Sarkozy’s making friends, influencing people

Reuters photo

The French president is trying mighty hard, give him that. He almost single-handedly restored an amicable relationship between France and the U.S. with his jovial visit with president George Bush here and widely covered appearance with presidential hopeful Barack Obama in Paris. He raced off to Georgia to ameliorate the tension with Russia, in his role as president of the EU at the moment.

Over the weekend, he hosted Pope Benedict XVI and threw himself into spreading the Holy Father’s message for Europe.

Unlike any French president in decades, Mr. Sarkozy sees a more open role for religion in French society. And he seized upon the conservative German pope’s four-day trip to directly challenge French secularism, one of the most prized traditions of La République and a strict legal and cultural sanction against bringing matters of church and faith into the public realm.

The French have tried to strip the public square of morally informed voices, and the Catholic Church of its moral authority. This sure challenges that agenda.

It is “legitimate for democracy and respectful of secularism to have a dialogue with religions,” Sarkozy said at the palace with the pope. “That is why I have called for a positive secularism,” adding that “It would be madness to ignore [religion.]”

Benedict, for his part, called for a “healthy secularism,” stating that “it is fundamental to become more aware of the irreplaceable role of religion for the formation of consciences and the contribution which it can bring ….”

He got a healthy crowd out to attend Mass and hear his message. Which he took from St. Paul’s warning to ‘shun pagan idols.’ Benedict says that’s a timely warning.

The word ‘idol’ comes from the Greek and means ‘image,’ ‘figure,’ ‘representation,’ but also ‘ghost,’ ‘phantom,’ ‘vain appearance.’ An idol is a delusion, for it turns its worshipper away from reality and places him in the kingdom of mere appearances.”

“Now,” the Pope asked, “is this not a temptation in our own day – the only one we can act upon effectively? The temptation to idolize a past that no longer exists, forgetting its shortcomings; the temptation to idolize a future which does not yet exist, in the belief that, by his efforts alone, man can bring about the kingdom of eternal joy on earth!” In the same way, “have not money, the thirst for possessions, for power and even for knowledge, diverted man from his true destiny?”

Use faith and reason, he stressed, to sort through good and bad in a confused modern world.

And he was speaking to an audience beyond the Les Invalides complex in Paris.

“To all people of good will … I say once more, with St. Paul: Shun the worship of idols, do not tire of doing good!” the Pope exclaimed.

And remember that faith and reason are not only not mutually exclusive, they’re mutually supportive.

Sarkozy is helping spread that message in a society not used to hearing it anymore.

Initially the trip was expected to take Pope Benedict only to the shrine of Lourdes, a major pilgrimage site for Catholics world-wide. The travel itinerary was expanded after French President Nicolas Sarkozy traveled to the Vatican in late December and personally invited the pontiff to Paris.

During that visit, Mr. Sarkozy delivered a speech in a Roman basilica advocating a tighter relationship between God and state. French secularism, he said, should not lead France to turn its back on its Christian roots. “It is in the interest of the Republic that there are a lot of men and women who believe,” said Mr. Sarkozy.

To Vatican officials and Church leaders in France, Mr. Sarkozy’s words marked a turning of the tide.