“Let us be careful that those who would like to make the law of 1905 an identity reading (…) with the sole purpose of attacking religions,” said the President of the Republic during a speech at the Grande Lodge of France on Monday.
Published the 05/05/2025 22:57 Reading time: 1min
A few months before the 120th anniversary of the 1905 law of separation of the Churches and the state, Emmanuel Macron spoke before the Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of France, Monday May 5. He called on his audience to be a “Vigie” secularism. Denouncing those who “Want to erase it, betray it or divert it”, The French president asks the Freemasons to show that “It is not a law of exclusion but of meeting “d’“Going constantly repeating that the only word that agrees to secularism is that of freedom”.
“Secular France is the natural girl of the Republic (…) Let us be careful that those who would like to make the law of 1905 an identity reading on the pretext of secularizing society, with the sole purpose of attacking religions, beliefs, in particular in the name of their alleged incompatibility with the values of the Republic”hammered Emmanuel Macron.
The speech of the head of state comes as the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, is accused of outbid on the questions of secularism in the face of Islam. The candidate for the presidency of the Republicans proposes in particular to extend the provisions of the 2004 law on the prohibition of religious signs to the accompanists of school outings and to sports competitions.
It was the first visit of a President of the Republic to the Grand Lodge of France, a second Masonic obedience in France after the Grand Orient of France. It has 32,000 members, compared to 55,000 for the Grand Orient.
