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Fr. Édouard Cothenet, a priest of the Bourges diocese in France, has been serving the Church for almost 75 years. He’s preparing to celebrate his 100th birthday on July 25. Ordained in 1948 in the aftermath of the Second World War, this almost-centenarian has traveled extensively during his long priesthood.
Fr. Édouard now lives just a few streets from the house where he was born, in the shadow of Bourges cathedral, with the other priests of the Parish of Saint-Guillaume. Despite his venerable age, he continues to celebrate Mass almost every Sunday for the parishioners. "I preach practically every Sunday," he tells Aleteia. "For me, it's important, and I spend a lot of time on it. It's an essential act of communicating the living Word of God."
Biblical scholar and theologian
Fr. Édouard has been serving the parish of Saint-Bonnet (now part of the parish of Saint-Guillaume-de-Bourges) for 30 years. A lifetime, some might say, but certainly not the only life of this special priest. Because while he enjoys serving in the parish, studies have been the great passion of his life.
"Against all odds, the bishop of Bourges sent me to the seminary in Paris," he recounts. “An unexpected grace!" In the then-German-occupied capital, he developed a passion for philosophy, theology, and above all, the study of Sacred Scripture — his love at first sight. From Paris to Rome, via Jerusalem, his passion for biblical exegesis led him to frequent the centers of the Church's intellectual life.
Fr. Édouard spent much of his working life as a priest between Bourges and Paris, where he taught at the Institut Catholique until the 1990s. He also found time to publish some 20 books and contribute to the French Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (TOB). And still today, at the age of 100, he runs the Faith and Culture association in Bourges, where he leads exegesis sessions. "I'm about to retire," he remarks. "Even though I'll continue to participate."
Applying the scripture to life
But for Fr. Édouard, Bible study is far from being a solitary scholar's occupation. It is indeed "the living Word of God," which no Christian can neglect in their spiritual life. "There's a link between the liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist," he insists. "We must first listen to the Word of God, then unite ourselves with Christ.” By teaching, preaching, and studying, Fr. Édouard has been determined all his life to "share the Word as nourishing bread."
Untiring, he still comments every week on a local radio station on the first Sunday reading from the Old Testament, which he considers too often neglected in preaching. "The Old Testament is the book of God's patience which forges successive alliances with humanity, with falls and rises, and which teaches mercy," explains the priest. "That's what's most lacking in our generation, which wants everything right away: we don't admit this long patience of God."
Fr. Édouard wants to encourage Catholics to learn about their faith to deepen their relationship with God and to support each other. "We need to stand together in this march towards the Kingdom, which always surpasses us, which is always beyond what we can imagine and what we can say about it."
