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!
Complaints of his conduct with the Bishop continue, and yet another report of the offer of a mass by Saunière forces Vicar Rodière to send an official complaint on May 12, 1910:
Carcassonne, May 12, 1910
Mr. cure,
here is the text of the answer that the Bishop instructed me to send to Mrs. Gabrielle Camus, from the suburb of the Viges in Mirecourt, who asks if we can forward you the fees for the masses:
Avoid sending honours for the masses to the priest Saunière, old parish priest of Rennes-le-Château, now retired to the same parish, because the Bishop has no confidence in the way this priest fulfills his obligations in this regard."1
His Greatness [the Bishop] notes with regret that you are not keeping your formal commitment, made at the time, not to offer the masses of the masses unther with his intercession [...]
On May 22, Saunière replies:
I do not have the honor of meeting Mrs. Gabrielle Camus, from the Viges suburb in Mirecourt, and I do not remember ever getting in touch with her, much less for fees for the masses2.
The answer does not convince the Bishop, who decides to summon him before the ecclesiastical court; on May 27, 1910 the promoter of ecclesiastical cases Pennavayre reports the case to Judge Cantegril:
Carcassonne, May 27, 1910
The undersigned S. Pennavayre, promoter of the cases of the Diocese of Carcassonne, considering that Monsignor the Bishop had repeatedly ordered the Curé Bérenger Sauniére not to request fees for masses outside the diocese, considering that Mr. Saunière had promised to scrupulously adhere to the bishop's ban, considering that Mr. Saunière continued in spite of everything to act contrary to the orders received and the promises made, he has the honor of praying to Mr. Officer to summon Mr. Bérenger Saunière before the ecclesiastical court.
S. Pennavayre, promoter3.
The previous day Saunière had ordered a life-size bust at the Mona House in Toulouse4: on June 21, 1910 the priest will have to go to the establishment to carry out a series of live retouching. The total cost of the white marble bust will be 1600 francs5. It is not known if this bust was ever completed; according to some rumors reported by the Captier spouses, Marie Dénarnaud would have hidden a life-size statue of Saunière in the double bottom of a wall. Was it about this bust? Claire Corbu and Antoine Captier point out that they have never found it anyway. The most plausible hypothesis about this bust was put forward by Christian Doumergue, according to which the realisation of the sculpture would be read from the perspective of Saunière's ancient project to make Villa Bethania a retirement home for priests; the bust, placed in the main hall, would have been an imperishable memory of the author of that charity - and it is not uncommon to find even today, in retirement homes, busts or bas-reliefs in memory of those who had them made. On July 7, 1910 Gustave Cantegril summons Saunière6 for the date of July 16, 1910; by July 12, the priest will also have to name the lawyer he intends to use. It is interesting to note that the violation of the ban on claiming fees for masses outside the diocese takes a back seat: For a number of years, Saunière has sold a considerable number of masses that he could not celebrate. Given the exaggerated expenses incurred by Saunière that suggest that he has enriched himself through fees of uncelebated masses, he is summoned to appear before the Court of Officiality on Saturday 16 July at 9 am [...]7
Until the day of the eve Saunière does not show up; on July 15, 1910, he therefore sends this communication: On July 16, 1910, the court meets and, having noted the absence of the accused, draws up a letter in which the convocation is renewed for July 23, 19108:
We, Vicar General, ecclesiastical judge of the diocese of Carcassonne, saw on July 7, 1910 the canonical citation with which the curator Bérenger Saunière, former curator of Rennes-le-Château, was ordered to appear before the episcopal court at the bishopric's on July 16, 1910 at 9 a.m. Given that, on the day and time indicated, Mr. Curé Bérenger Saunière did not appear before the court, we quote again, with the present, Mr. Curé Bérenger Saunière to appear before the Episcopal Tribunal at the Bishopric on Saturday 23 July 1910 at 9 a.m. and declare this perementory summons with consequently the in absentia in case of non-appearance. Mr Saunière will have the courtesy of letting us know, before 20 July, the name of the lawyer he has chosen for his defence, so that the court can examine whether it can legitimize him.9
On July 17, the priest sends three letters to as many friends that he records in his notebooks with the note "Which lawyer to choose": they are Don Gazel of Floure, Don Gachen of St.Jean and Don Rouanet of Bagès. It is the latter who suggests to him on July 20 in a letter the names of Don Molinier, dean of Azille and lawyer Mis di Limoux10. Immediately Saunière writes to the bishop a letter in which he declares that he wants to appoint a lawyer; not being clear whether he should be a lawyer belonging to the clergy or a layman, the priest gives the names that Don Barthèlèmy Rouanet suggested to him, adding:
Monsignor will want to let me know if these two people will be accepted by His Greatness and will grant me at the same time an extension of the time that I will need to organize the defense.11
In directing this letter to the bishop Saunière makes a mistake that will be fatal to him; the body to which to forward the request for authorisation from the lawyer would have been, in fact, the court. By an unfortunate case in those days the Bishop is in Vesoul, far from Carcassonne, and the letter – together with a second sent two days later – is not forwarded in time to the court. On that same July 22, Saunière sends two letters, one to Don Molinier, the other to lawyer Mis (who will accept the assignment on July 2412), to ask for their help during the trial13; however, the time is too tight and Saunière is forced to defect the court on the appointed date.
1. The letter is recorded in Correspondance de Bérenger Saunière (1896-1915), 12 May 1910 with these words: "R[recivuta dal] Bishop of Carcassonne another letter about the masses" and reproduced in Gérard Tappa, Claude Boumendil, Claire Corbu, Antoine Captier, L'Incroyable destin de l'abbé Saunière, Le Procès 1909-1910, Belisane, Nice 1994, pp. 49-50.
2. Tappa/Boumendil 1994, p. 50.
3. Jacques Rivière, Le fabuleux trésor de Rennes-le-Château, Bélisane, Nizza 1983, p. 187.
4. Carnet 2004, 26 May 1910.
5. Corbu/Captier 1985, p. 222 transcribed in Christian Doumergue, Bérenger Saunière, prêtre libre à Rennes-le-Château, C. Lacour, Nimes 2000, p. 227.
6. The letter is recorded in Carnet 2004, July 8, 1910 as "Quote to appear".
7. Rivière 1983, p. 187-188.
8. The letter is recorded in Carnet 2004, July 16, 1910 as "New Citation".
9. Rivière 1983, p. 188-189.
10. The letter is registered in Carnet 2004, 20 July 1910 with the note 'To choose Molinier or Mis'.
11. The letter is reproduced in Claire Corbu, Antoine Captier, L'héritage de l'Abbé Saunière, Bélisane, Nice 1995, p. 227 and recorded in Carnet 2004, 20 July 1910.
12. The letter is reproduced on Corbu/Captier, p. 229 and is recorded in Carnet 2004, 26 July 1910.
13. The three letters are all listed in Carnet 2004, 22 July 1910.