On the eve of the January 13th demonstration against the government’s bill, Le Figaro reports on the reticence of the Catholic hierarchy to get involved and claims that opposition to gay marriage and same sex parenthood, far from being religious, actually unites all sectors of French “civil society”.
Article source: “L'Église catholique entre prudence et esprit de résistance”, Jean-Marie Guénois, Le Figaro, samedi 12 janvier
AS THE INITIAL DRIVING FORCE behind the resistance, the Catholic Church appears to be at the vanguard of opposition to the bill, even if it adamantly rejects this political stance. In reality, the Church now finds itself overwhelmed by the magnitude of the movement it refuses to adopt, despite having spawned. This explains the apparent contradiction between the Bishops' timidity concerning Sunday's protest and the passion which animates its grassroots.
Parisian Streets and Bishops' Feet
Is it possible that the pectoral cross, the distinctive symbol of a Bishop, cuts the flow of blood to episcopal legs, removing the ability to walk when it's time to protest rather than pontificate? We might be forgiven for thinking so, considering the paltry number of bishops courageous enough to march this Sunday in Paris. The Conference which unites French bishops has refused to provide an estimate. La Croix has put the number at roughly ten out of about one hundred, which amounts to relatively few. But all, or nearly all, have taken a public stance against the bill. All have encouraged believers to “make themselves heard”, using a carefully devised formula crafted to avoid offence, but many prefer not to attend on Sunday. Some will even take part in the protest anonymously “as ordinary citizens”, while others will melt into the crowd of parishioners. Only Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the Archbishop of Lyons, will take the risk of openly protesting. Cardinal Vingt-Trois, who has a much more restricted role as Archbishop of Paris and President of the Conference of Bishops, will resign himself to paying a brief visit to the organisers. These two Church leaders have obviously decided to take on clearly differentiated roles. But this prudence has not gone down well in Catholic parishes, where numerous priests have taken it upon themselves to organise convoys of protestors.
Would Parisian streets hurt bishops' feet? The truth is miles from this caricature. Although the Catholic Church—led by Cardinal Vingt-Trois with his prayer on August 15th—sparked the crusade against the bill and loudly sustained the debate, suffering attacks from ministers and députés, it also paradoxically did everything it could to avoid seeming like a “political” opponent, such as a party, preferring to be seen as an “ethical” opponent, a moral presence. This is why Sunday's protest has such strength, but also runs the risk of being politically hijacked—and therefore of producing a potential ambiguity from a strictly political point of view, which is precisely the reason the Bishops are treading so carefully. The Catholic Church has “no desire whatsoever” to fall into a political trap, said Cardinal Vingt-Trois. Having dismissed accusations of homophobia, the Catholic Church still has to eliminate all suspicion of “political interference”.
A Catholic Bastion or Civil Society?
The second paradoxical aspect of this protest, which has for the most part been driven by practising Catholics, is that it has attracted more supporters than expected: non-practising groups, non-Catholics, non-Christians, secularists, and those who are not in the least interested in religion, all driven by the desire to defend parenthood and filiation—and therefore families founded by the lasting union of one man and one woman. And by extension, marriage and the protection of a child's right to have both a mother and father in case of adoption. The range of backgrounds among the organisers reveals the protestors' diversity. Most are families. But it's also “Catholics” that make up the hard core of the organisation. And now they find themselves overwhelmed, swept away by a wave whose energy, far from being religious, is driven by social chemistry. It's worth highlighting the vitality of this new generation of Christians who were recently considered as an endangered species. They are quite young, unpretentious, easy-going, and capable of leading a powerful movement. Frigide Barjot is the icon of this contrasting image which makes the attacks from supporters of gay marriage seem laughable, like the placards at the December 16th rally which read: “Brainwashed, Intolerant, Bitter, Arrogant”. One might also point out that the “ultra”-Catholics—those who march with the Civitas movement and denounce “Madame B” (Frigide Barjot) for defending gays—are relegated to the role of extras. Also in the background are the “infra”-Catholics, who profess to have no problem with the bill. Both of these are fringe groups, kept on the sidelines of the debate and relatively unnoticed in the protests. The surprising novelty of this movement lies in the rise, not of the ancient and solemn Catholic society, but of a veritable “civil society”. This concept and doctrine of the PS was championed by senior party figures such as Michel Rocard and Ségolène Royal. But the rise of the civil society has, rather unexpectedly, come back to haunt the Socialist government on its home turf.
Religions... without creed!
One final paradox: the multiple religions seen as the principal opponents of this bill will not be officially represented by their leaders on Sunday (apart from Catholics and Evangelical Protestants). Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, and Orthodox Christian protesters will be present, but neither the Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, nor Mohammed Moussaoui, the President of the CFCM (the Muslim Council of France), nor Claude Baty, president of the Protestant Federation of France, nor Monseigneur Emmanuel, President of the Federation of Orthodox Bishops (Assemblée des Évêques Orthodoxes), will make an appearance. This is the result of a strategy planned and agreed last September by the Conférence des représentants des cultes en France (CRCF), an organisation that unites these different faiths. After a meeting on Monday evening with President François Hollande, who had invited them to celebrate the New Year, the religious leaders all confirmed what Gilles Bernheim repeated on Friday morning on radio station Europe 1: “I cannot support the idea of a coalition of religions against this law. That would give the impression that monotheistic religions are opposed to the government—and in particular to the Socialist Party, which is not the case!”
Translation: Charles Eddy and Adrien Martel
Editing: Sam Trainor