The President of the French Bishop’s Conference - Cardinal Archbishop of Paris Andre Vingt-Trois - doesn’t shy away from examining the various issues concerning the new evangelization and the relationship with modernity and secularism, starting from the concept of secularism, very dear to the French political culture from the Falloux Act of 1905 to today.
"Secularism is a tool for social peace and can never be subject to political manipulation," says the Cardinal.
"It is not a constraint. It should allow people who have different beliefs to live together peacefully. Secularism, in fact, does not seek to establish a no man's land where the man of faith would not have citizenship, because this land would only exist in the absence of religions."
During the interview by Jean Mercier, Cardinal Vingt-Trois spoke of the great ethical issues: euthanasia, homosexuality, unmarried couples, sexual morality and more, emphasizing how "the Magisterium upholds a long tradition of wisdom," and inviting his contemporaries to ask what future our society is building for future generations.
On the relationship with politics, and in particular, in view of the presidential election, the Cardinal spoke on whether Catholics could vote for the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande: "We do not enter into the substance of choice. The bishops of France have drafted a note in which they have tried to offer necessary words of discernment. Voters are responsible for voting in good conscience. In addition, some projects that go against Christian morals are not exclusive to the Socialist Party."
And the Cardinal is also concerned at the rise of a xenophobic attitude (in reference to a growing support for the Lepenist National Front), that is, the attempt to live on a happy island, while the universality of the Gospel message concerns all men.
And in any case a fair and honest life where social justice reigns, the archbishop recalls, is not the prerogative of any party.
The Archbishop of Notre Dame also raised unanswered questions, whose depth is to be appreciated and examined: "Where is the progress? As for society, we are not in a stage of regression, on many fronts. After that, for example, on the topic of couples and of marriage, religions, especially Christianity, have been decisive in the transition from polygamy to monogamy as an expression of the dignity and freedom of every single person, man and woman".