These are the questions

44.5 million French people will be called to the ballot box on 22 April for the first round in the Presidential elections. There is enormous interest in the event, testified by the “significant increase” of those who have registered in the electoral lists (+4.2% over the figure for last year). The new occupant of the Elysée is likely to be one of three candidates: Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate of the right, Segolene Royal, Socialist representative, and latecomer and odd man out, the centrist Francois Bayrou, support for whom is growing, according to the polls. The far-right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen, on the other hand, is lagging. One curiosity: for the first time in the history of presidential elections it is possible to vote with electronic machines. But only one and a half million voters, roughly 3% of the electorate, will be able to express their vote “electronically”: a figure, however, according to many analysts, that could be decisive in an election that will be won, according to the polls, by a very slender margin, a matter of a few thousand votes. Various Catholic views have been expressed on the forthcoming election. The main one is that of the Archbishop of Bordeaux and President of the French Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal JEAN-PIERRE RICARD , expressed during the last plenary assembly of the French episcopate held in Lourdes in late March. THE BISHOPS. “We wont say for what candidate you should vote. It’s not the business of the bishops to give instructions about how to vote. Each person should vote according to conscience, but this should be illuminated by prior reflection and discernment”, said Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard. So there would be no invasion of the political field, he insisted, but, like all citizens, Catholics too must pose themselves some questions before casting their vote. And the questions are these: “given the analysis of the French situation, what is the political programme that corresponds best to the policy to be promoted? Is this programme realistic? Does the candidate who promotes it have the qualities that the role of President of the Republic requires?”. In this prior reflection, explains Ricard, “a Catholic must seek coherence between his political choices and his Christian convictions, between the approval of a programme and the view of man that he derives from his faith”. Reference to the social doctrine of the Church is fundamental in this process of discernment, since it offers “useful criteria of reflection that are addressed not only at Catholics, but can be more widely shared”. The defence of the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman, open to procreation, respect for life from its conception to its natural end, the sharing of wealth and of work, the acceptance of immigrants, and solidarity are just some of the themes that were cited by the cardinal and that recall a document written by the bishops themselves: “What have you done to your brother?”, which the cardinal called “an invitation to support democratic life in our country by reflection and action”. According to Ricard “faith has a human and a social dimension and we cannot accept that it should be relegated to the private sphere. Democracy, if it is to be a living reality, must also make reference to religious and philosophic values in the public debate”. Msgr. ANDRÉ DUPLEIX , assistant general secretary of the French episcopate, recalling the recent death of the Catholic intellectual René Rémond, comments: “When we cast our vote, on Sunday, let us not forget the lessons of this wise man, who was able to reduce tension in the most difficult situations, without diminishing their significance. He had a surprising ability to penetrate to the depth of things”. CATHOLIC ASSOCIATIONS . Following in the footsteps of the bishops, many Catholic associations and ecclesial movements have issued statement with guidance and opinions about the forthcoming vote. All pose questions about the programmes of the various candidates, and make suggestions and proposals, “useful to the debate”. But they also pose questions about the positions of the candidates on issues they believe to be of vital importance. “For a France that is more fraternal and open to the world” is the contribution with which CATHOLIC ACTION FOR CHILDREN reminds the candidates of “the values of a caring and human society”. The association of SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL has launched a national petition in support of the poor, “the big losers-out in the presidential campaign”: they have largely been forgotten. From the over 600 proposals made in 2006, the Council of the SEMAINES SOCIALES DE FRANCE has drafted a document called “12 proposals for a more just society”. The future of Europe, poverty in France, economic policies and the relation between economy and ecology are the four points raised by CHRISTIAN ENTREPRENEURS AND MANAGERS , while CHRISTIANS IN THE RURAL WORLD propose an examination of the electoral programmes in the light of the social teaching of the Church. “The greatest challenge for society is the family founded on marriage”, say the CATHOLIC FAMILY ASSOCIATIONS. The website of the PROTESTANT FEDERATION OF FRANCE proposes eleven dossiers on social issues. Meetings of reflection and debates have also been promoted in the various dioceses.