Catholics Speak Out

The Catholic vote is always a problem for the Front National. For some Catholics the Vatican's non-negotiable points take precedence over any other consideration.

This year, because Marine Le Pen has at least approached a position satisfactory to traditional Catholics, many will vote for her. Some still have doubts.

Le Salon Beige has posted a short excerpt from a longer interview with Julien Rochedy (left), a leader of a youth group for Marine Le Pen.

- What do you think of the current movement on the part of some Catholics concerning the non-negotiable principles?

- I understand the movement, but I feel it's a shame. We are at war. We must act strategically. If they stay in this fortress mentality, once the land is taken, the fortress will fall. I fear that in this system of non-negotiable principles, where they feel at home, pure and steadfast, they will in the end be duped. They have lost everything in the past thirty years, they are shrinking like the shagreen skin. You have to fight to get certain things, and snatch victories little by little. Life is war, and it seems to me that they have forgotten that strategy. Remaining alone and isolated, they risk suicide or death. I say to my Catholic friends: don't stay on the defensive. Attack!

Here are some responses:

- Unfortunately he is completely right. It's the art of war.

- The Muslims will vote, probably for Hollande, perhaps for Sarkozy, in short for any candidate who, once in power, will open the breach up wider for them. They don't care if their candidate eats halal or respects Islam. They only see what will allow them to progress. Catholics would do well to do as they do and vote for Marine.

- I think you are wrong, because the adversary acts by slowing chewing away the terrain. If we begin to negotiate the little we have left, we have lost, without having waged a war.

Note: I would say that nobody is really asking the Catholics to give up anything. Voting for Marine does not mean compromising your beliefs, unless the Religion is more important than the Homeland. But by voting for Marine you may (we aren't sure) be coming to the rescue of the Elder Daughter of the Church. Remember, Napoleon helped save the Church, even though his religious beliefs were not always obvious.

- He isn't completely wrong (in view of the current situation), even if the non-negotiable principles are fundamental. Let's not forget that the candidate closest to these principles is, by far, Marine. She is the only one who broke the taboo on abortion. No small accomplishment.

Note: Marine has said she would attempt to restrict abortions by removing them from insurance coverage, i.e., the woman would pay the medical expense. She has also said that would give married women financial incentives to stay home to raise their children, instead of being forced to work. And she has said that young girls who are pregnant would be given a real choice between abortion and pre-natal adoption. Marine has said that today Planned Parenthood gives girls the choice between an "abortion and an abortion".

She has thus gone further than any other candidate, and much further than her father or even herself in the past, towards advocating measures that would curtail abortions.

- Julien is right, Catholics must defend themselves and participate in the fight with those who are defending them, namely Marine Le Pen. There does not exist, nor will there exist a "Catholic" party in France in the current regime. We cannot therefore vacillate and gab uselessly: our children's future demands commitment. This does not preclude working to reestablish, first of all the Church of France and, among some of its own bishops, the Catholic Faith.

Note: The statement below is from Robert Marchenoir, a frequent commenter at various websites: 

- He is right. The metaphor is accurate.

Example: Marine Le Pen's position on abortion is scandalous in terms of the non-negotiable principles discussed here.

And yet, she is a revolutionary confronted with the totality of political trends in the country!

In truth, she is the only one to really express, in a way that is palatable to the majority of the French, the position of traditional Catholics.

What she is saying is very simple: abortion is wrong.

And that is at bottom what Catholics also say, even though there is a great gap between the measures advocated.

But which is more important? The details of the measures advocated? Or the affirmation of the principle?

No measure can be considered, if the underlying principles are not, a priori, agreed upon.

This is why Marine Le Pen is working for you, even if she says she is secular ("laïque").