“The pretext of the fight against terrorism to justify special tribunals, the exploitation of the fear of the population, violence and arbitrary powers in some areas of the planet, where no real rule of law exists, seem to us very worrying developments”, warns the Council of the Christian Churches of France. In a joint statement signed by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and President of the French Bishops’ Conference, Pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of the Protestant Federation of France, and Metropolitan Emmanuel, President of the Assembly of French Orthodox bishops, to mark the 25th anniversary of the abolition of capital punishment in France (10 October), the Christian Churches encourage Christians “to redouble their vigilance to guard against the temptations to abandon” these acquired human rights. “In a disturbed and divided world, where death sentences are still practiced on a massive scale, – says the statement – it is more than ever important to unite Christians in a single denunciation, serene but firm, of this punishment contrary to the hope of divine mercy”.
