France: religious leaders visit Chirac” “

The President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, received the country’s religious authorities in the Elysée for the usual New Year’s exchange of good wishes on 5 January. The religious leaders attending the meeting were: Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the mosque in Paris and chairman of the French Council of Moslem cult; the Archbishop of Paris André Vingt-Trois; the President of the Protestant Federation of France Jean-Arnold de Clermont; the Chief Rabbi of France Joseph Sitruk; and the Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan of France Emmanuel. “The President – says a press release of the Elysée – welcomed and thanked the participants for their distinguished contributions to the most important debates on the country’s future”. And recalling the law of 1905, he spoke of an “open and tolerant secularism”. The Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy was also present.