Controversy Provoked by a First Marriage
Celebrated at the Eucharistic and Marian Center Spiri-Maria
at Lac-Etchemin

Spiri-Maria, June 10, 2006 – Consecration to the Virgin Mary by the newlyweds, Marie-Hélène Têtu and Jean-Gabriel Michaud, at the end of the wedding ceremony.		At Spiri-Maria, on June 10, 2006, the marriage of Jean-Gabriel Michaud and Marie-Hélène Têtu was celebrated by Father Denis Laprise, the bridegroom’s uncle. The newlywed couple was well aware of the controversy to which this event would give rise, but they desired that Father Denis preside over the wedding ceremony, a request that had been refused at the parish in Sillery where they had gone to make arrangements. Furthermore, these two young people, raised in the spirituality of the Army of Mary, that is to say, frequent Mass and Communion, reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, recitation of the rosary, etc., did not find, in the marriage preparation course offered them at the parish, their personal values.

Our concern for openness has prompted us to publish the letter His Excellency Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Pontifical Commissioner for the Sons of Mary, wrote to Father Denis Laprise on July 7, 2006, and the replies sent to him by Father Denis and the parents of the newlyweds, Guylaine and Roger Michaud on the one hand, and Marie and Alain Têtu on the other, as well as from the newlyweds themselves, Jean-Gabriel Michaud and Marie-Hélène Têtu. – Sylvie Payeur-Raynauld

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.

 

Letter From His Exc. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.
to Father Denis Laprise, O.FF.M.
(July 7, 2006)

Replies Sent to Him by Father Denis Laprise,
the Parents and the Newlyweds Themselves
(July 2006)

 

The Pontifical Commissioner’s Reaction
Upon Receiving Those Letters,
and Comments by Father Eric Roy
(August 2006)