Is there still scope for dialogue?” “” “

The recent massacre of Christians in Pakistan raises fears of a progressive deterioration of dialogue with Islam. France, which has a population of some four million Moslems, is one of the European countries with a strong commitment to integration. To understand how the Moslem communities in France have reacted to the latest developments, we interviewed Father Gilles Couvreur , who served as national Secretary for relations with Islam for six years. Father Gilles is deeply involved in pastoral work with the Moslems who live on the outskirts of Paris. What is the attitude of French Moslems to the latest tragic international events? “Some four million Moslems are living in France (cf. the fact file on the next page); half of them are French citizens. We are already in the third generation; a generation that went to school in France, just as their parents did. Young Muslims today no longer have ties with their country of origin; they are first and foremost French citizens, who grew up in our culture. So they are imbued with a sense of democracy, liberty, and respect for human rights in whatever circumstance. For example, on the occasion of the assassination of the monks of Tibhérine in Algeria, they were doubly saddened: disgusted by the fact that Islam was being hijacked to justify the murder of monks and by the fact that human rights were being violated. This is very important for understanding their reaction to the current events”. How do these Moslem communities react to terrorism? “The condemnation of terrorism is unanimous and is characterized by a twofold motivation: Moslems do not accept violence as a means of political action, nor do they accept their religion being exploited to justify terrorist attacks. But these convictions do not necessarily make themselves felt on political opinions. Among French Moslems, in fact, there are those who think that, from a political point of view, the USA occupies a hegemonic position in the world showing little respect for human rights. In particular, they denounce the US bombardments of Iraq and her attitude to the Palestinians. In both cases, they denounce violations of human rights”. Do any Islamic fundamentalist cells exist in France? “They exist, but they represent only a tiny percentage of the Moslem population. Young Muslims who have participated in terrorist attacks are unanimously condemned by the rest of the Islamic community. There are young men who have experienced learning difficulties at school and subsequent difficulties in entering the labour market: they then end up by being exploited by some groups of activists. In France I have never heard it said that terrorists come from a cultivated and affluent background, like the suicide agents of New York. How far is dialogue possible with the Moslems in France? “In comparison with the period of the Gulf War, a better understanding between Christians and Moslems can be observed. At that time, the political authorities were afraid that the war might spread to France and, for the first time, invited the religious leaders to meet together. After the terrorist attacks on New York, the meetings took place almost spontaneously. Throughout France I do not think there has been a single municipality that has not taken the initiative to invite the representatives of the various religious communities to meet together to try to understand how our religious problems might be transformed into a channel of reciprocal respect and social harmony. That has very often happened at the request of representatives of the public authorities: mayors, prefects, members of parliament, directors of cultural centres. There has been a widespread recognition that religious pluralism, if expressed in the right way, can be a factor of social cohesion and civil peace”. Maryvonne Gasse – Paris