Jacques Serais, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: SARAH MEYSSONNIER / POOL / AFP 19:37 p.m., December 08, 2023
A candle lit at the Élysée Palace on Thursday night sparked controversy. Alongside several European rabbis who came to present him with an award, Emmanuel Macron authorized and attended the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The president defended himself from any attack on secularism in an interview with France 2.New controversy at the Élysée! As the conference of European rabbis presented its annual Lord Jakobovits award to Emmanuel Macron on Thursday evening, the head of state authorized and attended the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle, the celebration of a religious holiday within the palace walls. The president's initiative was strongly criticized by the opposition and also by institutions representing the Jewish faith.
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However, the head of state denies any violation of the rules of secularism. Invited Friday of the news of 13h of France 2, relocated to Notre-Dame de Paris a year of the reopening of the cathedral, the president returned in detail to this ceremony.
"A mistake", according to Crif
"I didn't celebrate any holidays," Macron said. "I lit the candle of remembrance and memory of the Shoah, and then the chief rabbi (of France), him, lit two candles related to Hanukkah," details the head of state on France 2, recalling, in the enclosure of Notre-Dame de Paris, that "the president of the Republic does not celebrate any religious holiday. I didn't do it yesterday (Thursday) any more than I will tomorrow. Secularism is not the erasure of religions."
As for the fact that this celebration took place in the precincts of the presidential palace, the head of state finds nothing wrong with it. "I try to hold a path that is the path of unity and benevolence. And what matters to me is that all our compatriots, whether they are of Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist or Jewish faith, feel that they belong to the same nation and the same Republic, France," Macron said.
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A response to criticism, sometimes from his own camp. But this sequence will inevitably leave its mark. The CRIF, the representative council of Jewish institutions in France, believes that it was "a mistake", and the Freemasons, through the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France, denounce "a crack" in the republican pact.