CATH NEWS REPORT:
The newly elected French President, Francois Hollande, has received a warm welcome from the upper echelons of the Church. French bishops have urged him to work towards national unity, emphasising the “political errors” that led to Sarkozy’s defeat, reports Vatican Insider.
On the evening of his swearing-in ceremony, Valerie Trierweiler - who has been Hollande’s partner since 2005 - hinted at the new President’s relationship with the Catholic Church, in an interview with France Press news agency.
“Will the fact that you are not married pose diplomatic problems? I don’t think it is a problem, though it could be if we were to pay a visit to the Pope.”
In the meantime, congratulatory greetings are being mixed with subtle warnings from the French and European Episcopate. “I would like to say to the President of the Republic: you are going to need everyone. I hope the President will really work towards unity,” Mgr Bernard Podvin, spokesman for the French Episcopal Conference stated.
In terms of the positions expressed by President Hollande with regards to same-sex unions and euthanasia, Mgr Podvin pointed out that: “These issues need to be discussed and the Catholic Church has never kept quiet about what it thinks in relation to certain stances taken by the man who has now become the President of the Republic.
"Said stances need to be discussed in greater depth.”
SOURCE: CATH NEWS
The newly elected French President, Francois Hollande, has received a warm welcome from the upper echelons of the Church. French bishops have urged him to work towards national unity, emphasising the “political errors” that led to Sarkozy’s defeat, reports Vatican Insider.On the evening of his swearing-in ceremony, Valerie Trierweiler - who has been Hollande’s partner since 2005 - hinted at the new President’s relationship with the Catholic Church, in an interview with France Press news agency.
“Will the fact that you are not married pose diplomatic problems? I don’t think it is a problem, though it could be if we were to pay a visit to the Pope.”
In the meantime, congratulatory greetings are being mixed with subtle warnings from the French and European Episcopate. “I would like to say to the President of the Republic: you are going to need everyone. I hope the President will really work towards unity,” Mgr Bernard Podvin, spokesman for the French Episcopal Conference stated.
In terms of the positions expressed by President Hollande with regards to same-sex unions and euthanasia, Mgr Podvin pointed out that: “These issues need to be discussed and the Catholic Church has never kept quiet about what it thinks in relation to certain stances taken by the man who has now become the President of the Republic.
"Said stances need to be discussed in greater depth.”
SOURCE: CATH NEWS
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