Press Release – L’Œuvre d’Orient: Change in Chief Executive Officer
After 15 years at the helm of L’Œuvre d’Orient, Bishop Pascal Gollnisch, who will soon turn 73, has asked to be relieved of his duties as the association’s executive director.
Currently serving as Secretary General of the French Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Hugues de Woillemont has been appointed Executive Director of L’Œuvre d’Orient, effective September 1, 2025, by the Association’s Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of the Archbishop of Paris, Bishop Laurent Ulrich, and in agreement with Bishop Matthieu Rougé, Bishop of Nanterre.
Under the leadership of Bishop Gollnisch, L’Œuvre d’Orient, a Church-based organization, a member of the Reunion of Aid Organizations for the Eastern Churches (ROACO) at the Vatican, and the oldest French association supporting Eastern Christians, has grown considerably in France and internationally. It has built a network of representatives throughout France, across Europe through the creation of sister associations, and in the twenty-three countries where it operates—in the Near and Middle East, Eastern Europe, the Horn of Africa, and southern India.
Bishop Gollnisch was instrumental in the creation of the Institute for Eastern Christians and the launch of the Fund for French-Speaking Christian Schools in the East, jointly managed by the French government and L’Œuvre d’Orient. He developed an advocacy campaign targeting international organizations to raise awareness of the plight of Eastern Christians. He established an organization capable of addressing the challenges faced by Eastern Christians by professionalizing its teams and operational methods. Today, L’Œuvre d’Orient is carrying out nearly 1,200 projects with nearly 39 million euros raised. Its long-standing mission of sending volunteers has been reinforced in recent years by the growing need on the ground.
Convinced that by helping Christians in the East, the entire East is supported, Bishop Gollnisch was committed to strengthening bonds of communion and building bridges across the Mediterranean—between the Eastern Churches and the Church of France, and between France and the Christians of the East. In this capacity, Bishop Gollnisch worked to strengthen the Ordinariate for Eastern Catholics in France, serving as vicar general.
Since its founding in 1856 by professors at the Sorbonne, L’Œuvre d’Orient has stood alongside Christians in the East. It helps Christian communities serve everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, within the societies to which they belong. Amid the divisions they face, Eastern Christians serve as agents of peace, working for the benefit of the entire population in the fields of education, health, social services (hospitals, clinics, orphanages, etc.), and cultural heritage.
L’Œuvre d’Orient carries out its work thanks to the generosity of 80,000 donors and a strong network of religious congregations and partners in the countries where it operates. It responds with unwavering support to major crises in these countries, particularly in Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Ukraine, Lebanon, and more recently in Ethiopia and the Holy Land.
The Archbishop of Paris, Bishop Laurent Ulrich, Ordinary of the Eastern Catholics of France, and the association’s Board of Directors thank Bishop Pascal Gollnisch “for the extraordinary work he has accomplished at the helm of the Œuvre d’Orient and for the unwavering support he has provided to Eastern Christians.”
Ordained a priest on June 26, 1999, for the Diocese of Nanterre—after attending business school and completing his seminary training at the Carmes Seminary—Bishop Hugues de Woillemont, 55, had served as Secretary General and spokesperson for the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) since September 2020.
A youth minister from 2000 to 2003, and an assistant pastor and pastor in the parishes of Sèvres, Chaville, and Ville d’Avray, he served as director of the Nanterre Diocesan Pilgrimage Office for six years. Appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Nanterre in 2011, he served in this capacity under Bishops Gérard Daucourt, Michel Aupetit, and Matthieu Rougé until 2020, before joining the CEF. He served as diocesan administrator of the Diocese of Nanterre from January to September 2018.
During his term as Secretary General of the CEF, he undertook, alongside the President of the CEF, Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, on numerous trips—accompanied by Bishop Pascal Gollnisch—to meet with Christian communities in the East (i.e., Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and Ethiopia in the near future…). In September 2022, a few months after the start of the war in Ukraine, he traveled to Kyiv with Bishop de Moulins-Beaufort to convey the friendship of the Church of France to the Ukrainian people.
He will assume his duties on September 1, 2025, as Executive Director of L’Œuvre d’Orient and Vicar General of the Ordinariate of Eastern Catholics in France.
Today, on the eve of L’Œuvre d’Orient’s 170th anniversary in 2026, 17 million Eastern Catholics live in the countries where the organization operates.
Now more than ever, Christians in the East need our support.
L’Œuvre d’Orient
- 78,000 individual donors in France,
- A nonpolitical association organized under the French Law of 1901, recognized as serving the public interest and bearing the “Don en Confiance” seal of approval.
- 400 local Christian communities (spanning 23 countries where the organization operates) serving everyone.
- 1,200 funded projects per year
- 38.5 million euros raised in 2024
- 400 schools with more than 400,000 students
- 3 million patients
- A network of more than 300 volunteers throughout France
- 100 volunteers on assignment each year
- A Welcome for Refugees
