Quite a symbol. Emmanuel Macron has, in his own defense, "rekindled" the all-French debate on secularism, the day before he entered a Notre-Dame cathedral that is recovering from another fire. Firefighter of religions or arsonist of secularism, the President of the Republic? The one-day controversy confirms the difficulty of politicians in addressing religion in a way that is both adjusted and peaceful.
In the space of three months, Emmanuel Macron has twice offended the frowning proponents of "pure sugar" secularism. In September, by attending the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Marseille, and this time by attending - without doing it himself - the lighting of the Hanukkah candlestick. In both cases, attending does not mean participating personally, let alone on behalf of the country, in a religious celebration.
Secularism in danger?
Often, the contestation of a mere presence at a religious event hides the refusal of the visibility of religions themselves in the public space. Macron didn't celebrate Hanukkah on Thursday...
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