Louise Sallé with AFP 12:51 p.m., April 26, 2022

Laurent Ulrich, 70, was appointed Tuesday to the sensitive post of Archbishop of Paris.

This experienced prelate will have the task of appeasing a diocese reputed to be difficult to govern and still marked by the resignation of his predecessor.

Bishop Ulrich presents a moderate profile within the Catholic episcopate, which unreservedly espouses the orientations of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis has appointed the current Archbishop of Lille, in this position since 2008, to succeed Michel Aupetit, after his resignation, accepted in early December.

The latter was challenged for his management of human resources, and several newspapers had lent him a romantic relationship with a woman he had categorically denied.

The new strong man of the Church of France is therefore Mgr Laurent Ullrich, Archbishop of Lille.

Coming from a rather progressive current

Laurent Ulrich, unlike his predecessors at the head of the diocese of Paris, is part of a rather progressive trend.

Involved in the cause of migrants, he had notably organized a time of prayers in Dunkirk in tribute to the 27 migrants who died drowned in the Channel while trying to reach the English coast last November. 

He is also reputed to be sensitive to the cause of victims of child crime in the Church.

Benoît de Sinety knows him well, he is parish priest of Saint-Eubert in Lille: "Archbishop of Lille means being bishop of a diocese which is very marked by social Catholicism, by the place of the poorest, issues of economic justice," he said.

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A man with the qualities of "presence, listening and kindness" 

"He's a good man, straight, attentive. Important assets in the climate in which we are, both political and religious. It's good to have someone who can have these qualities of presence, of listening, of kindness", maintains Benoît de Sinety.

He is also a very experienced bishop: he practiced for 20 years in Chambéry then in Lille.

He is therefore quite old, he will be 71 this year, which means that he could stay only four years in Paris.

The age limit is 75 years old.  

He had already tried to become archbishop of the capital in 2017, without success.

It is a highly coveted position.

He is one of the most representative figures of the Church in the world.