Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

François Ducaud-Bourget (November 24, 1897 - June 12, 1984) was a prominent traditionalist Roman Catholic

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

prelate,

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and close ally of Archbishop

Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar, Archbishop of Dakar from 1955 to 1962. He was a major inf ...

French resistance

Ducaud-Bourget was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was active in the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

as a priest, and helped Jews to escape to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He was decorated by the government of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

for his work. He had been made a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

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, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

in 1946 and an

honorary prelate A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.

in the time of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. He was probably deprived of this title later, though public documentation is unclear.

Second Vatican council

Rejecting the revision of the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal () is the book which contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Roman Rite, the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church. There have been several editions. History Before the Council of Trent (1570) ...

that followed the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, he organised celebration of the Latin

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

in the chapel of the Hôpital Laënnec, a former hospital in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. When he was excluded from this in 1971, he tried in vain to obtain from the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris

François Marty Gabriel Auguste François Marty (; 18 May 1904 – 16 February 1994) was a French Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal and Archbishop of Paris. Early years He was born in Vaureilles, Pachins, in France. His family were ...

another place in which only the Tridentine Mass would be celebrated. When he failed in this, he continued to celebrate mass in rented rooms for several years.La Porte Latine website, '' Mgr Ducaud-Bourget, outspoken in defense of Tradition'', article by Mgr Lefebvre dated June 14, 1984, published July 5, 2021
/ref> He then organised the take-over, on 27 February 1977, of the parish church of

Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet () is a Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement. It was constructed between 1656 and 1763. The facade was designed in the classical style by Charles Le Brun. It contains many notable ...

, expelling the priest in charge. When he died at

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a French commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthie ...

in 1984, aged 86, he was buried in the church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, which has a portrait bust of him over his tomb. He was succeeded in charge the church by Father

Philippe Laguérie Philippe Laguérie (born 30 September 1952 in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French Traditionalist Catholic priest. He was the first Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd (), which upholds the Tridentine Mass. Career Laguérie was ...

, who later founded the

Institute of the Good Shepherd The Institute of the Good Shepherd (, ) is a Catholic society of apostolic life made up of traditionalist priests promoting the Tridentine Mass and other traditional sacraments, in full communion with the Holy See. As of 2024, the Institute ...

In popular culture

In his ''Le Cercle d'Ulysse'', Jean Delaude presents Ducaud-Bourget as the successor of

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

as "Nautonnier" ( Grand Master) of the

Priory of Sion The ''Prieuré de Sion'' (), translated as Priory of Sion, was a fraternal organisation founded in France and dissolved in 1956 by hoaxer Pierre Plantard in his failed attempt to create a prestigious neo-chivalric order. In the 1960s, Plantar ...

.Pierre Jarnac, ''Les Mystères de Rennes-le-Château, Mélanges Sulfureux'' (CERT, 1994).

References

External links

''Le Hérisson spirituel'', article (in French) by François Ducaud-Bourget

Homily by Msgr. Francois Ducaud-Bourget at a Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Paul VI at Saint Nicholas-du-Chardonnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducaud-Bourget, Francois 1897 births 1984 deaths French Resistance members French traditionalist Catholics Knights of Malta Members of the Society of Saint Pius X Traditionalist Catholic priests French military chaplains World War II chaplains