On 5 November, the plenary assembly of French bishops elected the new President of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF): he is the Most Rev. André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, who will be created cardinal at the next Consistory on 24 November. He will be flanked as Vice-Presidents by the Most Rev. Hippolyte Simon, Archbishop of Clermont, and the Most Rev. Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Chambéry and Bishop of Maurienne et Tarentaise. The plenary assembly, now being held in Lourdes, will end on 8 November. Vingt-Trois was born on 7 November 1942. A bishop since 1988, he has served as auxiliary bishop of Paris, Archbishop of Tours and (since 5 March 2005) Archbishop of Paris and Ordinary of Catholics of Oriental Rite in France. Archbishop Ving-Trois takes the place of Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux, who has served as President of the Bishops’ Conference of France since 2001. In an interview released today to the Catholic television channel “Le Jour du Seigneur”, Vingt-Trois speaks of the challenges that await the Church of France in the future and says: “There are also many problems to redress in the present. We have important challenges to tackle, such as the imminent preparation of a law on bioethics, to which we need to pay close attention and evaluate whether this law could have negative repercussions in terms of respect for the dignity of the person. We must be particularly alert in this area. I also think that in ensuring respect for the human person we need to be extremely vigilant about the way in which men and women are treated”. Commenting on his election as President of the French bishops, he confessed: “I am deeply touched by the confidence that my fellow-bishops showed in me, by electing me so rapidly. I have the feeling of embarking on an adventure, the details of which are still unknown to me”.
