Places of worship will not reopen on May 11, Emmanuel Macron told worship officials on Tuesday, planning an assessment around early June or mid-June to study the possibility of reopening, cult officials reported to AFP. and Masonic lodges as well as the entourage of the Head of State.
The Head of State also indicated, during an audio conference with the leaders of the major religions, that there would be "no large gathering until the end of the summer", again due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It would not be a matter of reopening places of worship on May 11 for two weeks after closing them. The deconfinement offers a paradoxical injunction, to regain freedom but to be afraid of the virus. So you have to be very careful in the progressive construction of this outing, "he explained to those around him.
The reopening of places of worship, "it will probably be rather for the month of June rather than immediately, and again, it will be necessary to know the very specific conditions of health security", declared the president of the Protestant Federation of France François Clavairoly. "It is not on the agenda on May 11", the date scheduled for the start of the deconfinement, the president "spoke of mid-June", added the pastor, adding that the plan currently prepared by the government would give details.
Respect for barrier gestures and distancing measures
"We will not open our places of worship if we are not sure that there is no risk, and the president told us that it would not be before early June-mid June", confirmed the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia. For Emmanuel Macron, “it would be ridiculous to take the risk of opening and having to close afterwards. We have no idea of the consequences of the deconfinement, "he added.
In all cases, a reopening would be done with respect for barrier gestures and distancing measures, they said.
For Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conférence des évêques de France, “it will be extremely progressive. We feel that the general trend is to be very careful, especially in anything that could be a mixture of people from different regions. ” "We understood that there would be a one-month observation period and that if all went well, there would be a reopening," noted Jean-Philippe Hubsch, grand master of the Grand Orient de France (GODF) , whose Masonic temples are also closed.
"We would emerge more humble from this crisis"
The participants also exchanged on the themes of health - by paying tribute to the healthcare staff - or even solidarity workers - by tackling the question of the elderly, the poorest, undocumented, prisoners, according to their words.
According to Haïm Korsia, the head of state "affirmed that we would emerge more humble from this crisis". The question of "after", of the "resilience" of French society or of how to "keep the memory" of this crisis were also discussed. The Head of State "invited them all to accompany him in the work of explaining to the French", adding that "we must not believe that the certainties of today were those of yesterday", said his entourage.
Were also present, among others, the Muslim, Buddhist, Orthodox cults, as well as several Masonic obediences, the National Federation of Free Thought, the Secularism Republic Committee, and government side the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner.
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