The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

In Rome, Jean Castex refuses the separation of Church and law

2021-10-18T16:40:03.222Z


In Rome, the Prime Minister and the Pope posted their convergences on the lessons of the Sauvé commission.


Being a Catalan elected official can be of great help in diplomatic relations.

This Monday, at 10 a.m., when entering the private library of the head of the Catholic Church, Jean Castex addresses Pope Francis in Spanish.

An ability to break the ice, above all a way to do without an interpreter and, thus, gain discussion time during the half-hour of the scheduled interview, which will be exceeded by several minutes.

There is no shortage of subjects between the Argentine Pope and the French Prime Minister, especially after the presentation of the Sauvé report on sexual abuse within the Church in France. It was Jean Castex who addressed the issue. Francis reminded him of the Church's awareness of the gravity of the facts, of the promise to come to the aid of the victims and of his support for the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), whose “

courage

he emphasized.

and accepted the work of the Sauvé commission. "

I trust the Church of France

», Insisted Pope Francis, while the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, present in Rome, as well as that of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, had asked Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the CEF, to clarify an insufficiently calibrated statement on the articulation between the secrecy of confession and the superiority of the law.

Read the file

Pedophilia: understanding everything about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

Of the confession, Castex and François spoke precisely. “

The Church will not change its dogma,

understood the head of government,

but the Pope was concerned to reflect and work on how to reconcile it with respect for the specific laws of the States and the taking into account of the protection of victims

”, he confided at the end of their meeting.

This articulation to be found, the Prime Minister returned to it in the speech he gave at the Villa Bonaparte, where he came to mark the centenary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See.

The legitimate emotion of our public opinion after the publication of the conclusions of the commission says how much the French expect, from this secular institution, protection, benevolence and exemplarity.

(…) It is up to the Church to find the necessary answers.

But the separation of Church and State does not in any way mean the separation of Church and law.

"

It is the Church of France which commissioned this report and allowed this commission to work in total independence by giving it the material means.

Jean Castex

A call to order from the Catholic hierarchy? Jean Castex denies it. In his speech, he recalled that "

it is the Church of France which commissioned this report and allowed this commission to work in total independence by giving it the material means

". In private, the Prime Minister is admiring the determination of Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort, beyond a verbal awkwardness which set fire to the powder.

Long planned, and postponed for the first time because of the papal agenda, this trip was in no way linked to the revelations of the Sauvé commission.

For this historic anniversary, Jean Castex intended to defend an open conception of secularism, in the spirit of Emmanuel Macron's 2018 speeches, at the Bernardins, in Paris, then at the Lateran, in Rome.

"

Between France and the Holy See, 1921 - the reestablishment of diplomatic relations - does not mark the return of the Concordat, but the spirit of concord,

" he said, welcoming that this spirit of concord continues to prevail today over “

the temptation to break up

”.

Read also

Exclusive: how Pope Pius XII resisted the Nazis

Contrary to the ambient discourse of denial of France's Christian roots, the Prime Minister went further than many French leaders in recent years by recalling that "

the history of France, as a nation, was born in Reims in the tank of a baptistery

”, that of Clovis.

"Touched" and "moved"

Recognizing that he was “

moved

” by his first personal meeting with a Pope, “

touched

” by

Francis'

direct and warm

” contact, Castex renewed his invitation to come to France.

Without the slightest illusion, however.

On the diplomatic level, this trip confirmed the convergences between France and the Holy See on the climate, on the eve of the Glasgow COP, and on the situation in Lebanon.

Convergences without risk and without surprises.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-10-18

You may like

News/Politics 2024-01-29T16:39:41.549Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.