Condemned benches, prayers for the fight against epidemics and religious freedom, collection for the solidarity grocery store ... It is difficult to ignore the context still marked by the coronavirus, during the Good Friday mass celebrated at the Sainte-Geneviève cathedral by Bishop Matthieu Rougé, where we met him.
The Bishop of Nanterre, 55, took off his mask embroidered with a red cross to send a message of optimism on the occasion of Easter, while passing on some political messages.
You are celebrating the Easter Vigil this Sunday at 6.15 am.
Is the current health crisis making the Easter holidays more complex?
MONSEIGNEUR MATTHIEU ROUGÉ.
We have to adapt, multiply the celebrations so that everyone is welcomed in good conditions, but the joy of celebrating Easter is really immense, compared to last year when we were glued to the screens.
The Easter message is very clear: “Don't be discouraged!
We believe that Christ conquered death with his love that went beyond wounds, betrayals and lies.
Today, the situation is difficult, but let us all invest in the love of others, open our hearts to what seems essential to us, and the light will be given to us.
How is your faith, after more than a year of crisis?
She is all the better because I was very impressed by the adaptability of priests, deacons, parish communities.
We share the difficulties of bereavement, illnesses, economic issues of each other.
Despite this, many have succeeded in giving the witness of fraternity and hope that I called for.
During this health crisis, I have often repeated that Christians were not defending their chapel but the possibility of contributing to the hope of all.
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Politicians understood that freedom of worship was a fundamental freedom and that believers should be allowed to exercise it.
Many people of various philosophical and spiritual backgrounds understand this.
The freedom to believe or not to believe, religious freedom is undoubtedly the deepest there is and the guarantee of all other freedoms.
Are omnipresent death and disease changing your role, your message?
Too often our postmodern society has tried to live as if death does not exist.
The Church has never evaded the question of death, but we must invest ourselves even more in accompanying the dying and those in mourning.
Our mission as Christians is to imbue ourselves with the hope given to us by God in order to share it.
Another area where we always have to progress is that of solidarity.
At the first confinement, some institutional charitable actors withdrew as a health precaution, forgetting that the poor were not going to be confined.
Some volunteers were too old to stay in the field.
We have seen new ones emerge to get involved with the poorest.
HOLY FRIDAY MASS
Many faithful attended Good Friday Mass in France, especially in the Sainte-Geneviève cathedral in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine).
LP / Arnaud Journois
How are you dealing with the economic crisis when the Roman Cardinals have lowered their salaries?
The situation is very different between the Holy See and France, where all priests and bishops have the same treatment, a little below the minimum wage.
It is therefore not a source of savings.
The health crisis has a cost for the Church as for the whole of society.
But the generosity of the faithful, whom I thank, was there.
What is essential for us is to transmit and celebrate the faith, and to serve the poorest.
You recently made the separatism law akin to "cult control".
Why are you opposed to it?
The Catholic Church is not opposed to this law as such.
The government is in its role when it seeks to respond to violent radicalizations.
The starting point of this process is the assassination of Samuel Paty but also of three believers in Nice.
This project provides a number of useful answers.
But some points seem to us to be difficult because they maintain a negative outlook on religious affiliation as such and risk infringing on freedom of association, expression and education.
Improvements are therefore needed by the end of the Senate debate.
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A recent survey showed that young people were more open to the expression of religious symbols in school than their elders, but less to the freedom to criticize religions.
How do you judge this development?
As a Christian, I am a lover of freedom and I am happy that it can be fully exercised, avoiding all violence, in word or in deed.
It doesn't traumatize me that my fellow citizens have the freedom to criticize me personally and criticize my faith.
From the point of view of secularism, I understand that religious expressions are limited in the context of public education.
On the other hand, I find it normal to be able to be dressed as a bishop in the streets of my diocese and for everyone to be able to express, in a sober but real way, their religious affiliation.
From age to age, the strength and peace of our country is the mutual respect of "those who believe in heaven and those who do not believe in it".
The French Bishops' Conference announced last week the implementation of new measures against pedophilia in the Church, including financial compensation.
Does the device now seem sufficient to you?
A framework worked at length by all the bishops of France is laid down.
It was built with victimized people.
We are very keen on this dialogue and this common work.
To assess and understand the terrible tragedies of the past, we have set up an independent commission which will deliver its conclusions in the fall.
We are also constantly working on prevention: in my diocese, there is regular training for all those who work with young people.
A diocesan delegate takes care of this.
Any victim contacting our listening cell is greeted with great attention.
In addition to that, we have indeed opened up the possibility of financial assistance, if some victims wish it, for their reconstruction work.
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Why not use the word “compensation”, as some victims criticize you?
Some victims would have liked this term, others found it inappropriate.
In this area so sensitive and painful, we will never find fully satisfactory words.
The important thing is to move forward in humility and truth, and to ensure that the Church is a safe house.