After the days of anger” “

The wave of violence that has convulsed France over the last two weeks is gradually abating, but the methods used by the police forces and the statements of the Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who called for “the expulsion of foreigners, even if regular, if condemned for the arson attacks”, continue to ignite controversy. The heated debate also continues on the precarious living conditions and the lack of prospects for the future in the suburbs of the big cities. The controversies risk being re-ignited by the news that the state television channel ‘France2’ has filmed the beating up of a youth in one of the banlieues of the capital. The Catholic Church of France has lost no time in reacting to events with a series of initiatives and statements appealing for social pacification. The dioceses of Lille and Bruges, together with Pax Christi and the International Movement for Peace, have appealed for a “return to peace in the suburbs” and dedicated to this aim the traditional march from Comines to Ypres (Belgium) on 11 November, anniversary of the end for the First World War. At Lyon, Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants have also issued an “appeal for peace”, while at Créteil the bishop DANIEL LABILLE has asked parishes to pray for “social peace” and sent his own personal prayer. REPRESSION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. “Order must be re-established” but “repression and the incitement to collective fear alone are not an adequate response to the dramatic tensions in our society”, declared Archbishop JEAN-PIERRE RICARD, president of the French bishops, in an appeal for social pacification. At the end of the plenary Assembly of the French episcopate in Lourdes he once again spoke of the deep concern with which the Catholic Church in France is following the wave of violence and destruction in the suburbs of the big cities. The urban riots were so serious that they obliged the bishops of Nanterre and Saint-Denis to abandon the Assembly to follow the situation on the spot. “We cannot but condemn once again – said Ricard – the use of violence and express our closeness to all those who have been its victims”. “We also wish – the archbishop continued – to underline the difficulties of the work of the security forces, fire brigades, public services and local administrators in fulfilling their mission with the sang froid necessary in these circumstances”. But “repression alone” is not enough. “We have an imperative duty to support all those – parents, educators, teachers, social workers, associations, priests and religious – who work patiently, and often in silence, for social harmony”. Ricard ended his address by urging all those responsible for the political and economic life of the nation not to make any more decisions that might create “situations of exclusion and ghettos”. GREATER ATTENTION TO YOUTH. Bishop GÉRARD DAUCOURT of Nanterre urged, in turn, that the origins of the social unrest be examined and an effort be made to really understand the protests “shouted out” by the young. “Violence – he said – is utterly to be condemned. It needs to stop. It has already claimed too many victims: dead and injured, also among the police and firemen. The victims also include the inhabitants of the quarters struck by the unrest and the youth themselves, isolated in fear and bewilderment. This inadmissible violence is a cri de coeur that has long been heard but that has simply raised its force and extension in recent days”. Phrases such as “ delit de sale gueule” must “disappear. The young delinquents – added the bishop – must be arrested and sentenced by the courts, but always respected. The thousands of non-violent but hopeless youth have a need for trust, encouragement and a dialogue that is not merely circumstantial. Their basic question is: do you love us?”. Interviewed by the French Catholic daily “La Croix”, the bishop of Saint-Denis, OLIVIER DE BERRANGER said that “the manifestation of something we feel in ordinary life can be felt in these events: persistent unemployment among the young, crisis of authority. We need to work on the social questions”. Commenting on the way the government has handled the situation, the bishop said: “Repression is not the only possible response. Perhaps it is inevitable, but it must be accompanied by prevention, before the underlying problems become tragic”. MORE RESPECT FOR THE SUBURBS. “One thing is plain – writes ROBERT JOURFIER in a reflection on the unrest published by the French Bishops’ Conference – and that is the enormous need to show consideration for the inhabitants of these quarters. ‘Words do more harm than blows’, said one young man in an interview. The words that the Minister of the Interior thought he was addressing to a pack of scum have in actual fact deeply wounded and humiliated whole families and communities”. “We fear – added Jourfier – that after order has been re-established, oblivion will once again engulf these cities. The damage is to be computed not only in terms of vandalized cars, but also in people’s heads and hearts. Nothing can be reconstructed without respecting the inhabitants of these quarters”.