Many French churches in Catholic parishes across France reopened for public Mass last weekend in some hurry and disarray after the government, prompted by the country’s chief administrative court, lifted the ban imposed during the coronavirus lockdown. The interior ministry announced last Friday evening that houses of worship could reopen from that weekend if they Read more
Posts Tagged ‘France’
France’s Council of State ends religious gathering ban
Thursday, May 21st, 2020
France’s religious gathering ban must be lifted within eight days, says the French Council of State. The Council is France’s highest administrative court. Currently, all gatherings in places of worship are banned except for funerals, which are limited to 20 people. After receiving many complaints, the Council ruled on Monday that the ban on religious Read more
Fewer resources and priests, bigger dioceses
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020
Fewer resources, a lack of priests and merging dioceses are upsetting French Catholic communities in rural areas. Talk of reducing the number of dioceses in country districts is met with hostility from clergy and Catholic faithful alike, who see it as a “view from Paris”. Nonetheless, many wonder if the country’s 100 dioceses aren’t too Read more
Ten cases of coronavirus contracted in megachurch in France
Monday, March 9th, 2020Ten people at a five-day megachurch gathering last month in France’s Grand Est region’s fourth largest city have contracted coronavirus. The French health ministry on Mar. 3 urged the thousands of other people who were at the Feb. 17-21 evangelical rally in the Alsatian city of Malhouse to watch for possible symptoms of COVID-19. Five Read more
French nun banned from rest home because of veil
Monday, November 25th, 2019
A 70-year old French nun has been banned from living in a rest home because it cited a strict ban on religious garb and “ostentatious” signs of religion. The home said she must remove her religious habit if she was to live at the publicly-funded residence. Although the nun’s application to live at the home Read more
Thousands march in France against IVF
Thursday, October 10th, 2019
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Paris on Sunday. They were opposing a bill allowing single women and lesbian couples under the age of 43 access to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. In France, IVF is currently restricted to heterosexual couples who are married or have cohabited at least two years. Besides broadening Read more
Court orders life support to resume in right-to-die case
Thursday, May 23rd, 2019
Doctors have been ordered to resume life support for a quadriplegic Frenchman whose case is central to the right-to-die debate in France. The doctors had stopped the nutrition and hydration Vincent Lambert receives, following an earlier judicial ruling in accordance with the wishes of his wife and other relatives. The new order to resume life Read more
Notre Dame a picture of the Church’s collapse
Thursday, April 18th, 2019
As fire devastates the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the building is as much a symbol of the recent history of the Catholic Church in Europe as it once was a symbol of the Church’s power and cultural supremacy. The church had been in disrepair for decades. Calls for its restoration went mostly ignored Read more
France responds to swastikas, religious attacks
Monday, February 25th, 2019
Swastikas, religious attacks and anti-Semitic behaviour is on the rise in France. France’s political leaders called for French people to join protest marches after a video surfaced of one of a series of anti-Semitic rallies. In the video, the crowd turned on French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut who happens to be a Jew, calling him a Read more
Fertility treatment for gay, single women debated
Thursday, September 27th, 2018
Proposals to offer fertility treatment to lesbian couples and single women would harm society by removing fatherhood from the lives of children say French bishops. France’s highest bioethics body, the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE), sees the issue differently. Under the current law, technologies such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and artificial insemination are restricted Read more