President Jacques Chirac has reassured the highest religious representatives of France that the State intends to “protect” religious liberty and “oppose all manifestations of intolerance”. He did so in the traditional exchange of good wishes to mark the beginning of the new year, held at the Elysée on 6 January. Present at the ceremony were Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, representing the Catholic Church, Pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of the Protestant Federation of France, and the chief rabbi of France Joseph Sitruk. The chairman of the “French Council of Moslem Cult” (CFCM) Dalil Boubakeur, representing the 5 million Muslims who live in France, also participated in the meeting for the first time. What has not convinced the religious leaders is the first article of the bill now before parliament, relating to the application of the principle of secularism in public life, which bans from schools the display of signs that “manifest in an ostentatious way the religious affiliations of students”. The head of state reassured the religious representatives that “there is no intention of re-establishing or modifying the frontiers of secularism” and he added: “the Republic, profoundly respectful of religious liberty and freedom of conscience, intends to defend and protect them, and to oppose all manifestations of intolerance”. Pastor de Clermont regrets that the new bill introduces a “legislative ban” and expressed his hope that the religious authorities may speak with one voice in calling for the Islamic headscarf to be admitted in public schools. “I well understand the reasons of public order he said and the need to avoid provocations. But it is not normal to prohibit a girl from appearing in public as a Muslim and obliging her to disguise her religion”.
