Flouting France’s new pro-life website ban could result in offenders spending two years in jail and being fined US$30,000. The legislation makes “spreading misleading information” about abortion a crime. Flouting the law includes “spreading or transmitting allegations or indications liable to intentionally mislead, with the purpose of deterring (from abortion), on the characteristics or medical Read more
Pro-life websites that spread “propaganda” and “misinformation” about abortions may soon be criminalised in France. The French National Assembly has moved to punish offenders with up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. The bill has now been moved to the Senate where it will be further debated. The bill aims to extend Read more
Religious symbols in all government buildings, state schools and public places will be banned in France. That is, if far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen is elected France’s next President. Le Pen says she knows the ban would be “a sacrifice”, but she believes the situation in France is too serious to make any Read more
The burkini ban controversy continues in France. A French court on Friday (Saturday NZ Time) suspended a ban on full-body “burkini” swimsuits imposed by a Mediterranean resort that has angered Muslims, feminists and civil liberties campaigners. The Council of State’s ruling against Villeneuve-Loubet is expected to set a precedent for the dozens of other French towns Read more
If you live in France, you enjoy Bastille Day. There is a buzz in the air as you celebrate a day off in the middle of summer with your family and friends. You go to the fireworks. It is good to be in France and to remember the founding principles of the state – liberty, Read more
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. She was canonized in 1920. Eight years later, and almost 600 years after her death, she was immortalized on screen in Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. Soon after its completion, however, the original film “disappeared” on account of fire. Painstakingly, the director Read more
France’s government has named a respected diplomat who is said to be gay as the country’s new ambassador to UNESCO, more than a year after he was nominated to become the ambassador to the Vatican — a job he never started, because the Vatican withheld its approval. Laurent Stefanini was confirmed Wednesday by France’s council Read more
When many think about France and religion today, the images that usually come to mind are those of a highly secular society with a growing Islamic presence: a combination of widespread indifferentism, epicurean Voltairans, persistent anti-Semitism, increasingly radicalized Muslims, and now jihadist-inspired and organized terrorism. But now even some secular French journalists have started writing Read more
France has reportedly dropped its attempt to appoint a gay Catholic diplomat as its ambassador to the Vatican, after a nine month standoff. In January, President Francois Hollande named Laurent Stefani as ambassador to the Holy See. The Vatican did not accept his credentials, but did not explicitly reject him. Mr Stefani, who is President Read more
Doctors at a French hospital have decided not withdraw hydration and nutrition from a quadriplegic man who has been at the centre of a bioethical debate. Vincent Lambert became a quadriplegic and was left in a comatose state after a motorcycle accident in 2008. In 2013, Lambert’s wife and six of his eight siblings asked Read more