Monday, June 11, 2012

French Catholics fear a Hollande à la Zapatero

Will Hollande become the new Zapatero?Traditionalists are protesting against the new president's promises regarding same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, the French Church holds back as "certain initiatives risk dividing the Country."

The risk is that the French President will become the new Zapatero, that is, a symbol of the libertarian movement which undermines Europe’s Christian roots. French Catholics are protesting against the law on same-sex marriage which France’s newly-elected Socialist President, François Hollande promised to pass, during his election campaign. 

Practicing Catholics account for about 15% of the French population. The Civitas institute, one of the more conservative movements, is leading the Catholic protest against Hollande. The organisation spoke out against a “red and secularist France” and criticised the Socialist leader’s “intrinsically anti-Christian, anti-family and anti-national vision.”
 
The majority of French Catholics claim they are not partaking in these kinds of attacks, despite the fact that 79% of those who declare themselves practicing Catholics voted against Sarkozy. 

But same-sex marriage is not the only issue that is worrying French bishops. They are also concerned about a potential reform of the law on euthanasia. For now, the French Church prefers to keep a low profile a sit waits to see whether electoral promises will be kept. However, the French Episcopal Conference has already sent out a number of messages to Hollande, emphasising that certain initiatives would risk “splitting the country in two.”

In his wishes to the newly elected President, Benedict XVI urged him to respect life and France’s spiritual traditions. Benedict XVI sent a message to François Hollande on the occasion of his swearing-in, asking him to respect France’s “noble moral and spiritual traditions.” 

The message is dated 14 May and was sent to the Élysée about an hour after the swearing-in ceremony. In the message, Joseph Ratzinger expressed his cordial wishes for the execution of all other duties. The Pope expressed the hope that France, "within Europe and the international community" can "remain a factor for peace and active solidarity in the search for the common good, in the respect for life as with the dignity of each person and all peoples." 

Benedict XVI invoked, "an abundance of blessings" on all the French people and in particular on Hollande, "so that, respecting its noble and ancient moral and spiritual traditions, the nation courageously follows its efforts to raise up a society always more just and fraternal, open to the world and supporting the poorest nations."
  
France’s newly elected President, François Hollande, received an invitation from the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran to claim the title of “honorary canon” of the Basilica, a title handed out to French heads of State since 1604. Previously presented to kings, it is now given to Presidents of the Republic. 

The Lateran Chapter sent the invitation letter to the new President, along with a message of congratulations for his electoral victory. Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarcozy, had received the title on 20 December 2007, visiting Benedict XVI on that same day. 

Other presidents who received the honorary canon of St. John Lateran include de Gaulle, Giscard d’Estaing and Chirac. Coty and Pompidou turned it down, while Mitterand neither accepted nor rejected the title. We will now have to wait and see what the new Socialist President will do, as he is now due to receive the title as successor to the kings of France, the” eldest daughter of the Church”. 

The ties between France and the papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran “mother and head of all Churches” are remembered each year on St. Lucia’s Day, on 13 December, with a mass celebrated by the cardinal vicar to wish France happiness and prosperity (“Pro felici ac prospero statu Galliae”). 

The honorary canon is a title which dates back to King Henry IV, who had inherited a kingdom that was deeply divided by Catholic and Protestants and so at the beginning he adopted the Calvinist faith; he then returned definitively to Catholicism, receiving the Pope’s absolution. 

The edict of Nantes followed suit in 1598, conceding widespread freedom of religion to Protestants, restoring peace across the kingdom. As a token of his appreciation to the Catholic Church, whose forgiveness had led to peace, in 1604 the king made a generous donation to the Lateran Chapter. Among the donation’s clauses was the celebration of a mass 13 December, (the date of the king’s birthday) dedicated to the prosperity of France.
  
According to a survey carried out by the Harris institute for Christian weekly La vie, 79% of practicing Catholics voted for outgoing president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was defeated in the French presidential election run-offs, by the Socialist François Hollande. Non practicing Catholics voted in a similar way to the French public in general. Meanwhile, the majority of non-believers (70%) preferred Hollande. 

According to the survey, practicing Catholics are not too hot on the newly elected Socialist President because of his “support for same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couple.

François Hollande and his partner, Vallerie Trierweiler could soon be "married". The new French President's advisers are pushing for the Élysée's "first unmarried couple"  to tie the knot so as to avoid protocol issues during State visits to highly religious countries (from Saudi Arabia to the Vatican).