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"Prayer does not necessarily need a place to gather": Castaner shocks many believers

2020-05-04T14:35:33.926Z


By awkwardly explaining his refusal to reopen the churches, the Minister of the Interior threw a chill with the Catholic faithful.


Christophe Castaner or faith as an interior experience. Sunday May 3, when Guillaume Roquette, the editorial director of Figaro Magazine, asked him his opinion on the plan proposed by the bishops of France to reopen churches like other establishments on May 11, the Minister of the Interior replied that it was not " the best idea to fight promiscuity ", burying the hopes of many believers. To justify his position, the Minister of Worship then gave a very personal opinion on religious practice: " I think that prayer does not necessarily need a place of assembly, where one would put a risk to all of his religious community ”.

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A basic definition, neglecting the eminently social dimension of religion? The remarks led to a rain of criticism, often emanating from priests, whose function is precisely to animate the " collective " part of the faith and the " places of assembly ". On Twitter, Father Christian Venard thus joked about " the funny idea of ​​wanting to give an official opinion on how to practice ", referring to the freedom of the Church " to organize worship inside churches . These are assigned to him in an exclusive, free and definitive manner, according to the Law of 1905 ”, he recalled, citing words from Monsignor Camiade, bishop of Cahors, at the start of confinement. In Toulouse, Abbé Simon d'Artigue stressed that “ the role of the Minister of the Interior is to guarantee freedom of worship, in no case to explain to us how to exercise it. By this declaration he goes beyond his prerogatives ”.

Father Cédric Brugun also recalled that the exercise of a religion " included an individual freedom but also a collective freedom of religion of which worship is a part ", citing article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. If this same article provides many restrictions in case of public health imperative, " it is not for the government to judge the necessity [of worship] ", reminded the priest.

This Monday, the Conference of Bishops of France told Le Figaro not to comment on these words. The institution is in delicacy with the executive, having proposed a plan to reopen the churches rejected and buried with no real return from the government. Last Wednesday, Archbishop Aupetit, archbishop of Paris, said he was " extremely disappointed " with government announcements. However, a rapprochement seems to be starting this Monday afternoon, when Edouard Philippe has just considered the date of May 29 for the reopening of the churches. A gesture that could help appease the bitterness of the episcopate, or make everyone forget what was said on Sunday.

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" An issue of national unity " for Haïm Korsia

In reverse, some Catholics seem to go in the direction of Christophe Castaner and his purely interior definition of religious faith. In a column published by La Croix on Sunday (before the minister's remarks), some journalists and representatives of Christian associations even asked themselves ironically: " Reopen the churches, what for?" " In the text inviting to a great reform of the Church on many points, the authors recognized however that " to be in community is constitutive of the faith ".

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Asked by Le Figaro , the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia was understanding with Christophe Castaner: “ I think there is a major stake in national unity. The sole objective is to protect the French. So far, the government and in particular the Minister of the Interior have been very attentive to everything that has been proposed ”. Regarding the controversial sentence, the highest representative of the Jewish community underlines that the closing of " risky " assembly places is a sacrifice " that must be accepted ". " There are usually a lot of elderly people in these places, this is not the time to take risks or to break our national unity with a controversy ." Contacted, the French Council of Muslim Worship has not yet answered our questions.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-05-04

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