Dear Parishioners,

On March 14^th last Bishop Pierre Mamie died in Fribourg. He was the Bishop of Lausanne Geneva and Fribourg from December 1970 to November 1995. Pierre was born in the Chaux-de-Fonds in Neuchatel, Switzerland on March 4^th 1920.

At the age of 26 he was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood by Bishop Marius Besson. As a priest he spent many hours in study and later lecturing in Fribourg University where he was a professor in Old Testament Theology. He was one of the translators of the TOB[i] edition of the Bible.

In the October of 1968 Cardinal Charles Journet consecrated Fr. Mamie, who was his personal secretary, Titular Bishop of Otriclum and Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg. Cardinal Journet[1] was an outstanding dogmatic theologian and a personal advisor to Pope Paul VI. Two years later he succeeded Bishop François Charrière as Diocesan Bishop. On his retirement Bishop Amédée (Antoine-Marie) Grab, O.S.B. became the new bishop.

Since I studied for the Priesthood in his diocese I have many fond memories of him. He was a sensitive man who had a special gift of being able to speak to little children about the wonders of God. When preaching he would use imagery to get his message across. He was very proud of the fact that he held the title Bishop of Geneva and was therefore the successor of St Francis de Sales but equally proud of the fact that he was the successor of St Marius the first Bishop of Lausanne.

He enjoyed a special friendship with Pope Paul VI and would speak fondly of the Servant of God. In June 1969 Pope Paul visited Geneva and after visiting the Palais de Nations and the World council of Churches he offered Mass in the Parc Eaux Vivres. At the end of the Mass the Pope presented the Bishop with the Pastoral Staff (crozier) he had been using. From that day onwards, whenever Bishop Mamie presided at Mass he carried this distinctive crozier.

I also have a fond memory of him preaching at the Grotto in Lourdes. On this occasion a boy received from his hands Holy Communion for the First time. I distinctly remember him say that while today as perhaps the most beautiful day of his life it was not the most important. “The most important day it the day you die –for that is when you meet God face to face.”

Bishop Mamie was also a great worker for Christian Unity and along with the late Cardinal Hume was an advisor to Pope John Paul II in the matter. Friends tell me that when the Cardinal died he was quite upset and said a Requiem Mass for him in Fribourg Seminary where during the homily of that Mass told the future priests about the Cardinal. Who incidentally was a student at Fribourg University. Please say a prayer for him.

Every Blessing.

Fr P.

Part of a homily given in 1990 by the late Bishop at Lausanne, Switzerland.

When He built his Church, He told Peter that he would be like a the cornerstone, the first, with which and on which He would build His house, His Church, where all men, whatever their language, their colour, their origins, all men, all women, would be invited. But we men, when we build a house, we always have bricks left over. With God, it’s not so. Each brick has its place. I like to say, because I know it’s true, that in the Church of God, in the house of God, in the Church of Jesus there are, it is true, pillars; these are the bishops, united with the Pope and their priests. But a church that consisted only of pillars would be a sorry church, where people would be cold in winter, and too hot in summer. It needs walls, windows, an altar. And the walls are the laity, the windows are the catechists, the altar the sick and the poor, those who are closest to Jesus. But beneath the church are the foundation stones, which bear everything else. First of all little baptised children who are saints and who are more powerful than the spirit of evil. There are all the sick, all the elderly, all the religious brothers and sisters. That, today, is your place. You mustn’t regret it. We may see less of you and you may be less active but you are still very necessary; and the angels of God see you more than they see us. I often say that if I could not rely on the prayers of the religious brothers and sisters and the elderly, I think I would be tempted to abandon my ministry for I often have to speak, speak about God, about Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary, about sanctity, sin and pardon; and in order that my words may enter the hearts of men, women and children, it’s necessary that their hearts be open and ready to receive them. And it’s not my words which can soften their hearts. That grace, of a loving heart ready to accept grace, is obtained by prayer - YOUR prayer which I and all bishops and priests, and the Pope need so much.

[1] The story goes that; the Pope would telephone the Cardinal every Monday morning and go through the Catechesis that he was to deliver at the Wednesday Audience. Since a special telephone was installed for this purpose it was called the “white telephone”.

Pope Paul VI made Fr Journet a Cardinal in February of 1965. Shortly after his return he went to the barbers for his usual haircut. As he entered the barber congratulated him and enquired if his hair should be cut differently now that he is a cardinal. “No” was the reply “in the usual way – in silence.”

[i] La Bible - Traduction Œcuménique French Ecumenical Translation of the Bible