France: prayer in the dioceses” “

Some events, at the diocesan but especially at the local level, have been organized in France to respond to the Pope’s invitation to participate in the interreligious day of prayer and peace on 24 January. In various French cities, prayer vigils, gestures of peace or moments of reflection, have brought together the local representatives of the various religious confessions. “Everyone is invited to set out on the road for Assisi”, announced Father Stanislas Lalanne, secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF), emphasizing that “an act of hope for a genuine peace” was performed at Assisi on 24 January 2002. “Men and women are awaiting concrete gestures for a true and proper peace. Fasting, prayer and pilgrimage invite everyone, of whatever language, to a real encounter with their brothers in humanity”. He thus invited everyone, “wherever they may be and with whatever strength given to them, to take their pilgrim’s staff in hand to pray and to act”. Various dioceses have been mobilized in response to the Pope’s appeal. The diocese of Lyons was the first to do so, through its archbishop, Cardinal Louis-Marie Billé: “Everyone – the cardinal had announced – will be able to unite himself with this ‘Day of prayer for peace in the world’ by participating in the prayer vigils that will be organized in the parishes on the previous evening”. But the cardinal did not stop there. In fact he made a triple proposal: personal prayer, listening to diocesan radio, and reflection on a document published on 11 December 2001 by the religious authorities of the region of Lyons that deals with the international situation and urges that “all the efforts being made to promote peace in this world be supported by personal and community prayer”. Then, on 24 January, the diocesan radio station broadcast live coverage of the day in Assisi for all those who wanted to commune as closely as possible with the event. Lastly, those who wish to continue their reflection on the issue of peace are invited to “reflect in groups on the document on the international situation: ‘Abandoning violence’`. In Marseilles, Msgr. Bernard Panafieu, member of the Pontifical Council for interreligious dialogue, recalled on this occasion that interreligious dialogue “forms part of the Christian identity” and that violent events must on no account “obstruct the meeting and dialogue between the religions”. Suiting the action to the word, the archbishop invited Protestants and Orthodox believers, as well as Jews and Moslems, to a prayer vigil in the basilica of the Sacred Heart on the evening of 21 January. The vigil opened with a commemoration of the great and dramatic events of the twentieth century down to the 11 September this year, punctuated with songs and the reading of texts of Charles Péguy. After this, the Pope’s message for the Day of peace was read out, interspersed with passages from the speeches of various Nobel peace prize winners, chosen by each of the various confessions. Lastly, six children of Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish and Moslem faith each recited a prayer for peace. At the end of the vigil everyone received an olive branch and an image of Assisi. At Lourdes, a formation course for catechists had long been planned to coincide with the Day of prayer for peace on 24 January. It was concluded with a prayer on the theme of peace, with the participation of a Protestant pastor, an iman and a vicar general of the diocese. For their part, the Franciscan brothers of Tarbes promoted a prayer vigil in the convent chapel of St. Anthony on the evening of the 23rd, with the participation of Moslems from the Maghreb, Morocco and Algeria present in the region for over thirty years. In many cases, however, French dioceses had already organized interreligious prayers after 11 September. That’s the case of the diocese of Valence, where the Christian, Jewish and Moslem religious authorities joined together to express their shared wishes for peace for the new year. To celebrate the Day in Assisi they preferred to focus their attention on youth: secondary school pupils, university students and young professionals took part in a march for peace on 23 January. In the diocese of Versailles, too, numerous contacts were established between the religious communities following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. At Trappes, exponents of the Moslem community extended their good wishes to the Catholic priests for Christmas.