Sarkozy and the Pope: a positive secularism

Last Friday the Pope arrived in France, his first visit there as a pontiff. A visit that caused some commotion among the political class. France, a country where half of its citizens still call themselves Catholic but only seven percent of these attend mass regularly, is officially a secular country and the separation of church and state is taken very seriously. Therefore it was not well taken by many when President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni went to the airport to greet the arrival of the Pope. It was the first time that the President has conferred that honor on a visiting leader since taking office in May 2007. Afterward, the Pope was taken to the Elysée Palace where in front of the Cabinet and opposition leaders Sarkozy promoted his idea of “positive secularism”: upholding the separation of church and state, while believing religions were beneficial for society. Pope Benedict XVI said that that he shared the President’s view that politics and religion must be open to one another.
After his Paris sojourn, the Pope went to visit the Lourdes shrine which draws from everywhere six million people annually, some of them disabled or very sick, many of them hoping for a miracle. Located in southern France, the sanctuary celebrates this year the 150th anniversary of apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a local 14-year-old, Bernadette Soubirous.
Whether this papal visit will bring back some more religious fervor to France is not sure, but it has proven that Sarkozy continues to be in charge of his own agenda never mind what the opposition or even many of the French think. And at the moment his popularity is ascending. Some politicians on other countries are probably wondering how he does it.