Pope Addresses Secularism in France

Pope Addresses Secularism in France
By RACHEL DONADIO and ALAN COWELL
September 12, 2008

PARIS — On his first visit to France as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI arrived here Friday , urging a “new reflection on the true meaning of and importance of secularism” within the historically fractious relationship between church and state in France.

His message spoke to a deep vein of anti-clericalism in France, which has long drawn sharp distinctions between issues of faith and matters of temporal power.

“At this moment in history, when cultures continue to cross paths more frequently, I am firmly convinced that a new reflection on the true meaning and importance of secularism is now necessary,” the pope said. He used the term in French “laïcité” which denotes the separation of church and state. the rest