Societies more violent without diversity

The welcoming address by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, President of the French Bishops’ Conference, delivered at the bishops’ plenary assembly that opened this morning in Paris was marked by serious tones. It was a greatly anticipated speech, seen that on April 17 the text of the bill legalizing the marriage of and adoption by homosexual couples is up for discussion by the National Assembly, following its endorsement by the Senate. Over the past months the bill underwent rapid parliamentary discussion, while civil society voiced its opposition at various levels with rallies, open letters, press conferences, with the involvement of a wide range of associations. Past Friday the draft law – presented by Minister Christiane Taubira – was given the green light by the Senate and submitted for second reading to the national Assembly. For this reason the prolusion by cardinal André Vingt-Trois was greatly anticipated. During their meeting French bishops will elect the new president of the French Bishops’ Conference and two vice-Presidents. The French cardinal cannot be reelected. Handling differences between individuals in a "peaceful, non-violent way". What most worries the French episcopate is the friction that the law is causing within French society, along with a digression towards, what the Cardinal describes as a "society" unable to "harmonize diversity for a common project". "The months-long debate on the draft law on homosexual marriage – the bishop said – have revealed predictable, divisions" which "signal a change in cultural benchmarks. The organized, militant invasion of the gender theory, notably in the educational sector, more simply, the attempt to deny gender difference testifies to such state of affairs". An in-depth debate is ongoing in France that questions the will to tackle differences between individuals "in a peaceful and non-violent manner". "The cornerstones of a violent society are being placed. We are witnessing the inability to accept diversity in social life, this is leading to the crystallization of the claims of small groups". In other words, adds the archbishop, "our society is no longer capable of implementing cohesion"."We cannot remain silent". The archbishop agrees that the parliamentary process leading to the approval of the draft bill proceeded at a very fast pace, and that given the serious economic and social problems in the Country "it would have been more reasonable or even more simple not to implement such process". He added: "citizens’ calls for action against the draft bill exemplify the impact that our concerns could have had on everyone else’s". Thus "reducing their protests to a confessional, retrograde and homophobic mania does not correspond to what we are witnessing today". Thus the archbishop’s invitation is to continue along this road: "We can’t remain silent before the dangers. We cannot remain silent when the most fragile persons in our societies are in serious danger". In his speech His Eminence referred also to the debates ongoing in France on human embryo research and euthanasia. "There is nothing ideological and political" in the Church’s positions. More simply – the cardinal concluded – it is a question of following the wake of the new evangelization so that "our practices may conform with what we say".