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Church, in difficulty after confinement, "calls for donations for parishes"

2020-05-31T02:51:43.393Z


On this Pentecost weekend, Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France, reveals to us exclusively q


He is the patron of purple caps and, in a way, of the Church of France! At the top of the episcopate for a year, since he was elected president of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), Mgr Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, 58, will celebrate this Pentecost mass at the cathedral this Sunday morning of Reims, in the diocese where he is archbishop.

How will the parishes of France celebrate Pentecost this Sunday?

Mgr ERIC DE MOULINS-BEAUFORT. In all, there will be at least one mass. In some, the number of offices will be doubled or tripled to compensate for the reduction in reception capacity. But even that way, we will not be able to accommodate everyone. We will continue the broadcasts to allow fragile people to follow the Mass always from home.

When is the ritual most upset?

For the priest, it is during the Eucharistic prayer at the altar. During the consecration, he must put on a mask or cover with a veil the offerings which are going to be, in stride, distributed, so that there are no postilions. At the time of communion, the faithful, who also have the mask, can no longer receive the body of Christ in their mouths. It is only in the hand washed beforehand with hydroalcoholic gel. It's a bit restrictive, but honestly, it's doable.

Can we sincerely respect the barrier gestures when we are in the fraternity?

We are happy to meet, so the temptation to get closer is great. But we organized, supervised our liturgical gestures. Brotherhood expresses itself differently. During the mass, the faithful took the habit of making a gesture of peace by bowing to each other instead of shaking hands. It also gives meaning to a physical gesture that could sometimes become mechanical.

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Why not wait until June 2 for the resumption of celebrations as recommended by the government?

We are able to provide the necessary sanitary conditions. The Christian faith is lived in interiority, but it also needs to express itself in sharing, meeting, participating in communion. The more we delayed the resumption of celebrations, the more we took the risk that there were wild practices, poorly supervised.

VIDEO. The joy of Catholics to find their parish

The Prime Minister said Thursday that "in other countries than France, it is during religious ceremonies that new clusters have appeared". Do you fear the appearance of epidemic foci during Masses?

I don't really have much concern. You have to be vigilant, very rigorous, strictly apply the rules but I am confident. I think we will be more at risk in parks and gardens than in churches. The Catholic community in France is very concerned and has no intention of selling off, neglecting the sanitary requirements. We must take citizens as adults and accept that they are responsible.

Different cults were not always on the same wavelength regarding the timing of the resumption of celebrations. Has the coronavirus interfered with interfaith dialogues?

We don't all have the same liturgical rhythm… I would say that, on the contrary, we talked like never before. The big advantage of confinement is that we managed to reach each other easily, everyone was at home. We talked well and of course. We hope to be able to meet physically in June.

Civil marriages resume from June 2. Can priests assure, on this date, religious marriages?

There is no problem, we are ready, we are at the disposal of the engaged couple. You just have to respect the rule of masks and 4 m2 per person. It is up to the engaged to see if they want to unite under these conditions ...

Did Covid-19 impact the faith of the French?

An epidemic brings us all closer to illness, and death reveals what frightens us, introduces the unknown. With some, it brings them closer to God. In others, it keeps them away because it obsesses them, because they wonder why, if God is good, he allows this. In any case, the confinement made it possible to experience an end of Lent with great intensity and the feeling that we could taste, as rarely, the depth of our faith. For many Christians, the norm of Lent in the future will be that of 2020!

Does the priest that you are see a divine sign in this health crisis?

In these kinds of events, God acts in a rather incognito way. He didn't have fun creating a virus like that. He did not say to himself, "Well, we must teach men a good lesson. " But if God does not prevent this epidemic is another warning that is given to us: our lifestyle is to be reviewed, it does not lead humanity to its fulfillment. For several decades now, we have known more than ever that the ecological constraint weighing on us requires fairly strong changes that we are not capable of carrying out collectively. God's warnings are always the promise that we can live differently, less frantically.

"All those who can help us are welcome," said Eric de Moulins-Beaufort./LP/Jean-Baptiste Quentin  

What are the financial consequences of the pandemic for the parishes?

Each Sunday for more than two months, there was no quest. That makes 40 to 50 million euros less in the boxes which are usually used to light, heat, clean the churches but also to pay the sacristan, to pay the tax of household waste, to cover the charges… donations made on the occasion of a marriage and a baptism also stopped. Some parishes and dioceses more fragile than others are found in the red.

How to make up for this shortfall?

We are going to launch a national appeal for donations next week. We address the faithful above all. But all those who can help us are welcome, we are not going to ask for a baptism certificate! The call is coordinated by the Conference of Bishops of France, but the latter will receive nothing for itself. Everything is signposted. Each donor will indicate in the form which diocese he wants to donate to. The ambition is to compensate for the shortfall. But we are aware that many people are currently in difficult economic situations.

Will parishes be forced to fire?

I hope not. If a parish has great difficulties, others can help it. There is increased solidarity between them.

This week, Anne Soupa, a woman involved in the Church, has applied for the vacant post of Archbishop of Lyon since the resignation of Cardinal Barbarin. What do you think of this initiative?

She acts by provocation! Like any provocation, it can annoy, it can make you think. First, no one asks for himself to be a bishop, it is the Pope who chooses. Second, to be a bishop, you must first be a priest. The Church works a lot with women who can have authority functions in diocesan services as officials of the commissary, of Catholic education… On this question, we can always progress, but it seems to me that we are pretty virtuous.

Are you in favor of the ordination of women priests?

The question that arises is the meaning of sexual difference, the difference between men and women: is it just an archaism of evolution which must be got rid of or does it have a certain meaning which can be found in the liturgy? Personally, I think that it has a real importance in the plan of God, that it must be reflected in the liturgy and therefore that it makes sense that the ministerial priesthood is reserved for men.

The episcopate was to unveil, during its April plenary assembly in Lourdes which was canceled because of the Covid-19, the amount of the lump sum allocated by the Church to the victims of pedophile priests. Where is the file?

We worked by videoconference last week. We will talk about it, again from a distance, the second week of June. There will be nothing decisive before November and our next assembly in Lourdes. We should not focus on the only financial gesture. On this subject, we can only really decide and progress by meeting for real.

Source: leparis

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