Catholic education<\/a> were present in Lourdes along with the bishop conference\u2019s secretary general of Catholic education, layman Guillaume Pr\u00e9vost, who was appointed in 2025.<\/p>\nCatholic schools in France educate more than 2 million students in over 7,200 schools, about 17% of the nation\u2019s total student population.<\/p>\n
The assembly came days after French lawmakers debated a proposal to end government funding for teachers in Catholic schools. The measure was ultimately rejected, averting what Catholic education leaders warned could have triggered widespread school closures and added pressure to an already strained public system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want relationships based on mutual respect among all those involved in education,\u201d said Pr\u00e9vost, secretary general of Catholic education. \u201cWe believe that the Catholic education system is an asset for the entire country, but we try as much as possible to reach out to everyone, including those who criticize it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop Matthieu Roug\u00e9 of Nanterre, president of the bishops\u2019 Council for Catholic Education, called for attention to the \u201csearch for meaning\u201d expressed by the protests in high schools that rocked France in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country is going through turbulent times, and we are clearly dealing with a deeply wounded society,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is a great thirst for meaning among our contemporaries, young and old alike, for whom, at times, the inability to find it leads to violent protests.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand in full solidarity with the teachers who are voicing their difficulties today,\u201d Pr\u00e9vost added. \u201cWe must take care of the adults who take care of the children.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pr\u00e9vost, one of the reasons for the crisis in education is \u201cthe rise in tensions between school staff and families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this regard, Catholic education is facing fewer difficulties than public education,\u201d he noted. \u201cThere is a strong tradition and culture of supporting children in Catholic schools that relies on collaboration with families. That is one of their strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Pr\u00e9vost also highlighted the fragility of families themselves. \u201cIt is no coincidence that schools are struggling,\u201d he said. \u201cThe family is the institution that has been most disrupted in recent times. Inevitably, the weakening of families due to conflicts has repercussions at school. And this is not just about single-parent families, disadvantaged families, or families with an immigrant background. A majority of children today experience their parents\u2019 separation. We cannot continue to pretend that this is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond education, the bishops addressed the upcoming presidential election, scheduled spring of 2027, which is expected to be highly tense and polarized. The latest polls suggested that the second round would pit Marine Le Pen\u2019s far-right party, the Rassemblement National, against Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon\u2019s far-left party, France Insoumise. M\u00e9lenchon clearly implied that if Marine Le Pen wins \u2014 as all polls predict for now \u2014 riots could destabilize the country.<\/p>\n
In Lourdes on Nov. 5, the bishops heard J\u00e9r\u00f4me Fourquet\u2019s analysis of the outlook for the presidential election. As director of the opinions and strategies\u2019 department at the prestigious French Institute of Public Opinion, or IFOP, he pointed out that the violent strikes of recent weeks reflect \u201ca culture of rioting\u201d that has become \u201cstructural,\u201d involving a \u201ctotal disregard for the rules\u201d in which anger is expressed impulsively and without restraint, against the backdrop of a weakening of state institutions.<\/p>\n
In this context, the bishops hope to offer \u201cguidance on discernment\u201d in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to ensure that votes are not cast solely on impulse or emotion,\u201d Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours, also vice president of the bishops\u2019 conference, explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to contribute to the electoral debate with constructive proposals, rather than stoking the feelings of fear and anger that currently prevail,\u201d said Bishop Bruno Valentin of Carcassonne and Narbonne and a member of the bishops\u2019 working group on the presidential election. \u201cIt is about using words to build, not to fuel a climate of civil war.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\nkabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Leo XIV meets with the French bishops at the St. Bernadette auditorium at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thedialog.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/10133519\/20261110T1005-FRENCH-BISHOPS-ASSEMBLY-FALL-2026-1830238-scaled.jpg\" "\\"POPE")
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