In front of the Freemasons, Emmanuel Macron praises reason in the face of “bearers of hatred”

2023-11-08 23:51:33
Emmanuel Macron and the grand master of the Grand Orient of France, Guillaume Trichard (foreground), November 8, 2023, in Paris. THIBAULT CAMUS / AFP

In front of the windows of the Musée du Grand Orient de France (GODF), rue Cadet, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, Wednesday November 8, Emmanuel Macron listens attentively to his guide, concentrated. The curator of the exhibition evokes this moment, at the end of the 18th century, of strong rivalries between the Catholic and Jewish bourgeoisies, when the Masonic institution required its lodges to welcome Jews who wished to be initiated. An opening that did not go without saying in certain regions – the Constituent Assembly of 1791 had not yet granted French citizenship to Jews.

Decided during the summer, this unprecedented visit by the President of the Republic to the headquarters of the Grand Orient, on the occasion of its 250th anniversary, comes at a time when “anti-Semitism resurfaces, in words, on walls”, underlines Emmanuel Macron, and “displays himself without fear and without shame”. “To attack a Jew is always to seek to achieve the political project which recognizes him as free and equal, it is always to seek to achieve the Republic”, he said again. It front of “bearers of hatred”, “the Republic does not compromise and will not compromise”, “we will be merciless”promises the Head of State in front of some 300 masons from the main denominations (Grand Orient, Grand Lodge, Human Rights, Women’s Grand Lodge).

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Invited by the grand master of the GODF, Guillaume Trichard, to “seize national representation” in order to “advance our end-of-life legislation”Emmanuel Macron gives him satisfaction: the “right to die with dignity” will be subject to a “law of freedom and respect”. However, in his letter to political party leaders last weekend, the head of state mentioned the end-of-life issue as one that could give rise to a referendum. But it was simply ” for exemple “we assure those around us, and because this subject is “one of the debates of the moment”.

While it was to be presented in December to the Council of Ministers, the bill should again be postponed until the first half of 2024. But if the Freemasons are in favor, the Conference of Bishops of France expressed Wednesday in Lourdes ( Hautes-Pyrénées) sound ” worry “ on the subject. “A human society must be fraternal for all until the end of life, and promote active assistance in living”affirms Mgr Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, in an allusion to the“active assistance in dying” which could be retained in the bill.

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