The French Episcopal Conference will meet in plenary assembly at Lourdes from 4 to 10 November with two central themes on the agenda: marriage and catechesis. Msgr. Louis-Marie Billé, archbishop of Lyons and President of the Episcopal Conference over the last five years, has announced that he will present his resignation, a year before the end of his term of office, for reasons of health. He will give the opening address at the assembly, but he won’t preside over it. So on the second day the bishops will proceed to the election of a new President of the Episcopal Conference with a three-year mandate. During the press conference presenting the forthcoming assembly, Msgr. Guy Thomazeau, president of the episcopal Commission for the family over the last ten years, drew attention to the difficulties of preparing for marriage and of its celebration: ever more frequent applications for dispensation, the gradual distancing of the baptized from the Church and a new legislation on the status of the family that is causing concern, in particular due to the legal reform of divorce proceedings. During the assembly a work group will also be dedicated to the question of remarried divorcees. The theme of the family will occupy the French Church for at least two years. As far as catechesis is concerned, the basic report will be given by Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, President of the Episcopal Conference of Portugal. Msgr. Michel Dubost, president of the episcopal Commission for Catechesis and Catechumenate, pointed out during the press conference presenting the agenda of the plenary assembly: “We are no longer in an age of Christianity… There is a fall in the number of practising Catholics, pluralism within groups and catechumenate at every age”. Msgr. Dubost then placed the emphasis on the social and political dimension of the theme of the family and catechesis: “It’s important for democracy itself that the State should accept that it is not solely responsible for the education of children”. In other words, children need to be permitted to participate in catechism and get involved in parish life. As regards the serious problem of pedophilia, the Assembly will also reflect on how those priests who have been sentenced by the courts, who have served their sentence and are then released from prison should be welcomed back into the community and into the Church. The bishops will then proceed to the elections for the renewal of the four members of the permanent Council and of some members of the 10 episcopal Commissions.
