“I come in front of you worried”consented Emmanuel Macron at the opening of the annual gathering of the community of Sant’Egidio, in Rome, on Sunday 23 October. Faced with the words “belligerent”to ” resentment “ peoples and “leaves of war” in Europe, the President of the Republic spoke at length on the role of religions in favor of peace.
“What can religions do? »questioned the Head of State, considering that political speech is affected by ” the defiance “ and needs their diagnosis and support. “Religious leaders have an essential role. They contribute to the fabric of our societies, to the relationships between individuals and to a long-term relationship”he said in front of an audience of 2,000 people, diplomats and association leaders committed to peace.
The Russian Orthodox Church, “manipulated by Russian power”
“Your role is eminent”insisted Emmanuel Macron, citing “the gift of wisdom, commitment and freedom”. But he also supported the idea of a “duty of resistance of religions”. In this regard, the French President did not spare the Russian Orthodox Church, whose number two, Metropolitan Antoine, was present in the first rows of the room: he thus judged that it was “manipulated by Russian power”.
“Resistance is precisely never to justify, be trapped, or support political projects that would tend to enslave or deny the dignity of each individual”insisted the head of state.
“Ontological” nature of peace
For Emmanuel Macron, religions must ” defend the dignity of everyone, never give in to the drive for purity, defend respect”and “taking care of the most vulnerable”. Four years after the Bernardins’ speech, the president felt that “Religions have a message of universalism to convey”struggling “against the fracturing of the world”and tracking ” everywhere humiliations and sources of resentment”which prepare the wars of tomorrow.
Alongside Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia and the Secretary General of the Islamic World League, Mohammad Al-Issa, the French President also indulged in more philosophical considerations. on nature “ontological” Peace. “Peace is impure, deeply, ontologically”said Emmanuel Macron. “Because she accepts a series of imbalances (…), because she makes possible this coexistence with someone other than me. »
It is also a book about peace, “Perpetual Peace Project”published in 1795 by the philosopher Emmanuel Kant, which the president intends to offer to Pope Francis, Monday, October 24.
“There is a need for a peace initiative”
“Emmanuel Macron is a friend who represents a man sensitive to the dimension of religion and spirituality”had affirmed, a few moments before, the founder of Sant’Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, in front of the journalists.
The former Italian minister pleaded for a “European Peace Initiative” which could, according to him, be carried by the French president. “There is a need for a peace initiative, we are falling asleep”he had warned, before claiming ” a ceasefire ” in order to “save blood”. “We are all connected, we are all in the same boat”he added. “Think of the food crisis: hunger is back, misery too. »