In France, the Moslem associations this year fixed 7 November as the beginning of the month of Ramadan. It will structure the life of some 4.6 million people for 29 days. France is in fact the European country with the largest Moslem population: from 4 to 4.6 million Moslems are estimated to be resident on its territory. Germany and Great Britain follow in order. Within the French Catholic Church, there is a Secretariat for relations with Islam. There’s also an Episcopal Committee for interreligious relations that coordinates all the projects and proposes formative experiences to help Christians in their meetings and dialogue with Islam. We took this opportunity to ask Msgr. Jean-Luc Brunin , auxiliary bishop of Lille, to review the state of dialogue with Moslems in France. At what point is Christian-Moslem dialogue in France today? “There was an initial phase of meetings to get to know each other, when dialogue was conducted on the basis of negative clichés. Then an attempt was made to draw closer to Moslems at the level of daily life in the associations, in the local districts, through the parishes and movements, to speak to each other and tell each other about our religious festivities… Now, three or four years later, we have entered a new phase; one in which Christian and Moslem leaders are of the view that it’s not enough just to dialogue to get to know each other: we also need to join together on social issues because we have shared values to defend. I have in mind the essential values of peace at the international level, but also those of living together peacefully in daily life”. What about the young? “We’ve now arrived at the third generation. There are regions in which white youths are no longer to be seen. In my diocese there’s a group of young people who have felt the need to meet together as the children of immigrants. It’s an important challenge: that of enabling the young to get to know each other and work together”. Dialogue with Moslems is often combined with the problems of immigrants. What kind of response are the churches giving? “The problems concerning immigration are innumerable in France: those of asylum-seekers, of the sans papiers who seek refuge in churches, arousing the interest of the media. The acceptance of the sans papiers is a problem not only of the church but of society. And the Church, since she forms part of society, expresses the need to find responses in terms of acceptance. We need to continue to be at the side of immigrants already resident in France who have problems of social adjustment”. Patrizia Caiffa
