Lowered flags spark row in France Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Posted: 1441 GMT (2241 HKT)
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- The French government faced accusations of double standards Tuesday over a decision to fly flags at half-mast in honor of Pope John Paul which critics said violated the state's commitment to secularism.
What began as a debate among a few left-wing and Green party politicians spread into the pages of newspapers Tuesday, with letters pages filled with the issue. Some also aired complaints about wall-to-wall coverage from Vatican City by French television.
France's many Roman Catholics are united in grief over the Pope's death. But the order to fly flags at half-mast for 24 hours was too much for some secular French, especially after most French leaders attended a special mass for the pope.
Critics accuse the government of hypocrisy by paying tribute to a religious leader after banning Muslim headscarves in state schools to try to ensure strict observance of the 100-year-old official separation of church and state.
"For five days there has been a hagiography about the sovereign pontiff without any critical spirit," said Jean-Luc Melenchon, a Socialist senator, renewing an attack on the government which he began on Monday.
"We live at a time when we must be very careful about the strict separation between the church and state, especially after adopting a law banning religious symbols in schools."
The criticism may at first glance seem of little consequence in a country where surveys suggest about 60 percent of people are Catholics. Many are grieving for the pope and thousands have attended masses for him.
But President Jacques Chirac and the conservative government are particularly sensitive to any criticism as they try to win back public trust and persuade skeptical voters to approve the European Union constitution in a referendum on May 29.
The debate is unlikely to go away quickly because flags are again to be flown at half-mast on Friday when the Pontiff is buried in a funeral attended by Chirac and his wife Bernadette.
Separation "The media overdose before, during and after the Pope's death leads me to ask two questions. First, is France 2 (television) still a public service channel?" Charles Bottarelli of Toulon wrote to left-wing newspaper Liberation.
"The second, is the separation between the church and state still in force in our country?"
Another Liberation reader, Michel Sparagano, asked: "What does a Muslim French citizen think of his flag flying at half mast because the head of the Catholics is dead?"
France, whose 5-million-strong Muslim community is the largest in Europe, banned "conspicuous religious signs" in state schools last year.
Other readers approved the decision to flay flags at half mast but said the French state should have done more.
"Flags at half mast for just one day ... It's not much in comparison with what other governments have done," Parisian Yves Chartier wrote to Le Figaro daily.
Government ministers were out in force giving interviews and trying to calm emotions -- without much success. In doing so, several again lauded the Pope, risking fueling the debate.
"I understand very well that one can ask questions. The answer is very simple. It's a constant Republican tradition," Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said, noting that France flew flags at half mast to honor other popes when they died.
"This debate is surprising and unjustified," said Bernard Accoyer, head of the ruling center-right party's deputies in parliament. Government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said the argument simply should never have taken place.
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