French faith leaders seek hope beyond rioting
-13/11/05
French religious and community
French faith leaders seek hope beyond rioting
-13/11/05
French religious and community leaders were tonight hopeful that the end is in sight following 18 nights of inner city rioting across France which has seen 2,650 arrests, 8,400 vehicles destroyed and dozens of buildings torched or attacked.
The explosion of anger against what minority communities describe as deep-seated inequality and injustice spread from Paris to the rest of the country over a fortnight ago, although ñ contrary to media impressions ñ most of the nation remains unaffected by direct violence.
However, as police report the gradual dissipation of violence and the EU pledges 50 million Euros in aid to help recovery in poor city suburbs, faith leaders are among those calling for a radical rethink about urban justice in the republic.
Last week religious leaders in France appealed for calm in the face of unrest gripping the country which led the government to declare a state of emergency, allowing curfews to be imposed in towns hit by the violence.
According to Ecumenical News Internationalís Bernadette Sauvaget, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, prohibiting ìany Muslim to take part in any action linked to indiscriminate violence against public or private propertyî.
Muslim and Christian leaders on the ground have also been offering mediation to help restore calm and address grievances. Many of the areas affected by uprisings have large Muslim populations.
Two Roman Catholic bishops left a meeting in Lourdes of the bishops’ conference before it was to finish on 9 November to return to their dioceses in Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine near Paris that have been hard hit by the violence in which cars and buses have been set on fire.
The president of the bishops’ conference, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard, criticised ìrepression and incitement to collective fearî which he said ìwere not adequate as an answer to the dramatic tensions of our societyî.
He declared: ìIt is vital that the new generations often without hope are offered a way forward of freedom, dignity and respect for others.î
Bertrand Vergniol, president of the Mission Populaire, a Protestant group that works in deprived areas, said that ìat first sightî the resort to curfews did not seem to be repressive in intent. ìWe need to restore calm. It is anti-democratic to burn cars,î Vergniol told ENI.
In a statement, the Mission Populaire condemned what it described as the scourge of institutional violence such as unemployment and an increase of anti-social behaviour.
ìWe are in an impasse,î the group said. ìThe wrong responses are being prepared, one of them being the demagogy of a clamp-down, and another the fundamentalism to which sheep without shepherds are vulnerable.î
The Rev Bertrand Bosc, who works for the Protestant group in La Duchere, a troubled suburb of Lyon, said that the disturbances were the tip of an iceberg…
The rector of the Paris Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, who also represents an umbrella grouping for French Muslims, met Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin late last week to discuss the riots and their consequences.
[Additional reporting with acknowledgments to ENI
French faith leaders seek hope beyond rioting
-13/11/05
French religious and community leaders were tonight hopeful that the end is in sight following 18 nights of inner city rioting across France which has seen 2,650 arrests, 8,400 vehicles destroyed and dozens of buildings torched or attacked.
The explosion of anger against what minority communities describe as deep-seated inequality and injustice spread from Paris to the rest of the country over a fortnight ago, although – contrary to media impressions – most of the nation remains unaffected by direct violence.
However, as police report the gradual dissipation of violence and the EU pledges 50 million Euros in aid to help recovery in poor city suburbs, faith leaders are among those calling for a radical rethink about urban justice in the republic.
Last week religious leaders in France appealed for calm in the face of unrest gripping the country which led the government to declare a state of emergency, allowing curfews to be imposed in towns hit by the violence.
According to Ecumenical News International‘s Bernadette Sauvaget, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, prohibiting ‘any Muslim to take part in any action linked to indiscriminate violence against public or private property’.
Muslim and Christian leaders on the ground have also been offering mediation to help restore calm and address grievances. Many of the areas affected by uprisings have large Muslim populations.
Two Roman Catholic bishops left a meeting in Lourdes of the bishops’ conference before it was to finish on 9 November to return to their dioceses in Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine near Paris that have been hard hit by the violence in which cars and buses have been set on fire.
The president of the bishops’ conference, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard, criticised ‘repression and incitement to collective fear’ which he said ‘were not adequate as an answer to the dramatic tensions of our society’.
He declared: ‘It is vital that the new generations often without hope are offered a way forward of freedom, dignity and respect for others.’
Bertrand Vergniol, president of the Mission Populaire, a Protestant group that works in deprived areas, said that ‘at first sight’ the resort to curfews did not seem to be repressive in intent. ‘We need to restore calm. It is anti-democratic to burn cars,’ Vergniol told ENI.
In a statement, the Mission Populaire condemned what it described as the scourge of institutional violence such as unemployment and an increase of anti-social behaviour.
‘We are in an impasse,’ the group said. ‘The wrong responses are being prepared, one of them being the demagogy of a clamp-down, and another the fundamentalism to which sheep without shepherds are vulnerable.’
The Rev Bertrand Bosc, who works for the Protestant group in La Duchere, a troubled suburb of Lyon, said that the disturbances were the tip of an iceberg…
The rector of the Paris Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, who also represents an umbrella grouping for French Muslims, met Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin late last week to discuss the riots and their consequences.
[Additional reporting with acknowledgments to ENI