Others may ask to be relieved of their duties for health reasons.

There are currently four dioceses in France that are without a bishop.

One of the upcoming appointments will be that of the new Archbishop of Lyon, spiritual leader of one of the country's most important sees.

The Dioceses of Nantes, Saint-Claude and Bayeux-Lisieux are also waiting for new bishops to be appointed.

The pope has not yet announced who will lead these dioceses.

Appointments have been delayed because of the complicated situation linked to the previous apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Luigi Ventura.

He was the pope's "ambassador" to France from 2009, but returned to Rome last September under multiple accusations of sexual assault.

In January, Francis appointed Archbishop Celestino Migliore, who arrived in France in March.

Migliore says the coronavirus lockdown and security protocols have not prevented him from making many contacts and identifying candidates who are fit for episcopal responsibility.

It is then up to the prospective candidate to decide if they want to take on the role.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, says on a worldwide scale, three priests out of ten refuse this ministry.

Some think it would be too burdensome, others that it is too risky. Others say being a bishop is a completely different vocation from being a priest.

Nonetheless, in recent years, a "reserve" has formed among the dozen auxiliary bishops Francis has appointed in France. They are younger and have gained experience to then become diocesan ordinaries.

The new wave of shepherds is expected to profoundly rejuvenate and change the face of the French hierarchy.

Since he became pope in 2013, Francis has appointed the ordinaries of 47 of the country's 99 dioceses.

With the next appointments, much more than half will owe their episcopal seat to him.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Catholic News Agency

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 to heterosexual couples, and surrogacy is illegal.

President Emmanuel Macron has promised to change this law.

French media say a bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament in 2019.

In a document by Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas (who is the head of a working group on bioethics of the French bishops' conference) signed by all French bishops, the bishops outline their concerns.

They say their purpose in intervening in the proposed law change is because they wished to offer an ethical perspective on the forthcoming debates, based on reason and in the spirit of dialogue.

The bishops predict liberalising the law would lead to the social acceptance of surrogacy, the rise of eugenics and the notion that children were commodities to please adults.

Furthermore, if the law were changed, society would be harmed because the treatment would enable fatherhood to be removed from the lives of children.

The CCNE, however, says "artificial insemination should be available to all women" regardless of relationship status or sexual orientation, reasoning that the inability to have children constituted a real "hardship."

However, it still upholds France's current policy on surrogacy, ruling that the practice is unethical no matter the "motivation," medical or otherwise.

According to a recent study for La Croix newspaper, 60 percent of French people support expanding the law to include single women and lesbian couples, as opposed to just 24 percent in 1990.

Source

• Crux Now
• France 24
• Image: CNN

The custom began with King Louis XIII, who first ordered a "prayer for France" in all churches on the feast of the Assumption.

The move is unusual for French bishops, who usually keep a low political profile. A spokesman for the bishops, Monsignor Bernard Podvin, said social and economic crises made the prayer for France "essential to raise awareness".

Entrusting the country's future to God "through the intercession of Our Lady", French Catholics will ask God for "the courage to make the necessary choices," seeking "a better quality of life for all" as well as "the development of our youth through strong and faithful families".

They will also pray that politicians' "sense of society's common good" would outweigh other concerns, and that they would "have the strength to follow the directions of their conscience".

The prayer for France on the feast of the Assumption also asks for the strengthening of marriage and family life, and that children would "fully benefit from the love of a father and a mother".

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has announced that the Socialist government will institute "homosexual marriage" and allow same-sex couples to adopt children, fulfilling a campaign promise by President Francois Hollande.

Defending the Church's opposition to same-sex marriage, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyons said marriage was defined in the book of Genesis as created by God to join man and woman.

"Nobody should be surprised that we Catholics think the first page of the Bible is right, even more so than a parliament," he told Europe 1 radio.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

Christian Post

Image: Reuters