Politics
Thursday January 15, 2004
French Cardinal Reports Harrassment Against Christians
Nuns have been criticized for wearing their habits in public
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
Paris, January 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com/CWNews.com) - French Catholics say militant secularists have turned their sights on outward signs of Christian belief as a debate over the wearing of religious symbols in schools expands.
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris said he had received dozens of reports from around the country that Catholic girls have been harassed for wearing a cross and that nuns have been criticized for wearing their habits in public. The cardinal predicted to France-Inter radio that the harassment was "just the beginning of a long crisis."
The harassment began after a new law was proposed that would ban the wearing of Muslim veils, Jewish skullcaps, and "ostentatious" crosses in schools. Some legislators want to expand the ban to include civil servants. Many left-wing Frenchmen boost the idea of absolute secularism and separation of church and state to include any display of religious belief in public.
"At a university in Paris, a woman wearing a small cross had it torn off by other students," Cardinal Lustiger said. "A nun who was crossing a street in the garb of her religious order was told by passers-by: 'You shouldn't go out in your habit'. I could tell you dozens of other cases the bishops have reported."
The cardinal warned that "This law, with all its excesses, risks opening up a war of religions... The politicians should realize what they are stirring up."
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- BREAKING: US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 to 215
- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening
- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Today
- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee
- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands
- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral
- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left
- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind
- Commentary on November 6 News
- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses
- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass
- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2
- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law
- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"
- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner
- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV
- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles
- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician
- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.