June 2004. He received his episcopal consecration on 19 September in the amphitheater of Carcasonne from Archbishop Guy Thomazeau of Montpellier. He chose as his motto (If God is for us who can be against us). He held a diocesan synod in 2007 and reorganized the diocese into 14 new parishes. In March 2018, he celebrated the memorial Mass in

Trèbes Trèbes (; oc, Trebes) is a commune in the Aude department, southern France. It is around 7 km east of the centre of Carcassonne. History Located on an important river crossing, Trèbes was originally known as Tresmals (Three Fords) but ...

for

Arnaud Beltrame Arnaud Jean-Georges Beltrame (; 18 April 1973 – 24 March 2018) was a lieutenant colonel in the French Gendarmerie nationale and deputy commander of the Departmental Gendarmerie's Aude unit, who was murdered by a terrorist at Trèbes after ...

, the French who was killed after taking the place of a hostage. Within the French Bishops Conference, he was responsible for sectarian aberrations () from 2015 to 2021. Following the release of the independent report on sexual abuse in the Church in 2021, Planet said he knew of three priest aggressors, one of whom had more than forty victims. Of those only two wanted to speak with him, which proved sufficient to make him understand how sexual abuse can destroy lives. He has served as chaplain general of the French associations of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation on 31 March 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Planet, Alain Emile Baptiste Living people 1948 births People from Privas Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishops of Carcassonne 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in France