Religious leaders in France (CRCF) call for peace and fraternity

Federated within the Conference of leaders of religion in France (CRCF), which was brought to the baptismal font on November 23, 2010 with a view to consolidating the bridge of Knowledge and inter-Knowledge, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish religious dignitaries, Muslims and Buddhists have launched, in unison, a vibrant appeal for peace and fraternity.

In the grip of deep dismay, it is through a pen of concern and full of compassion towards the countless civilian victims, whether Israeli, Palestinian and Lebanese, of the carnage which has engulfed the Middle East for a year, that they urge to silence the weapons… But without, however, going so far as to pillory the architect of this deadly chaos, of this humanitarian disaster, of which nothing and no one can stop the genocidal fury: Israel.

The press release from the Conference of Worship Leaders in France

On October 9, 2023, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders together expressed our fear and deep sadness at the barbarity of Hamas.

On October 7, 2024, we are struggling to appreciate the trauma, unprecedented for our generation, caused by these terrorist acts but also by the large-scale military operations that followed them, in Gaza, and now, in Lebanon.

They tragically claimed several thousand victims. We bow to the immense suffering of those who have lost a loved one in atrocious conditions, that of the hostages and those who, parents of hostages, have gone through so many months of uncertainty and anguish. . We also carry in our hearts and our flesh the immense suffering of the civilians of the Gaza Strip, the bruised families, the destroyed existences, delivered to the terror and devastation produced by the war. We condemn the abuses committed in the West Bank. We are deeply concerned about the lasting consequences of so much violence, whether terrorist or military, among those who suffer it and those who carry it out.

We measure the extent to which events in the Middle East weigh on French society. For Jews and Muslims, the wounds are sharp and painful. Anti-Semitic acts are increasing to a worrying extent, and anti-Muslim hatred and discrimination are growing like never before. While, in our deeply polarized society, dialogue is more important than ever, even interfaith relations are being tested and even frozen.

The happy experience of chaplaincy at the multi-faith center of the Olympic Village and the fraternity experienced within the framework of the EMOUNA training program (interreligious training supported by Sciences Po) nevertheless show that fraternity remains possible. The interreligious solidarity experienced after the attack on the synagogue in Grau du Roi provided further proof of this. It is up to us not to import this conflict into France.

Therefore, we, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders, call for a ceasefire and together reaffirm our common values.

  • We condemn violence in all its forms, and deplore the unbearable number of civilian victims. We condemn the taking of civilian or military hostages and call for their immediate release. We condemn any speech calling for hatred and destruction.
  • We call for prayer for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, for the Lebanese people and for the Iranian people who find themselves today caught in a logic of war, for those who are bereaved, for those who have been taken as hostages or experience the anguish of a kidnapped loved one, for all those who are displaced, and whose means of subsistence are precarious. We express our gratitude for the organizations working to maintain medical care and supplies.
  • We invite political, religious and cultural forces from around the world to act so that a just and lasting peace can be built in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and throughout the region. We ask the political leaders of our country to work for concerted action by the international community and to remind the belligerents of the need to respect international humanitarian law.
  • We call on our fellow citizens, believers or not, to preserve and cultivate fraternal relationships that bind each other with respect and mutual care; to firmly reject all anti-Semitism, all anti-Muslim hatred, all racism, all contempt or speech of hatred and death, all stigmatization of any kind; to tirelessly seek truth and justice with a view to peace. We are committed to always acting in this direction.

More than 30 years after the last peace initiative carried out by the Oslo Accords, it is high time to understand that a policy claiming to use violence for its own benefit cannot succeed and that the search for peace is necessary. . Political leaders have a grave duty to do so. The guns must be silenced and brotherhood return. International law, however imperfect it may be, must once again become the basis of the process to be opened.

The signatories of the appeal: Mgr Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF), Christian Krieger, president of the Protestant Federation of France (FPF), Mgr Dimitrios, president of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France (AEOF), Haïm Korsia, Grand Rabbi of France, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, and Antony Boussemart, president of the Buddhist Union of France (UBF)