The material is distributed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. From Mariano Tomatis.
With many thanks for Mariano in giving me permission to reproduce his excellent researches!
The ecclesiastical court meets on the established date of July 23, 1910. On the occasion, a judgment is drawn up in absentia:
Judgment against Bérenger Saunière contumacious
We, Church Judge of the Diocese of Carcassonne, in the name of the Holy Trinity and for the glory of God and the good of the Church, given that the Mr. Curé Bérenger Saunière quoted perentorily to appear today before our court did not show up and was declared in absent-commit, we validate the indictment of the promoter against Mr. Curate Saunière for the trafficking of masses, disobedience to his Bishop and the realization of exaggerated and unjustified expenses probably financed with fees of unconcemated masses.
After taking note of the opinion of the councilors, during the trial in absentia, we condemn the curate Bérenger Saunière to a suspension in divinis for the diocese of Carcassonne for a period of one month.
We also declare to Mr. Curate Saunière that he is obliged in conscience to return the fees of the unheld masses, a sum that cannot be determined since no supporting element has come into our hands.
G.Cantegril (General Vicar)1
The two letters sent in the days leading up to the trial are finally delivered, and on July 25, 1910 Cantegril responds to the priest:
The bishop later gave me your letter, but it arrived too late. If you had referred it to the court as indicated in the summons, we could have received it in the appropriate time... It is to allow you an appeal that in the notification of the judgment that I will make you have I will delay the date on which it becomes enforceable by 15 days.
The letter is received on July 26 by Saunière and is recorded in Correspondance de Bérenger Saunière (1896-1915), July 26, 1910."2 Saunière follows the council of Cantegril and on July 30 requests the restitutio causa integris, or the annulment of the previous process to celebrate another3. The appeal is upheld and on August 3, 1910 the court sets a new summons for August 23, 19104:
We, vicar general of the diocese of Carcassonne, saw on 27 May 1910 the request in which the promoter of the ecclesiastical cases asks us to take to court Don Bérenger Saunière old parish priest of Rennes-le-Château, accused:
1) of having made mass traffic.
2) to have enriched himself with this traffic.
3) to have continued to apply for fees for the masses despite the warn of Monsignor the Bishop and the promise to refrain from such requests; saw on July 7, 1910 the summons we made against Don Saunière to summon him before the ecclesiastical court on July 16, 1910; saw on July 16, 1910 a second peremporial summons addressed to Don Saunière who did not appear on July 16, concluded with the injunction to appear before the ecclesiastical court on July 23, 1910 on the threat of being declared contumant; having regard to the judgment of the court on 23 July 1910 for which Don Saunière is declared in absentia and judged as such; having regard to the notification of this judgment, Mr. Saunière has requested the restitutio causa in integrum so that the matter can be resolved as if the first judgment had never been pronounced; for the reasons presented, we order Don Bérenger Saunière to appear before the ecclesiastical court and the Bishop of Carcassonne on Tuesday, August 23, 1910 at 2 p.m., accepting as Mr. Saunière's lawyer Mr. Mis of Limoux, who will be able to read the dossier on don Saunière at the Bishop's Secretariat on 10 August 1910 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the following days, if necessary.
Judge Cantegril (vicar general) and Chancellor Charpentier5.
On 6 August Saunière contacts lawyer Mis to update him on the referral. The next day Mis suggests that he postpone the convocation further until October, and on August 8 the priest forwards the request to the ecclesiastical court. On August 11, Judge Cantegril "rebounds" the request, telling Saunière to contact the Bishop; on August 12, the priest directly asks Monsignor de Beauséjour to postpone the trial until October 15. The Bishop accepts the proposal and on August 14, he has Judge Cantegril send a letter in which the postponement to the suggested date is made official6. Also at the invitation of the lawyer, Bérenger compiles three texts in view of the trial: a detailed questionnaire, a memorial and a text in which he articulates his procedural defence.
1. Jacques Rivière, Le fabuleux trésor de Rennes-le-Château, Bélisane, Nizza 1983, p. 189-190.
2. Claire Corbu, Antoine Captier, L'héritage de l'Abbé Saunière, Bélisane, Nizza 1995, p. 211. The letter is received on July 26 by Saunière and is recorded in Correspondance de Bérenger Saunière (1896-1915), July 26, 1910.
3. The letter is registered in Carnet 2004, 30 July 1910.
4. The letter is recorded in Carnet 2004, August 4, 1910.
5. Rivière 1983, pp. 190-191.
6. The exchange of letters between Saunière, the lawyer, the judge and the bishop is recorded in Carnet 2004, 6-8.11-12.14 August 1910.