Marie-Dominique Philippe (8 September 1912 in

Nord (French department) Nord (; officially french: département du Nord; pcd, départémint dech Nord; nl, Noorderdepartement, ) is a department in Hauts-de-France region, France bordering Belgium. It was created from the western halves of the historical counties of ...

– 26 August 2006 in

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

) was a Dominican philosopher and theologian. He was ordained in 1936. He was a professor of philosophy at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

from 1945 to 1982 where he held the chair of Metaphysics. Before the alleged sexual allegations, he was considered one of the most important French catholic theologians after Vatican II. While remaining a Dominican friar he founded the Community of St. John in 1975. In 2013, the Prior General, Br. Thomas Joachim
made known
the first complaints of sexual abuse against fr. Philippe.

Life

Marie-Dominique Philippe was born on 8 September 1912 at Cysoing, France, the eighth of twelve children. From the age of six, Philippe read for his uncle, Dominican Father , who was going blind. After having completed his secondary education with the Jesuits at Lille, he entered the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) in November 1930 at Amiens. He pronounced his religious vows in November 1931, and pursued his studies in philosophy and theology at the Saulchoir in Kain (Belgium) from 1931 to 1938. He was ordained priest in July 1936. Having first graduated in philosophy ("Wisdom in Aristotle" being the subject of his lectorat dissertation) he went on to complete a doctorate in theology. After obtaining an additional diploma of Higher Studies, he taught philosophy and theology at the Saulchoir at Étiolles (the Dominican House of Studies of the Paris Province) from 1939 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1962, and philosophy at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) from 1945 to 1982. From 1982 until two months before his death on 26 August 2006, he continued teaching philosophy and theology at the houses of studies of the Congregation of Saint John in France.

Congregation of St John

During the summer of 1975, five students began to live a communal life. Father Philippe would visit once a week to provide "spiritual direction". The students asked Philippe for assistance in forming a religious community. The brothers initially lived at the monastery of Lerins, where they drew inspiration from

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

's "

Evangelii Nuntiandi ''Evangelii nuntiandi'' (''Evangelization in the Modern World''; abbreviation: EN) is an apostolic exhortation issued on 8 December 1975 by Pope Paul VI on the theme of Catholic evangelism, evangelization. The title, taken from the opening words ...

". In 1978 they took the name "Community of Saint John". Fr. Philippe drafted a rule of life based in part on the prayer of Christ in Chapter 17 of Saint John's Gospel. Two branches of nuns were also established, the contemplative in 1982, and the apostolic in 1984. Father Philippe died peacefully on the morning of Saturday 26 August 2006, at the priory of Saint Jodard (France). He had been cared for there since his stroke on 20 July. He would have been 94 years old on 8 September.

Sexual abuse allegations

The Community of St. Jean admitted in 2013 that Philippe had behaved "in ways that went against chastity" with several adult women. In June 2016, Father Philippe was accused of ongoing sexual abuse by a former Carmelite nun who received spiritual direction from him. These accusations came out as part of an investigation into similar allegations against Father Philippe's brother, Father

Thomas Philippe Jean Marie Joseph Philippe (18 March 1905 – 4 February 1993), in religion Thomas Philippe, was a French Dominican priest. Along with Jean Vanier, he co-founded the communities of L'Arche, an organisation which helps support people with mental ...

. In February 2019,

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. ...

spoke about a women's religious community which Pope Benedict dissolved, saying that "a certain slavery of women had crept in, slavery to the point of sexual slavery on the part of clergy or the founder." It was further clarified by the Holy See Press Office, that the Pope did not mean "sexual slavery" but rather "manipulation." Following the numerous reactions, the Community has published an official statement on its website, accompanied by a chronology of the events from 2009 to 2014, in relationship with the contemplative sisters of Saint John.

Works

* ''Mystères de Misericorde'' (Mary, Mystery of Mercy), 1958 * ''The Mystery of Joseph'' * ''Retracing Reality'', 2001 * L'être * De L'être à Dieu * De l'amour * Suivre l'Agneau * Un seul Dieu tu adoreras * Les trois sagesses * J'ai soif

References

External links

Community of St. John in the United StatesWebsite in defense of Father PhilippeWebsite about Father Philippe mdphilippe.over-blog.com
* French Dominicans Founders of Catholic religious communities 1912 births 2006 deaths Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in France Sexual abuse of women in the Catholic Church {{France-reli-bio-stub