In the five continents

Some fifty representatives of French-speaking Catholic communities in the world gathered a few days ago in Paris to attend the World Pastoral Days (August 24-26) timetabled by the Aumônerie générale des français à l’étranger (Agfe), the pastoral service offered by the French Church to French-speaking Catholics living abroad. The Days are held in a different European country once a year, every three years at world level in Paris. The purpose is to “enable Catholics dispersed in the five continents to meet and share their experiences as immigrants”. An estimated two million French citizens are currently living abroad. Adrien Bail reported on French Catholic weekly “La Croix” about the personal experiences and stories testifying to “the social role played by French-speaking Catholic communities providing support to the integration of migrants”.Returning to parish life. For nothing in the world would a French Catholic in Denmark miss Sunday Mass held at eleven a.m. at the Holy Sacrament Church of Copenhagen. It’s the only Eucharist in French, in this Lutheran country with only 30 000 Catholics. “The fact of being immigrants triggers an identitarian and cultural thrust – claims Guillaume-Marie Protais, missionary father in Paris – those who had been away from religion in France rediscover the importance of a life of faith and community”. According to a large number of Catholics working in Agfe, migrants “devote more time to the community, and Mass becomes for them a sacrosanct social event”. The “aumônerie” ensures to Catholics living abroad for short or long periods “a continuity with their historical backgrounds”, enabling them to continue practicing Catholicism “according to French pedagogy”.Opening unto others. In 240 world communities, French live side by side with other French-speaking people in Canada, Belgium, Africa or Asia. “The objective of pastoral work is to enable Francophones to live “freely” in their countries of arrival – underlined father Pierre Jeannequin, who worked in the “aumôneries” of Copenaghen, Munich and Berlin -. It is not a question of exporting “our” Christianity but to live the Gospel at local level, bearing in mind who we are while living with others”. For the priest “being part of a community is crucial, since living abroad is always a disruptive experience. Spiritual life, by bringing stability and balance, enables individuals to open up to the richness of the country of arrival”. Over the years Father Jeannequin established strong bonds with German Lutheran priests, also thanks to numerous mixed marriages celebrated each year in Catholic and Evangelical churches. In the French parish of Saint Sebastian, in Los Angeles, Father Germàn Sanchez, migrated to France from Colombia, serves as parish priest for 350 families from Vietnam, Canada, Lebanon, who all speak the same language. The parish also hosts a community of Spaniards, and on the occasion of major liturgical celebrations, father Sanchez celebrates Mass in three languages. Despite the rapid turnover of migrants coming to the parish, the various communities come together, anchored to the life of the local church under the figure of Saint Sebastian.Universality. The situation is slightly different in the Maghreb, where Francophone communities are involved in the life of the local Church. “Here there are no “aumôneries”, since we’re in a French-speaking country. Moreover, almost all Catholics in the Country’s two dioceses are foreigners”, explained missionary Father Daniel Nourissat, sent by the diocese of Dijon as fidei donum to Casablanca in 2005. Among people with distant European origins, Catholic women married to Muslims or students from sub Saharan Africa, the French are a minority group. For this reason Father Nourissant, who is also the secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of the Maghreb, repeatedly tells the French arriving to the country: “Here more than anywhere else you can understand why Catholic means universal. The Church of Morocco needs you, since its members are mostly occasional worshippers”. The Pastoral days held in Paris thus have a strong Communitarian bearing. “Local churches are enriched by the spirituality coming from Catholic traditions in France and from Francophone countries in the world – underline the organizers. In the same way, many French families live a period of their lives abroad benefiting from the experience and the vitality of the dioceses that receive them. For them it’s an opportunity to renew their faith, to live it in a different way and to return to France (or elsewhere) prepared to be, above all, all the witnesses of the Gospel”.