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After a private meeting with Pope Francis this week, French Prime Minister Jean Castex praises the "points of convergence between Paris and Rome"
By Loup Besmond de Senneville | Vatican City
Just minutes after meeting privately with Pope Francis, the Prime Minister of France, Jean Castex, strolled through Saint Peter's Basilica and could barely hide his enthusiasm.
"Remarkable," he said of the meeting.
Castex and Francis held a 35-minute tête-à-tête on Monday in the Vatican, speaking to each other in the pope's native Spanish, a language the prime minister also knows well.
Afterward, he and France's minister of the interior (Jean-Yves Le Drian) and minister of foreign affairs (Gérald Darmanin) then began their "cultural visit" to Rome surrounded by advisers and a group of journalists.
Immersed in the midst of tourists, Castex's entourage was keen to highlight the prime minister's satisfaction.
As they walked, one of his advisors pointed out that Castex had come, after all, to praise "the importance of relationships with religious groups.
His visit to the Vatican was organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See.
But it also took place at a time of renewed tension between the Catholic Church and France over the inviolability of the seal of confession.
It is a sensitive issue that became the subject of controversy in the days following the Oct. 5 publication of the shocking report produced by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE).
Castex obviously discussed the document, also known as the Sauvé Report, with Francis during their private meeting.
"We talked about the secrecy"
"It is clear that the Church is not ready to back away from this dogma. But we must find ways to reconcile it with criminal law and the rights of victims," he said.
However, the prime minister's office was careful to point out that the Vatican visit was not a reaction to the work of Jean-Marc Sauvé and his team.
Castex praised the pope as a "warm and direct personality", saying the meeting was an opportunity to discuss "points of convergence" between France and the Holy See, including "Lebanon and Iraq".
The two men also addressed the situation in Turkey. They spoke, as well, of "everything related to the environment", said the prime minister.
"It was a very calming exchange," Castex said.
Cardinal Parolin, a "negotiator for the common good"
Throughout the day, the prime minister continued to praise the excellent diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See.
This was notably the case when he presented Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Holy See, with the insignia of Commander of the Legion of Honor.
Castex called the Italian cardinal a "negotiator for the common good" who is carrying out, "with the Holy Father", a "mission for peace and universal fraternity".
The prime minister also held a friendly meeting with a group of French priests and seminarians who study or work in Rome, an effort to exhibit his willingness to engage and listen.
"I know that in the Church we pray for those in power," he told the small group around him.
"I don't necessarily need it for myself, but France does," Castex said.
During a second lengthy speech, delivered before Church officials who gathered at the French Embassy to the Holy See, the prime minister shared his vision for the place of the Church in society.
He quoted in turn such figures as King Clovis and John Paul II, Philip the Fair and Jacques Maritain, Boniface VIII and Joan of Arc.
Castex also went so far as to praise the "wisdom" of some of Pope Francis' predecessors.
"The profound wisdom of Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI"
"While our country is the victim of terrorist hatred that takes a religion as a pretext, the profound wisdom of Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI is a lesson addressed to all those who think that believing in divine transcendence allows one to be freed from all human rights," he extolled.
After retracing the long history of relations between Paris and Rome, the prime minister was also keen to give his vision of secularism.
"It is not a question of a conflict of transcendence, but simply of giving back to the Republic what belongs to the Republic and to God what belongs to God," Castex insisted.
He then mentioned the report on sexual abuse in the Church.
"It is the Church of France that commissioned this report and allowed this commission to work in total independence by giving it the material means. It is now up to it to find the necessary answers," he said.
"But the separation of Church and State is in no way the separation of Church and law," he insisted.
The firmness of these words was not lost on his French Catholic audience.
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