President François Hollande, who is to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican today, said in advance he wanted to talk with the Pope about the war in Syria, peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the plight of Christians in the Middle East and defending the global environment. They will talk as “head of state to head of state,” he said, adding that the Pope could be “useful” on several subjects.
Absent from his list of topics are any of the issues challenging Mr Hollande in France, including several of concern to French Catholics. The president is to sidestep possible protocol snags linked to his turbulent private life by bringing neither Valerie Trierweiler, his companion until recently seen as the “first lady” of France, nor his latest reported amour, actress Julie Gayet.
Mr Hollande, a dedicated secularist, angered French bishops and many Catholics by rushing through a law on same-sex marriage last year after only perfunctory consultations with faith leaders and several huge street protests by mostly Catholic groups.
The Socialist president announced this month that he planned a second controversial reform this year, the legalisation of assisted suicide for the terminally ill. The Catholic bishops’ conference and the French Protestant Federation have denounced the plan.
A group of Catholics mobilised by the anti-gay marriage movement drew up a petition asking Pope Francis to express “the profound malaise and growing concern of many French Catholics” to Hollande when they meet.
Apart from discussing euthanasia and gay marriage, they said he should also ask about a recent rise in the number of attacks on church buildings, which they say the Government has mostly ignored. They criticised government efforts to make abortion more available and limit criticism of it, and complained about the education ministry’s plan to teach gender theory in state schools.
More than 100,000 people have signed the petition, which was actively promoted on Catholic social media.
Loading ...
