Listening to the young

The plenary assembly of the French bishops opened at Lourdes on 4 April, on the very day France returned for the second time to the streets to demonstrate against the contracts of first employment (CPE). Reports from Paris spoke of 700,000 protestors just in the capital alone. So the analysis of the country’s “social crisis” could not have failed to be on the order of the day at the bishops’ plenary. The bishops devoted a special debate to it, at which the (Socialist) mayor of Mulhouse, Jean-Marie Bockel, also intervened, trying to explain to the bishops not only the youth crisis but also the political and social crisis that the whole country is going through: France – he said – is a country that” is running the risk of becoming the sick man of Europe”. The mayor especially lamented the lack of policies for immigration and efforts of integration “worthy of the name”. He urged Catholics to make their contribution because – he said – thanks “to their capacity for dialogue and their understanding of social issues”, Christian communities can play an “exemplary role in the working-class quarters of the big cities”. Apart from the social question, the bishops tackled another aspect of ecclesial life in the country that is a matter of concern to many bishops, namely the question of whether or how to welcome into the dioceses “traditionalist groups” (groups linked to Rome) and possibly “integralist groups” (such as the followers of Lefebvre, who have broken off relations with the Catholic Church), at a time when Pope Benedict XVI is opening ways of dialogue in this direction. The discussions of the bishops took place behind closed doors. We give a résumé of the report in which Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, President of the French Bishops’ Conference, presented the conclusions of the assembly in Lourdes. CPE: ON THE SIDE OF THE YOUNG . No “technical judgement”, which everyone is free to make of the CPE, was attempted by the French bishops: instead the problem they really have at heart is the “symbolic importance” of the demonstrations, “the perception” the young have of being victims “whether rightly or wrongly of negative discrimination”. The young, in other words, “know that, apart from the difficulty of finding permanent employment, they will not be able to benefit from a standard of life equal to that enjoyed by their parents”. In his conclusions, Cardinal Ricard speaks of a “deep crisis” but points out that it’s not just now that France is a victim of it. Already last October the “urban violence” that erupted and set alight the suburbs of the big cities was the manifestation of “suffering” and more particularly the refusal of the young, in large part immigrants, to be the willing victims “of discrimination and marginalization”. “Today – continued Ricard – the protests against the CPE are once again an expression of the suffering of the young, but this time it is being manifested in the field of studies and entry into the world of work. We cannot fail to lend an ear to this suffering, this anguish of the young in confronting the future”. The demonstrations and the strikes are also, however, – in the view of the French episcopate – a manifestation of a “deep crisis of political representation. The divisions of the political class and the attitudes of politicians, too often assuming the role of leading players in view of the forthcoming electoral contest, accentuate this discredit”. The bishops therefore invite the political class of the country to act for “the general good. Only such a conscientious stance shall permit our country to make the necessary reforms to prepare it for the years to come”. At the same time, however, political actions need to be complemented with an educational role, because the malaise of the young “touches more profoundly the very reasons for living”. “TRADITIONALIST GROUPS“. First, the statistics: surveys speak of 35,000 “integralist” faithful and 45,000 traditionalists. The former, unlike the latter, are not in communion with Rome, such as the followers of Monsignor Lefebvre. Both groups – altogether some 80,000 Catholics – celebrate according to the Tridentine, and hence pre-conciliar, liturgy. Over the last 15 years – admitted Cardinal Ricard – “the situation has changed a lot”. The President of the French bishops spoke of new members, new vocations to the priesthood in the seminaries run by these groups, and private schools. Hitherto the question was individually tackled by the bishops at the diocesan level. Today – said Ricard – the question needs to be tackled in a different way, by seeking “a general framework of reference” and a series of common recommendations on how to assimilate these groups into the dioceses. For this reason, the permanent Council has asked a small workgroup to present a basic document on the question to the bishops’ assembly in November. Ricard recalled the process of dialogue begun by Benedict XVI with the Fraternity of St. Pius X, in the evangelical spirit of unity (“ that they may all be one“). “This communion – said the cardinal – must be sought in charity and truth. Charity implies that we try to get to know and understand each other”. Truth requires that “we clarify our points of dissension”.