Europe

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 8, 2019 / 05:19 pm (CNA).- A Capuchin Franciscan priest from Northern Ireland who spent 50 years on mission in Zambia has been awarded one of Japan’s highest honors for his promotion of judo in Africa.

“It’s a great recognition. I’m very proud of it, but I’m also surprised and overcome by the enormity of it. It’s not something I was expecting at all,” Father Jude McKenna told the Belfast Telegraph.

The 84-year-old judo expert is one of this year’s recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, awarded each year by the Japanese government. The award is “given to people who make a very significant contribution to the spread of Japanese culture,” the priest told the Belfast Telegraph.

McKenna, a native of Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, lived in Zambia from 1966 until 2017, when he retired to Dublin due to failing eyesight.

McKenna’s twin brother Brian was ordained a priest at the same time as Jude and they both joined the Capuchin Franciscans. When the time came for the brothers to be given their assignments, Jude was sent to Zambia, and Brian to California.

Father Jude said he was always a keen boxer, and after three visits to Japan, developed an affinity for judo, a form of self-defense developed in Japan in 1882 that today is generally practiced as a sport.

In addition to his missionary work in Africa, McKenna helped to spread the practice of judo across Zambia and throughout Africa. He founded the Lusaka Central Sports Club in Zambia’s capital.

McKenna’s award, given June 26 by Japan’s Ambassador to Ireland Mari Miyoshi in Dublin, was in recognition of his “outstanding contribution towards strengthening bilateral relations and promoting friendship between Japan and Zambia through judo,” the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Established in 1875, the Order of the Rising Sun was Japan’s first national award.

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Dublin, Ireland, Jul 8, 2019 / 04:51 pm (CNA).- An estimated 10,000 Irish pro-life advocates attended the first major pro-life rally and march in Ireland since the country implemented permissive abortion legislation, with speakers emphasizing their det… […]

Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jul 8, 2019 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- Bishops in Northern Ireland have spoken out against amendments to a bill in the British parliament that would liberalize abortion provision in the region, bypassing its self-governance.

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said July 6 that he is “deeply concerned by suggestions that amendments are being considered to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill … which will hijack this Bill to remove existing legal protection for unborn babies and to ‘fast track’ the legalisation of abortion on demand in Northern Ireland. How tragic it is for humanity that some legislators would ‘fast track’ the ending of the lives of the most defenceless in our society.”

Abortion is legally permitted in Northern Ireland only if the mother’s life is at risk or if there is risk of permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health. Elective abortion is legal in the rest of the United Kingdom up to 24 weeks.

British prime minister Theresa May has said abortion should be a devolved issue for Northern Ireland, but the Northern Ireland Assembly is currently suspended due to disagreements between the two major governing parties.

Archbishop Martin added that “it is urgent to restore an executive in Northern Ireland, so that the common good of all our people can be served. There is something particularly cynical, however, in taking advantage of the present political crisis to remove the right to life of the most vulnerable of our people; the unborn baby. The common good cannot be served in this way.”

“A legal framework for the protection of unborn human life is an important statement about the respect due to each and every child, and about the society in which we live,” he stated.

He asked that Catholics and other pro-life persons “contact Members of Parliament as a matter of urgency, requesting that he or she vote against any attempt to remove legal protection from unborn babies.”

Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor urged similar action, asking July 6 that people contact their MP “to register their objection to this undemocratic process.”

“The protection of human life, inviolable from its conception until its natural end, is a matter of fundamental ethical and social ethical importance for citizens, society and the state,” he said, lamenting that the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill “is being used to introduce amendments aiming to liberalise provision of abortion in Northern Ireland without the say-so of either the citizens of Northern Ireland or their elected representatives.”

Bishop Treanor called the efforts an “eleventh hour initiative” to instrumentalize a bill meant “to put in place measures to accommodate the ongoing absence of a Northern Ireland Assembly. The issue of the protection of human life and the redefinition of marriage are not … devolved matters, which should be decided upon by the people of Northern Ireland.”

Since the bill is being considered by the British parliament, the English and Welsh bishops’ life issues spokesman, also encouraged citizens to speak out against it.

Bishop John Sherrington, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, said July 5 the bill’s effect in Northern Ireland “would be to provide for abortion on demand up to 28 weeks,” while in England and Wales “it would remove almost all of the existing legal safeguards surrounding abortion which limit abortion. Removing these is a step which I hope that legislators will not take.”

“Such a change would leave Northern Ireland with a significantly different abortion framework to the Republic of Ireland, where, following the recent referendum, there is a twelve week limit. It would also leave Northern Ireland, England and Wales with some of the most extreme abortion laws in the world, and more than twice the limit of most European countries,” Bishop Sherrington stated.

Right to Life UK has warned that amendments to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill “would potentially lead to significant numbers coming across the border for abortions from the Republic of Ireland,” where abortion is not generally available after 12 weeks.

Clare McCarthy, a Right to Life UK spokesperson, said July 8 that Northern Ireland’s abortion law “should be a decision for the people of Northern Ireland and their elected representatives” and that it is “inappropriate to bring forward abortion amendment to a Bill which has nothing to do with abortion in any way.”

McCarthy noted that “100,000 people in Northern Ireland are alive today because Northern Ireland did not accept the same abortion law that was introduced into Britain in 1967.”

The Belfast Telegraph reported July 8 that Labour and Co-operative MP Stella Creasy, who represents a London constituency, had introduced amendments “seeking to extend abortion provision” in Northern Ireland.

Earlier this year Creasy intended to propose an amendment to a draft Domestic Abuse Bill that would give the British parliament jurisdiction over abortion laws throughout the United Kingdom. However, the bill’s scope was restricted to England and Wales by the Conservative government.

The Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a member of the coalition government in Westminster, is opposed to changing the region’s abortion law.

Bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.

Northern Irish women have been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales since November 2017.

The region’s abortion law is also facing a legal challenge from Sarah Ewart, a Belfast woman who traveled to England in 2013 for an abortion after her doctors reportedly told her that her baby would not survive outside of the womb.

In June 2018, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission challenged the region’s abortion laws in the UK Supreme Court. While the Supreme Court concluded that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws violated human rights law by banning abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, and incest, it threw out the case saying it had not been brought forward by a person who had been wrongfully harmed by the law. It is expected that the court will consider Ewart to have standing to bring the case.

Other amendments to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill would introduce same-sex marriage in the region; block a no-deal Brexit; and restrict prosecution of British soldiers for killings committed during the Troubles.

[…]

Dublin, Ireland, Jul 8, 2019 / 10:00 am (CNA).- A judge in Ireland has decided that a Catholic girl in foster care can attend a Protestant Church of Ireland school, even though the girl was raised Catholic and her Catholic parents do not want her atten… […]

Regensburg, Germany, Jul 2, 2019 / 05:35 pm (CNA).- Monsignor Michael Fuchs, vicar general of the Diocese of Regensburg, has published a reflection on the June 29 letter Pope Francis wrote to Catholics in Germany, in which the pope called for a focus on evangelization in the face of the “erosion” and “decline of the faith” in the country.

Please find below the full text of Msgr. Fuchs’ reflection:
 

Pope Francis writes a letter to Catholics in Germany. He, who places so much value on the strength of the local Church and emphasizes subsidiarity and synodality, finds himself forced to step in, as both a shepherd and a father.

The result is a word of warning, and at the same time a word of encouragement. This is a serious intervention.

It comes before a backdrop of developments in the Catholic Church in Germany in recent years, and in particular the last few months, of various protest actions and letters, of the current plans for the so-called “synodal process” (cf. section 3 of the letter) and associated demands and expectations. Their direction and their vehemence must have pushed the Holy Father to this word.

Francis does not contest particular points or weigh in on minutiae. The crisis of the Church in Germany is a much more profound one, and therefore the letter also takes a more fundamental approach. In doing so, Pope Francis refers repeatedly to his address to the German bishops on occasion of their ad limina visit on 20 November 2015 (cf. the letter’s introductory words, for instance) and his letter wants to be read and understood on the basis of that address.

In both his ad limina address and the letter, the Pope – after having praised the great achievements in Germany – clearly identifies the symptoms of the current crisis: fewer Catholics attend Sunday Mass or go to confession. The very substance of the faith among many has evaporated, and the number of priests is decreasing. He assures us of his closeness and his support for our efforts to overcome this crisis and to find new ways to do so, and he wants to encourage us.

But then he identifies a number of tendencies in the German search for solutions that cause him great concern.

The Pope’s concern about a “dismemberment” of the Church

First of all, there is the concern that the church in Germany will sever ties with the universal Church and split off from the global (“Catholic”) community of the Faith – the letter describes this as a “dismemberment” of the Church.

Accordingly, Pope Francis calls for “journeying together with the whole Church” (3) and refers to the  “communio [community] of all particular Churches in the universal Church” (Note 7). He points out that “especially in these times of strong fragmentation and polarization, it is necessary to ensure that the Sensus Ecclesiae is actually alive in every decision taken” and that “the particular Churches live and flourish within and out of the universal Church; if they were separated from the universal Church, they would weaken, perish and die. It is therefore a necessity always to stay in active and effective communion with the whole Body of the Church” (9), “knowing that we are an essential part of a greater Body” (ibid.).

The Pope further warns – with reference to a book by Pope Benedict XVI – against the “temptation of the promoters of Gnosticism” who “have always tried to say something new and different from what the Word of God has given them. (…) What is meant by this is the one who wants to be ahead, the advanced one, who pretends to go beyond the ‘ecclesial We'” (ibid.). The passage from the Second Letter to John (2 John 9) mentioned in the text is revealing here: “Any one who goes ahead, and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, has not God”. The pope [adds] that there is “a temptation by the Father of Lies (…), who (…) ultimately dismembers the Body of the holy and faithful people of God” (10). In contrast to this Pope Francis presents and proposes a holistic vision of synodality.

Obviously the Holy Father has not been unaware that some of the demands of the initiators of the “synodal process” (as the “synodal way” is often also called) go beyond – or do not sufficiently take into account – the globally binding Catholic foundations of Faith. At the very least, [these demands] could jeopardize the common path and the comprehensive communion of the Church. The Pope’s choice of words is unusually clear here.

The warning of a “secularized mindset”

A second topic in the papal letter concerns the temptation to strive only for a “reform of structures, organizations and administration”, constituting “a kind of new Pelagianism” (5), of which Pope Francis had already warned the German bishops during their ad limina visit in 2015. Pelagianism, rejected by the Church in the fifth century, claimed that there was no need for salvation from sins through Christ, and that man was sufficiently strong and good by himself.

In 2015 the Pope in this context already pointed out the temptation of “putting our trust in administration, in the perfect apparatus”. In his letter Francis warns against “secularization and a secularized attitude of mind” (5). “May God free us from a secular Church under spiritual or pastoral drapery! This suffocating worldliness is healed by tasting the pure air of the Holy Spirit, who frees us from revolving around ourselves, concealed underneath a semblance of religiosity, above a godless void” (5). (Note 13)

Rather, a “theologal perspective” is what is required: “The Gospel of Grace (…) should be the beacon and guide. Whenever an ecclesial community has tried to get out of its problems by itself, (…) it ended up multiplying the evils it wanted to overcome” (6). “Without ‘faithfulness of the Church to her own vocation’, any new structure will perish within a short period of time”. (ibid.) Therefore the Church should not simply respond to “external facts and needs”, “isolated from the mystery of the Church” (ibid.).

Much of what has been happening in Germany in recent times probably looks to the Pope like the activist undertakings of a quasi-political association, a “pious non-governmental organization”, as he has often described it in other contexts. And indeed, some things uttered on behalf of the Church time and again appear to demand just that – without consideration of preconditions of Faith and in contradiction to freely receiving the faithful gift of becoming.

Tensions and imbalances instead of adaption

Pope Francis speaks in his letter several times of “tension” and “adaptation”. He warns of “adapting [the life of the Church] to the currently prevailing logic or to that of a particular group” (5), and of establishing an “order which then puts an end to the very tensions that are inherent in our humanity and which the Gospel seeks to provoke” (ibid.). “We must not forget that there are tensions and imbalances which have the taste of the Gospel, which must be maintained because they promise new life” (ibid.). Evangelization is “not a ‘retouching’ which adapts the Church to the spirit of the times but makes her lose her originality and her prophetic mission” (7). Rather, it is a matter of “recognizing the signs of the times, which is not synonymous with mere adaptation to the spirit of the times (cf. Rom 12:2)” (8).

Much of what was said before the synodal process is predicated on an anxious need to not lose touch with the world’s plurality and the intention of closing the gap between the Church and the reality of life. Pope Francis dismisses this argument decisively.

Reclaiming the primacy of evangelization

Instead, “it is necessary to regain the primacy of evangelization (…) because the Church, the bearer of evangelization, begins by evangelizing herself” (7). It should be “our main concern to encounter our brothers and sisters, especially those who can be found on the thresholds of our church doors, on the streets, in prisons, in hospitals, in public squares and cities. The Lord expressed himself clearly: ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well’ (Mt 6:33)”. (8). “It is the holiness ‘from next door’ (…) that protects and has always guarded the Church against every ideological, pseudo-scientific and manipulative reduction.” (ibid.)

For this the Pope demands a basic attitude of “vigilance and conversion” (12), an “attitude of withdrawal” (ibid.), and he refers to “true spiritual remedies (prayer, penance and adoration)” (ibid.). Joy should be the defining factor: “Evangelization leads us to regain the joy of the Gospel, the joy of being Christians”. (7)

Have we abandoned the primacy of evangelization in Germany, and lost, through obstinacy and defiance, the joy of Faith? Pope Francis spells out clearly what he means by evangelization and encountering the poor, and he criticizes any reduction thereof to mere adaptations, administrative reforms, and tendencies to isolation. He thus calls us to think bigger, to step outside of our own homes and to spread the Good News in word and deed.

Do not downplay conflicts by way of polls

In his letter, the Pope does not comment on formal technical details of the synodal process (such as its regulation, voting rules, etc.), but the following words are thought provoking: “The synodal view does not remove contradictions or confusion, nor does it subordinate conflicts to decisions of ‘good consensus’ that compromise faith as a result of censuses or surveys on this or that subject.” Rather, it is about the “centrality of evangelization and the Sensus Ecclesiae as determining elements of our ecclesial DNA” (11).

Incidentally, Francis uses the term “Sensus Ecclesiae” five times in the letter, which he deploys in a universal sense, and he avoids the term “Sensus fidelium” which is theologically and ecclesiastically founded, but is sometimes misunderstood as “groupthink” or mere majority opinion.

A synodal togetherness and the Sensus Ecclesiae obviously mean more to Pope Francis than to suppress conflicts, so to speak, technically, by votes or by polls or relying on false compromises “which subvert the faith”.

Is the contents of the letter surprising?

Not for those who have followed the Pope’s statements on the topics that the synodal process is to work on and decide. And not for those who listen to the Pope on fundamental questions of renewal and evangelization.

On the ordination of women to the diaconate, he has repeatedly called for restraint, even after several studies: “I cannot make a sacramental decree without a theological, historical basis,” he replied to those who demanded it.

In 2016, on his return flight from Sweden, he was asked whether he could imagine the ordination of women to the priesthood. His answer was clear: he referred to his predecessor John Paul II, who had spoken the last word with his “No”. “And that remains.” In response to a question asked by the journalist, Pope Francis referred to the Petrine and Marian dimensions of the Church and briefly explained them.

Perhaps some still remember his various statements on the conditions for admission to the priesthood. He expressly excludes the dissolution of celibacy thus: “The sentence of Saint Paul VI comes to mind: ‘I would rather give my life than change the law of celibacy’. This occurred to me, and I would like to say it, because it is a courageous sentence, in a more difficult time than this one, in the years around 1968/70 … Personally, I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church. Secondly, I do not agree to allow optional celibacy, no. Only for the remotest places would some possibility remain…” (Return flight from Panama, 27.01.2019). For the Amazon region just such an exception is, as is public knowledge, in discussion.

In addition, the Holy Father has repeatedly called problematic the presence of homosexual men in seminaries, and affirmed a corresponding regulation of the competent Congregation, which has led to weeks of fierce debate in Germany.

The letter “Maschio e femmina li creó” (“As man and woman he created her”) on the gender question, which the Congregation for Catholic Education published recently, has so far also received predominantly public malice and criticism from the Church in Germany.

What does this mean for the “synodal process”?

Following this papal letter, simply “carrying on as planned” is no longer an option, neither in content nor in form. Actually, the letter urges a complete rewriting of the process, which should be directed towards evangelization and spiritual renewal and towards “the people on the margins”; a process which does not “do” or “adapt”, but relies on God who can renew and convert and give us the joy of the Gospel; and a process which in all concerns goes with the community of the Catholic Church, which encompasses time and space.

During our ad limina visit, Pope Francis told us to take to heart the following – and perhaps we could also summarize his letter in this way: “The renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion can only be understood in this light: as part of an effort to make them more mission-oriented, to make ordinary pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and open, to inspire in pastoral workers a constant desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with himself (Evangelii gaudium, 27)”.

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Reims, France, Jul 2, 2019 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Doctors have said they will begin to remove intravenous feeding tubes from Vincent Lambert, though his parents have asked international authorities to intervene to avoid the death of the man, who requires a… […]

Darmstadt, Germany, Jul 2, 2019 / 10:05 am (CNA).- A court in Germany has ruled that a homeschooling Christian couple may retain custody of their children as they await an appeal against the country’s compulsory school attendance law.

For nearly… […]

Krakow, Poland, Jul 1, 2019 / 06:37 pm (CNA).- An Ikea worker in Poland has filed a lawsuit after being fired last week for posting Bible verses opposing homosexual behavior on the company’s intranet.

Tomasz K is suing after he was terminated from his position at the furniture store in Krakow.

Poland Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro has also asked the national prosecutor’s office to look into the case.

The issue arose when employees were asked to attend a pro-LGBT event at the company.

In response, Tomasz said that he objected to the promotion of homosexuality. He posted two verses from Scripture: “Woe to him through whom scandals come, it would be better for him to tie a millstone around his neck and plunge him in the depths of the sea,” (Matthew 18:6) and, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them,” (Leviticus 20:13).

Ikea then fired Tomasz. The company said in a statement that he was terminated for “using quotes from the Old Testament about death and blood in the context of what fate should meet homosexual people” and “expressing his opinion in a way that could affect the rights and dignity of LGBT+ people,” according to news.com.au.

Tomasz’s attorney, however, says he was simply exercising his protected right to express his religious beliefs.

Tomasz told TVP Info that his job was to sell furniture, not to promote same-sex ideology. When asked to take down the Bible verses he had posted, he said, “as a Catholic, I cannot censor God.”

“I do not think it was my duty. … [I] quoted two quotations from the Holy Scriptures: about stumbling and about the fact that the cohabitation between two men is an abomination,” he said, according to TVP Info.

After Tomasz was fired, another employee also quit in solidarity with him.

“[If Ikea] promotes equality and diversity towards people, why was this situation where the Catholic expresses his opinion and is thrown out of work for it?” the employee said, according to the TVP Info.

A spokeswoman for Ikea holding company Ingka Group issued a statement to news.com.au saying that in the company’s view, “Using your religion background as a reason for excluding others is considered discrimination.”

“At Ingka Group we believe everyone has the right to be treated fairly and be given equal opportunities whatever their gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, age, nationality, religion and/or any other dimension of their identity,” she said.

“Inclusion at Ingka Group means respecting our individual differences and creating a safe environment for all. Everyone’s views and opinions are welcome with the common goal to build a great place to work.”

Tomasz is represented by the legal group Ordo Iuris. The group’s chairman, Jerzy Kwasniewski, argued that it is illegal to censor the Bible, and said the move was oppressive to Tomasz’s rights.

“The insinuation contained in the Ikea statement is unacceptable and violates Mr Tomasz’s personal rights,” he said, according to New.com.au. “[It] can be read as motivated by prejudices against Christians.”

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Grenoble, France, Jun 29, 2019 / 04:07 pm (CNA).- Reviving a three-year old debate over what constitutes appropriate swimwear for women at the beach, a French city shut down its only public pools after Muslim women attempted to swim wearing burkinis despite a ban on them in the city.

The city of Grenoble in southeastern France closed two municipal pools this week after Muslim women went swimming twice in the city’s pools wearing burkinis as a form of civil disobedience.

The move was part of an initiative of civil rights group Alliance Citoyenne, an advocacy group in Grenoble, which planned recurring acts of civil disobedience to overturn the ban. According to the BBC, the group said they were calling the campaign “Operation burkini,” and that they were inspired by Rosa Parks and other members of the civil rights movement in the United States.

“Freedom of conscience. Free access to public services. #burkini” the group said in a Tweet, with a photo of burkini and swimsuit clad men and women in a pool in Grenoble on June 23. The women were fined roughly $40 by officials when they exited the pool.

In response, Grenoble shut down the city’s two public swimming pools.

Matthew Chamussy, the municipal councilor of Grenoble, said in a tweet on June 23 that the burkini ban is about women’s rights.

“I appeal to all elected Republicans of the @VilledeGrenoble . All who share this same attachment to a secular and indivisible republic. Let’s not give in to communitarianism. Women’s rights recede wherever political Islamism advances #Grenoble #burkini” he tweeted.

Grenoble Mayor Eric Piolle said in a June 25 tweet, “When it comes to equal access of a public service, the role of the state is to pose clear and just rules for everyone. National solidarity is at stake…”

Notably, Piolle’s cover photo on Twitter shows him cheering alongside a woman wearing hijab, a Muslim head covering.

Burkinis are a long, modest swimsuit that cover everything but the face, hands and feet. Typically, they consist of at least two pieces: a hooded, long dress, and footless leggings. They are commonly worn by Muslim women.

Citing concerns over safety and overt displays of religious affiliation, several cities and coastal towns in France issued bans in 2016 against such swimwear. The policies cited the French Republic’s concept of laïcité (secularism) as the reason for the ban.

In at least one French town in 2016, the ban was overturned. The Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, ruled that the burkini ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms,” including freedom of belief. But the ban remains in many cities.

While officials have stated concerns that burkinis are a symbol of “political Islam,” burkini-wearing women interviewed by The Guardian in 2016 cited personal reasons for the choice, including their religious convictions and their own desires for modesty.

“I choose to dress this way because it gives me freedom. I don’t have to worry about strange men looking at my figure, desiring me in a sexual way or people commenting on the way I look and judging my looks or talking about my clothes,” one woman said.

According to a 2017 Pew study, France has the highest percentage of Muslims of any country in Europe, in large part due to an influx of migrants over the past several years.

The religiosity of these Muslim migrants has clashed with France’s strong adherence to laïcité before, causing France to ban the face veil despite complaints that the move violated religious freedom.

French law also bans hijabs, Jewish skullcaps and large Chrsitian crosses in public schools, as well as the wearing of hijab or other religiously-affiliated clothing on school trips, effectively banning any headscarf-wearing moms from chaperoning their child’s school trips.

The revived burkini dispute also comes amidst new religious freedom worries in France, over the country’s new Universal National Service for teens, a civil service program that will be made mandatory over the next seven years for all French youth age 15-16.

Participants in the program will wear French military uniforms and sing the French anthem daily. They will not be allowed to wear religious symbols, nor will they be released to attend religious services. The meals served at the program will not accommodate for religious dietary needs.

The program is intended to give young people “causes to defend” and “battles to fight in the social, environmental and cultural domains,” according to French President Emmanuel Macron, who proposed the revival of a required service program in the country.

Marc Guidoni, a veteran trainer for the Values of the Republic and Secularism Plan, told the French Catholic newspaper La Vie this week that he was concerned that the program discriminated against young religious believers, and that it went beyond the bounds of secularism required or allowed by French law.

“With the exception of freedom of conscience, the rest of the constitutional framework relating to secularism does not seem to be respected,” Guidoni told La Vie.

“The citizen is free to express his opinions – including religious ones – as long as this does not disturb the functioning of public order.”

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Reims, France, Jun 28, 2019 / 03:57 pm (CNA).- The highest civil court in France has ordered that food and water may be removed from a severely disabled man, who has been artificially fed and hydrated in a hospital in the country for over 10 years.

Th… […]