The president of the French Episcopal Conference paid a personal visit to President Jacques Chirac to express to him the “reservations” of the Catholic Church about the draft law on secularism now before Parliament and the suppression of the Monday following Pentecost as a public holiday. Accompanied by Msgr. Georges Pontier and by Msgr. Stanislas Lalanne, respectively vice-president and general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, Ricard was received by the President for an hour in the Elisée. “We informed the President of our reservations about the bill”, which bans religious signs from state schools, said Ricard, asserting that the problems tackled by the new law are especially problems relating to “integration”. “We hope added Msgr. Ricard that this law may be implemented without stigmatising one religion, Islam, which could feel itself under attack”. Regarding the suppression of the Monday following the feast of Pentecost as a holiday, Ricard also expressed the hope that “young people will continue to benefit from three consecutive days of holiday to be able to undertake pilgrimages or hold meetings”.
