CNA Staff, Feb 1, 2024 / 15:15 pm
Several of France’s Catholic leaders have expressed solidarity with the country’s agricultural workers amid historic protests that have seen farmers block major roadways near Paris with their tractors to protest environmental regulations, taxes, and competition from cheap imports.
In a Jan. 24 statement, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of the Diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes, which is a largely rural diocese that includes the world-famous Marian shrine of Lourdes, said he wants to “express all my support to the farmers of the diocese.” He encouraged all the diocese’s parishes and religious communities to pray for those involved in the protest.
“The farmers, we know, are responsible people, sensitive to issues related to climate and the environment. They keenly feel their daily life has become very unfair and difficult,” the bishop wrote.
Bishop Philippe Christory of Chartres, a lowland region some 60 miles from Paris and a major economic area in French agricultural production, expressed “the Catholic Church’s compassion for all those who devote their lives to working the land and raising animals to feed us,” as reported by OSV News.