A police officer who passed tobacco in Tourcoing, a teacher attacked in the knife by a student in Antibes, violent demonstrations … Too many dramas occur every day. Cardinal Bustillo “Had to act” And decided to resume the pen. In his work Repairpublished by Fayard editions, the cardinal and bishop of Ajaccio begins by drawing up a particularly dark picture: a society irrigated by violence, which becomes trivial, social relations poisoned by suspicion, an uncontrolled justice on the “Virtual court” social networks, hearts in “Latent depression” and intelligences that are adorned with “Suitable mask”making them men “Politically correct but internally absent”. Faced with such a diagnosis, the church man offers a simple but revolutionary solution, and yet a millennium: to live according to the Gospel. Values that founded the West, and that could, according to him, take it up.
JDNews. “Our era values what damages man. »» The first words in your book are severe on our society. Is that why you publish “repair”?
Monsignor Bustillo. When a teenager assassinates an adult, we realize that we go beyond normality. Plato said that the characteristic of man is the verb, and the characteristic of the beast, it is strength. By spontaneously using violence, a shift takes place towards animal brutality. The discussions seem impossible today. We take out a knife, we hurt, we kill. This relational behavior based on ultraviolence is not normal and the danger would be to get used to it. As a church man, a man of faith, I have a responsibility to bring man out of the barbarism, rehumanize him by announcing the Gospel, means of civilization.
Could the church therefore have a remedy for our ailments?
Everyone must contribute to social life with their own genius. I wonder: I, Catholic, what can I bring to the world? Without indoctrinating, the church can offer, offer a visrance vision on man and his destiny. Many think they know the Church, but it is not limited to its scandals or its only human institution. She has a soul that has made our civilization: Jesus Christ, that is to say love.
In your book, you analyze the political domain by affirming that it must “regain vision” and acquire two founding virtues, “simplicity and freedom”. What do you mean ?
The social diseases of which I speak also affect the political world: accusation, revenge, sadism, distrust … Politics is not a world apart! The question we must ask ourselves is: let us expect politics to be a reflection of our problems, that it is limited to recognizing our injuries, or do we hope that it offers a path, a vision, that it shows us the best of ourselves?
“The Church has a soul that has made our civilization: Jesus Christ, that is, love”
Pope Pius XI declared in 1927 that “Politics is the highest form of charity”. He did not mean that charity, in politics, has greater value than in another field. But that it was the place where it was most difficult to apply. I believe that we must help our representatives seek more simplicity in their relationship to society, and we must encourage freedom of idea and speech. This is the responsibility of politicians, but also and above all from all of society, which must learn to have a look of encouragement on them, before having a look of contempt or judgment.
Pope Leo XIV said on several occasions that the church was not an NGO. What is its primary mission?
To like. In the Bible, when Saint John addresses Christians of Asia Minor who suffer from persecution, he responds to their discouragement by urging them to love in acts more than words. Jesus himself said, besides: “It is to love that you will have for each other that they will recognize that you are my disciples. »» But this relational quality is only possible when there is spiritual solidity.
Spirituality that the young generations are more and more looking for. How can the Church respond to this thirst, in a world that has the temptation to reject it?
Never by violence or cries. It is important that our vision on education, social life, can go through conviction and not by force. It is a requirement for Catholics, a real duty of authenticity, to live in coherence with what we believe. The church will always bring its own heritage, it will not stop delivering its message to everyone.
You call for peaceful relationships, unlike suspicion, distrust and opposition that you describe in your work. What about relations between Church and State? On several occasions you have denounced “French secularism” …
It seems to me that there is a positive evolution on the way in which secularism is experienced in France. Twenty years ago, there was much more ideological hostility to religions and faith. At the local level, there is a gradual rapprochement: when I pass through the cities of Reims, Montpellier, the civil authorities are present and there is a beautiful dialogue. Despite everything, it is necessary to continue to adjust a balance: the Church must be able to continue to provide its teaching, its values and its principles; And elected officials, for their part, govern and must allow this space of freedom.
The private school is one of these places among others where the church can have this freedom. However, she has never been so disputed …
Beyond knowledge, it is a wisdom that it conveys. In addition, it is rather healthy – and I understand perfectly – that in the face of public education, there has been, as there has always been, an alternative with private schools under contract or out of contract. It is also necessary that the public wonders when we see the quantity of teachers who are discouraged, on sick leave, or that this violence is reported in schools. The private and the public must not seek to establish a report of domination, but rather a relationship of collaboration and enrichment, in the best interests of all children and all young people.
Léon XIV has been elected Pope for six months. What do you remember from this beginning of a pontificate?
The canonization, Sunday, September 7, by Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis was a highlight – just like the young people in Rome this summer. The pope calls us, all without exception, to be holy. This vocation is still relevant! It does not require us to be perfect, but to tend towards this ideal. At the start of this pontificate, the Pope sends us a message of joy and peace, I hope that everyone can access it.
Can we hope for a visit to the Pope in France?
Monsignor Ulrich told him about our country. To my knowledge, there is no concrete project, but nothing is impossible for the one who believes!
RepairCardinal François Bustillo, Fayard, 162 pages, 21.90 euros.
