As the Catholic newspaper "La Croix" reported on Tuesday, Jasseron published a video on Sunday in which he justifies his decision with an increasing estrangement between himself and the church. "Basically, I remain a priest, similar to married couples who separate without getting divorced," he said.
Jasseron is the former parish priest of Joigny in the archdiocese of Sens and was ordained a priest in 2019. He became known through short videos on the TikTok platform. With 1.2 million subscribers, he was considered one of the biggest Catholic influencers on the internet. He also founded the platform Theostream.
In his videos, he advocated open Catholicism and criticised the church's teaching on homosexuality, among other things. This earned him criticism.
Last year, the French Bishops' Conference also distanced itself from his statements. At the end of last year, his withdrawal from social networks caused a stir. The reason for this is said to have been ongoing differences with the diocesan bishop responsible for him at the time, Hervé Giraud.
According to "La Croix", Jasseron has no longer performed any official duties in his archdiocese since June.
Jasseron case could be a topic at plenary assembly
In his recently published video, the former Catholic influencer cited structural problems in the church, the clerical climate and criticised the political influence in the church as further reasons for his withdrawal.
Jasseron also speaks of abuses such as abuse of power and claims to have been mistreated and physically assaulted by an unnamed bishop.
Jasseron also spoke of other "revelations", for example that he had been pressurised by the secret service not to attend a church meeting for fear that he might uncover "scandals about certain prelates".
He labelled parts of the church hierarchy as "traitors" and denounced the mixing of faith and politics in the church.
According to the video, he himself has gone through a "long and difficult phase of self-reflection".
According to the report, the new diocesan bishop of Sens, Pascal Wintzer, has taken note of Jasseron's decision to retire from pastoral ministry and is planning a personal meeting.
"A situation like this raises questions - for our church, the priesthood, training," the archbishop told "La Croix".
The Jasseron case could also be a topic at the next plenary assembly of French bishops in Lourdes in November, the newspaper speculates.