Change of guard in the leadership of the Episcopal Conference ” “

The new president of the French Episcopal Conference is Msgr. Jean-Pierre Ricard , bishop of Montpellier. He was elected by the plenary Assembly of the bishops of France, gathered at Lourdes from Sunday, 4th to Saturday 10th November. Bishop Ricard takes the place of Cardinal Louis-Marie Billé who, at the opening of the Assembly, presented his resignation, a year before the end of his term, for reasons of health. “I have lived this time of my ministry – he confided to his fellow-bishops – as a chance to enter more fully into the sequela of Christ for the service of the Church, for the defence of man and for the search for peace”. Msgr. Ricard was born in Marseilles on 25 September 1944 and was one of the six French bishops to participate in the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October. The Assembly also elected the vice-president of the French Episcopal Conference: he is Msgr. Georges Pontier , bishop of La Rochelle et Saintes. Born on 1st May 1943, Bishop Pontier was president of the national Council of solidarity and of the socio-charitable Episcopal Committee. The new secretary general is Father Stanislas Lalanne , since February 1999 spokesman and assistant secretary of the Episcopal Conference. The plenary Assembly coicided this year with the centenary of the consecration of the Basilica of Lourdes. To mark the event, the Holy Father sent a message to the bishops present in which he writes, among other things: “I encourage the faithful to deepen their knowledge of the mysteries of the rosary, letting them gradually purify and illuminate their souls so that they may become, in the footsteps of Mary, true disciples of the Lord”. Below we present a summary of the address given by Cardinal Billé before leaving the Assembly. The international context. No to recourse to violence: this message was reaffirmed by Card. Billé, in his opening address to the Assembly in Lourdes. “while it is legitimate to prevent and repress terrorist acts, – he said – peace will not be attained by an act of violence that responds to another act of violence”. “How can we forget – added the archbishop of Lyons – that even as we talk, armed forces continue to act in Afghanistan? How can we fail to share the unease that these actions arouse?”. His condemnation of every form of terrorism was equally forthright: “nothing can justify a suicidal action that causes the death of thousands of innocent people”. “At the same time – added the cardinal – we cannot fail to reflect on the situation of our world, discern the lines of fracture that traverse our humanity, if we want to promote the essential values to which we hold firm”. Professional secrecy. A great deal of discussion has been raised in France by the case of Msgr. Pierre Pican, bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux (France), who was sentenced to three months imprisonment in September for not having denounced one of his own diocesan priests for the sexual abuse of minors, claiming the right to professional secrecy. Cardinal Billé intervened on the question: “I am not unaware of the fact – he said – that professional secrecy is being subjected to numerous attacks today” because “it is often perceived as a legal loophole that creates no-go areas where the law does not prevail and which permits some privileged persons to evade their own responsibility”. But professional secrecy – the archbishop added – represents a fundamental public interest, a common good of society. It preserves a space for trust and confidentiality, a space that ensures people’s right to independence, indispensable for the very functioning of democracy”. Family and catechesis. These were the central themes on the Assembly’s agenda. “The conviction that there is no authentic love without a trusting and lasting commitment – said Card. Billé – seems to situate our Church in a defence of archaic models. But we also know that this conviction corresponds to the hopes and expectations of so many families. As regards catechesis, Cardinal Billé spoke of a “time of crisis” and added: “In a society in which it is difficult to believe in the God of Jesus Christ, the Council invites us to propound Christian doctrine ‘in a way suited to the needs of the moment’. It is important to examine how”. Maria Chiara Biagioni