The president of the French bishops' conference has challenged the general impression that the influence of Catholicism is waning in that country.As the French episcopate gathered at Lourdes for its annual meeting, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard said that the Church still has an important role to play in a secular society.
The Church, he said, should make important contributions to public discussions on immigration, bioethical issues, environmental protection, the country's demographic decline, and the need for solidarity with the poor.
In an interview with the newspaper La Croix, however, Cardinal Ricard observed that although the government under former President Jacques Chirac had shown a keen interest in Catholic teachings regarding some social problems, the same government had brushed aside the Church's teachings on the nature of marriage and family and the sanctity of human life.
Prior to the French bishops' meeting, Cardinal Ricard had told La Croix that it is a mistake to regard French Catholicism as a problem for the universal Church.
Questioned by La Croix about the perception that the Vatican sees the French Church as an enfant terrible, the cardinal replied: "Reactions like that actually come from second-rank functionaries at the Vatican."
In his own meetings with leading officials of the Holy See, he continued, reactions have been more positive.
Cardinal Ricard said that a typical Vatican official might tell him, "Your situation is difficult, but we know all you are doing for the life of the Church."
In his presidential address at the opening of the bishops' meeting in Lourdes, Cardinal Ricard devoted more attention to the question of how the Church can influence secular society.
Recognizing the 1905 laws that set up a rigid barrier between the government and the Church in France, the cardinal said that it is still possible to achieve a healthy secularity in which Church-state relations are marked by "understanding and collaboration" rather than suspicion and hostility.
Regarding other issues on the French bishops' agenda, Cardinal Ricard said that top priority should be given to the training of future priests and the religious education of young Catholics.
Touching on another issue that roused considerable controversy within the French hierarchy during the past year, the cardinal said that the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum had "caused more anxiety before its appearance than after."
He claimed that the French bishops have heard few requests for the use of the old Latin liturgy, but when such requests do come, the French bishops will respond properly.
"All the dioceses of France welcomed this motu proprio," he reported, and are prepared to accommodate the traditional Latin Mass.
Cardinal Ricard was concluding his second term as president of the French episcopal conference.
The bishops chose Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris-- soon to become a cardinal, at the November consistory-- as the new president of the conference. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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