It is in a high-tech setting, Station F, an incubator for innovative start-ups in the heart of Paris, that the Protestant Federation of France organized its second annual "dinner" on Monday, November 28.
In France, Protestants represent about two million faithful, their national federation brings together about thirty Church unions, of which the Lutherans and the Reformed are the best known.
The President of the Republic was announced at this evening, then Élisabeth Borne, Prime Minister, but both prevented, it was finally Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance, and Sarah El Haïry, Secretary of State in charge of Youth, who represented the government.
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In front of a full house where two hundred young Protestants engaged in society presented their projects, the Minister Le Maire, who did not hesitate to define himself as "
Catholic
", launched to them: "
It is in these times when the world is rocking that we need you, that we need the spirit of resistance, that we need the protestant spirit!
»
Starting with the "
political
" field so that "
the economy does not saturate politics
" because "
it is politics that must dictate the choices and not the other
way around " and that there is no
" economy without justice
”.
In passing, the Minister strongly called on young people to enter politics directly, in particular to fight against the rise of “
discouragement”
and “
weariness
”.
Calls also for “
ecology
” and “
equality between women and men
”.
“Offering everyone a dignified end of life”
As for the debate on "
the end of life",
Bruno Le Maire affirmed that "
Protestants have things to say
" because there is a "
need to offer each of our compatriots a dignified end of life
", so that "
the palliative care units must be open to everyone, without difficulty, without the need for knowledge or relations to have access to them
".
As for the substantive decisions on the end of life, he considered that it is necessary "to
debate, to wonder, to respect the positions of each other before arriving at a definitive position
".
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In his introductory speech, the new president of the Protestant Federation of France, Christian Krieger, addressed this sensitive point for religions: "
Theologians and religions have a vocation to contribute to the debate which is opening up on the end of life , not so much to fight a potential law, but above all to shed light on the human and societal issues.
»
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He thus assured that the Federation “
will actively participate in the debate
”.
Protestants "
welcome the cautious nature of Opinion 139 of the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) and in particular the encouragement to deploy the public health measures necessary for the development of palliative care, as well as for better knowledge and application of the Claeys-Leonetti law
”.
In any case, Protestants will accompany people at the end of life to the end "
whatever their choice
", he added to punctuate his speech.
Too many "administrative constraints"
Finally, returning to "
the law confirming respect for republican principles
", a law very badly experienced in Protestant communities, the President of the Federation assured that "
questions
" Protestant "
are not a challenge to the government, nor to its legitimacy in provide the State with the means to guarantee security and public order
" but a warning on the fact that this law "
affects the expression of religious freedom
".
In particular with “
the multiplication of administrative constraints
” which are “
an often oversized constraint
” for “
local associations run by volunteers
”.
Hence his request to "
take stock of the application
of the CRPR law
"
to "
feed the consultation with the authorities of the State"
because "
it is because we are loyal to the Republic and attached to a secularism that guarantees freedom of conscience and religious freedom, that we raise this question.
»