Gérard Calvet

Dom Gérard Calvet (November 18, 1927 – February 28, 2008) was a French Roman Catholic abbot and founder of the Sainte Madeleine du Barroux abbey in Le Barroux, France. He was considered to be an important figure in contemporary Catholic traditionalism.
== Early life ==
Calvet was born in Bordeaux, Gironde on November 18, 1927. He took his vows to become a Benedictine monk on February 4, 1951. Calvet was ordained a Catholic priest on May 13, 1956.
== Sainte Madeleine du Barroux ==
Calvet and several traditional monks set out to found a new Benedictine abbey, Sainte Madeleine du Barroux, in Provence, France, after the Second Vatican Council. The construction was completed during the 1980s. Calvet often allied himself with other Catholic conservative traditionalists, such as the Society of St. Pius X and Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, in order to perform pre-Vatican II rites, such as the Latin Mass, at the abbey. As a result, Calvet's monastery often operated outside of the official recognition of the Catholic Church.
Calvet also supported the foundation of the Chartres Pilgrimage, a three-day annual pilgrimage for traditional Catholics from Paris to Chartres, France. In 1986, he published Tomorrow Christendom, which sharply criticized the lack of Christian spirituality in Europe. In 1988, Calvet objected to consecration of bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without Vatican approval. Calvet's decision to back the Vatican over Lefebvre in the dispute led to better relations between the Vatican and the Sainte Madeleine du Barroux abbey.
== Death ==
Father Gérard Calvet died at the age of 80 on February 28, 2008. He had been in poor health since suffering a stroke in the late 1990s.
==References==
Category:1927 births
Category:2008 deaths
Category:People from Bordeaux
Category:Catholic traditionalism
Category:French Traditionalist Catholics
Category:Traditionalist Catholic priests
Category:French abbots
Category:French Roman Catholic priests
Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction
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