France: Catholic, Jewish leaders warn against anti-Muslim prejudice 
April 01, 2011
The Council of French Religious Leaders-- a group formed last November that includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist religious leaders-- is warning that an upcoming forum on France's secular identity could incite prejudice against Muslims. The forum is sponsored by France's ruling party.
The Catholic members of the council are Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris and Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille, president and vice president of the French episcopal conference. "Do not add to the confusion in the troubled period we are experiencing," the leaders said in a statement. "We are campaigning together for a good understanding of secularity," the religious leaders said. "Secularity is not separable from fundamental values we share, in particular the dignity and respect for the human person and for his inalienable liberty."
"It's often difficult to be a Muslim in France," added Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, the chief rabbi of France, in a newspaper interview. "This difficulty is worse today in this unhealthy climate, aggravated by talk that divides rather than unites."
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