“That the Abbé Saunière could have received the last sacraments two days after his death is absolutely incredible. And that dear old Abbé Rivière, the curé of Espéraza, who died in 1929, and who was the Dean of Coursan (where I got to know him well) never smiled again after the death of the Abbé Saunière, to whom he had administered extreme unction, is another puzzling statement, as I myself saw him roar with laughter.”

From L’Independant, 9 December 1967