On Sunday, January 13, hundreds of thousands of French citizens demonstrated in defense of natural marriage at the Manif pour Tous march in Paris. The demonstration was motivated by the upcoming vote on a Socialist Party-sponsored bill that would legalize counterfeit marriage in France. The law is scheduled to come before the French Parliament on January 29. According to French political observers, the bill’s passage had been considered certain.
The urgency of the situation caused the organizers of the Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie, the Parisian sister march to the Walk for Life West Coast, to forgo this year’s march in defense of the unborn, scheduled for next Sunday, and instead to join the M. Cécile Edel, one of the lead organizers of the Marche Pour le Respect de la Vie, who explained the decision: “…the respect for life and respect for the family are part of a single struggle: an eschatalogical struggle, the battle of David against Goliath, of good against evil and fight for the values that we intend to defend. This is indeed the struggle for life in general.”
In a ploy familiar to American pro-lifers, parts of the mainstream media initially downplayed the number of attendees. APNews Now headed their story “thousands rally against gay marriage in France.” The Huffington Post referred to “some thousands” of demonstrators. France24 reported “tens of thousands” of demonstrators at the event. That is far below the estimate of the French police, who numbered the crowd at 350,000 or the estimate of organizers, which gave a number of 800,000. A good rule of thumb seems to be that when the mainstream media gives a number of “thousands” the correct number will be in the tens of thousands, and when they give a number of “tens of thousands” the correct number will be in the hundreds of thousands. As the hours passed on Sunday, and the magnitude of the event became impossible to ignore, more accurate figures were reported.
The Catholic Church in France expressed strong support. Prayer vigils for marriage and the family were held before the march. The president of the French bishops’ conference, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, attended the march.
The event was felt far beyond Paris. French expatriates in London demonstrated against the proposed legislation in front of the French embassy in Knightsbridge. In Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana in South America, which is an overseas department of France, protestors also took to the streets in defense of the family.
In opposition to the demonstration, four women took off their shirts in St. Peter’s Square in Rome as the Holy Father prayed the Angelus, in protest of his support of natural marriage. The Holy Father had sent a letter of support to the French marchers. A picture making the rounds on the internet shows an older lady hitting one of the shirtless women with her umbrella.
A number of same-sex attracted French citizens have come out against the legislation. Robert Lopez, writing at American Thinker, quoted a same-sex attracted mayor of a French village, (name given only as Jean-Marc) who said, “As a society we should not encouraging this. It’s not biologically natural. We [gays] do not have the fertility, in the sense of making a baby. We have plenty of other forms of fertility… Nobody can deny, I believe, that it’s best for a child to have a mother and a father who love each other as best they can.”
The same article also quoted a same-sex attracted man named Jean Pier: “I am a documentary author for TV and I’m homosexual. I have to wonder, “who’s this law for?” I say to myself, “Is it made for homosexuals?” I live in Provence and I work in Paris. I know very few homosexuals who wish to marry beyond the PACS (civil unions) they already have. In fact, the number of people in PACS unions in France, couples of the same sex, is minimal. Therefore, who’s this law for? If it’s for the 5,000 people who live in the district of Le Marrais, then it’s just a militant act. But behind it all, it must be a question of the child.”
ah, those french — they have always been the epitome of virtue and proper living!
(meaning: i’m amazed at the turnout — i had sadly assume france had given up on the catholic faith and any values at all)
max,
You underestimated the strength of the ancestors to the Vendee. I have met many of them on the Chartres Pilgrimage, and they are staunch Catholics.
They even got upset when I, thinking I was honoring them, sang the Marcellais. They very quickly told me that that song is the song of the Bastille and is not their National Anthem.
I would love to find where I can hear the Nationalist Vendee National Anthem.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
LA MARSEILLAISE IS STILL THE FRENCH NATIONAL ANTHEM, BLOODY HISTORY AND ALL:
Banned under the Empire and the Restoration, La Marseillaise was reinstated by the July Revolution of 1830, and Hector Berlioz orchestrated the music, dedicating his composition to Rouget de Lisle.
The Third Republic (1879) established it as the French national anthem, and in 1887 an “official version” was adopted by the Ministry of War following the recommendation of a specially-appointed commission.
Also under the Third Republic, the ashes of Rouget de Lisle were transferred to Les Invalides (on July 14, 1915).
In September 1944, a circular issued by the Ministry of Education called for La Marseillaise to be sung in schools in order “to celebrate our liberation and our martyrs.”
Its status as the national anthem was reaffirmed in the 1946 and 1958 Constitutions (article 2).
Viva la France, and as the French say about men and women “Viva la difference.” I remember Maurice Chevalier’s beautiful song, “Thank Heavens for Little Girls”. It went on to say, “for without little girls what would little boys do?” Hopefully, the Church’s Oldest Daughter has finally woken up, and this terrible law does not go through.
They seem to have more moral values than the USA. I wish more Americans would have this wonderful turnout. I congratulate them for at least getting this one right, like minded in Christ and obedience to the natural law that God has set for mankind!.
Le mariage est sacré! La famille, c’est sacré! Protéger le One Man-Un mariage des femmes.
Je suis d’accord
SoCal you mean :”Le mariage est entre un homme et une femme.” You need to brush up on your french. Thanks Anne T for catching that typo, I missed it at first.
Marriage is Sacred! The Family is Sacred!
I agree
SoCal, what is with the des femmes (women)?
It is not likely that Francois Hollande will care. Liberal politicians, historically, have said that it is their duty to lead even when the majority is contrary (usually pointing to the civil rights movement as a time when all polls showed a “go slow” America, but a determined liberal agenda carried the day). In France, it is doubtful that Hollande believes that French really care much about the definition of marriage. After all, almost no one goes to Church, and sexual morality is pretty much absent — even for the French. Even if Hollande took a step back, he would be back at it shortly thereafter. That sort of agenda-driven determination is also a hallmark of liberal thinking. After all, they have nothing else to pursue than power, and its exercise, so this will not end.
Those protesting marriage equality in France are actually a very tiny minority – less than 1% of the population. Organizations like NOM are really hyping it up. Majority opinion in France, while it does not approve of adoption by same sex couples, clearly approves of same sex marriage. Hollande will see his legislation pass, as it should. Good for France.
Approval by a majority of any behavior does not make it moral. I believe many will find that to be the case when they stand before God in judgement, as it should. Good for France? No, they should be saying “Good for a merciful God!”
peter,
You will “enjoy” eternity with all of your like minded associates!
May God have mercy on your poor soul,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Peter, your statistics are meant to tell us what to think not what people actually think.
peter the phrase “marriage equality” well let me inform you that there is no such thing for those with morals and common decency in defense of the natural law. It is only a phrase created by the gay agenda, as part of their gay activism efforts. Yes gay is also a word taken by that activism. Throughout the years this “gay” phrases or words have been added to the vocabulary, yes they are in reality what they represent, we can’t fool ourselves anymore. I still have friends who refuse to give in and try to use the word “gay” as to mean happy but they are only confusing matters. We can’t say oh I feel gay today, people will look at you or it may actually please some.
I’m sure many like yourself, have embraced that phrase, a phrase of deception and a phrase against the natural law.
Like a good friend of mine, who left the homosexual lifestyle said to me, that he felt bad by the idea of taking away what he had growing up, which was a mum and a father, raising them and doing their best for him. Before he left his partner of 3 years, they had once discussed adopting, he was not sold on it because he didn’t feel like it was a good thing to involve children in their lifestyle choices but his partner insisted. That eventually broke them up, he went though his first stages of conversion shortly after that.
Your last two sentences should be read in Latin over the heads of Catholic babies of traditional parents at their baptism. For a long time the only faith in the world that appears equal to that of liberals is the unexplained strength of the adherence to Mohammed (his visions were utterly unwitnessed, 600 A.D., and still promulgated by violence), and is why the contradiction of “aggiornamento”, with everything Our Lord is recorded in scripture as teaching us, was not recognized for what it is. The liberal religion will pop up from anywhere for as long as time lasts. We can never relax after every Lepanto. When there is no belief in God, there really is nothing to do, except work to perfect this world.
Some of the French are beginning to try to reverse a socialist trend that has been increasing for years. France just elected a socialist president. As the government of a nation gradually becomes socialist, the people gradually have weaker faith in God and their Christian values and morality wanes. Church attendance declines. This is true in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden). Homosexuality and gay marriage are accepted as human rights, it becomes socially acceptable for unmarried couples to live together, socially acceptable for couples to have children out of wedlock, and abortion is simply a procedure that gets rid of a problem. There must be equality. Sweden has gone so far as to outlaw separate public bathrooms for men and women and have decreed that urinals must be removed because they are sexist. As socialism gradually becomes communism, people are told if they may have children and how many, as in China. If a person violates the birth restrictions, forced abortion and sterilization is performed on the mother. In the former Soviet Union, abortion was on demand and free. If women weren’t staying at home to take care of children, they could be where they are needed, in the workforce. Religion in China and Russia has all but disappeared, except for a small persecuted underground Catholic Church in China. Be wary of what a government wants to give you.
Sweden will wake only when the Muslims take over and that has already started in the North. Russia has finally woken up with its birth dearth. They have outlawed Russian children being adopted by Americans and outsiders because they do not have enough of their own to support them. They are telling us “have your own. You cannot have ours.”
We, do need, though, to back the Muslims where they are right, just not where they are wrong.
France was Americas first ally in the war of independence, and the war of 1812, she supported the Union cause in our civil war,our ally in two world wars and Vietnam, so why so some think it is chic to take pot shots at the French? 800000 is some impressive number for a turnout for any cause, but certainly for this one cause which we American Catholics should share, the unfortunate reality is too many of us don;t.
Pewsitter, yes France helped us in the Revolutionary War and others. King Louis depleted his coffers helping us, then, when he did not have enough for his own people and overspent himself somewhat, we did nothing to at least save him from beheading. God help us! What traitors we were.
Let us not forget the many Americans who went to war to fight and die for La Belle France, my friends. The debt has been paid, over and over, including by the mother of a dear friend of ours, who landed in France with Eisenhower as a military nurse and tended to as many wounded men as a solitary woman could have, and who was not given the same veteran’s rights following the war as the men were. Yes, the debt to France has been paid in money, men (and women!) and material, and in my experience, the French do not appreciate, admire, or respect us, as they should. This puts us in great company – that of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and all the saints. I think our love-hate relationship with France is unrequited as regards the love, and only French disdain for us prevents the return of the anti-French feelings. They couldn’t be bothered to hate such lowly creatures as Americans – just go and spend a few months in France and see if you return convinced of the veracity of my words.
Maryanne Leonard,
You apparently have not met the French Catholics I have, such as the retired General who is now working to restore Scouting in former Communist Countries, or the retired Navy Captain who was instrumental in setting up the Chartres Pilgrimage, Captain Arnot. You certainly must not have met the ancestors of the Vendee. or the Doctor who took care of me in Emergency Ward when they thought I had a Heart Attack.
I know you have not met the many Knights of Malta volunteers who take medical care of the pilgrims on the Chartres Pilgrimage. Yeah I found many haughty Frenchmen in haughty Paris, but even there I found some very good Catholics.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Maryanne Leonard, God has a way of “writing straight with crooked lines” and bringing good out of evil. After some of the French revolutionaries went overboard and killed the king, the queen and their little son, it got so bad that some revolutionaries enthroned a prostitute in the Cathedral of Notre Dame and got rid of all Christian holidays and put in pagan ones. These same revolutionaries were later beheaded by other revolutionaries who could no longer stand their excesses. There was also the counterrevolution of the Vendee, many of whom were willing to go along with a Republic until the excesses came into play.
One father and one mother, the banners read — but remember, this is France! They say nothing about how many mistresses the “one father” may have. Oh, la-la.
Max some of the married women have lovers, too, just as over here. So what are you trying to prove.
Max, many married women in every country often cheat on their husbands because the man cheated first. It is not right, especially since any children involved suffer. Nevertheless, I remember a historical newspaper article in our local newspaper many, many years ago. It told about a judge who served in California under the Spanish or Mexican government. A man brought his wife before the judge wanting her punished because she had committed adultery. The judge then asked HIM the $20,000 question: “Have you been faithful to her?” The man said he had not, so the judge told him that he could not punish his wife for the very same thing he himself had done. Now that is MY kind of judge! Needless to say, that judge was well respected and loved by the Californios.
max disgusting. I’m sure those that are there to stand up for what is right are people of with moral values. So stop the negative stop…you have gays there promoting their agenda, I’m sure same thing goes to your foolish comment but the people who showed up for this, I’m sure are decent people!
Agreed Abeca.
max,
You mean like Captain Arnot who had to retire because he refused to shake De Gaul’s hand when he visited Captain Arnot’s French Battleship because of the damage De Gaul did to the Catholic Church in France!
There would possibly be no America if it hadn’t been for the French who lost their lives fighting for America at Lexington and for the French Fleet that blocked and pounded the English. There were more Frenchmen killed at Lexington than Americans!
I hope my memory serves me right that it was the Battle of Lexington.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Marriage equality is one man, one woman. Anything else is lopsided.
Funny thing most Homosexuals are not for gay marriage, they understand marriage if for pro-creation and they get it. The Church is all but dead in France except for Traditional movements, there are now 6 to 7 million Mohamadeans in France. Time is on the side of the Muslims, they average 6 to 8 children per household in France, French Catholics only 1.2% or less. Sad but one must accept the fact that France will be a Muslim country in two to three decades, as will Holland, Sweden, Denmark, England, Belgium, Norway, and most likely Germany. It will not be by the sword this time, but by sheer Muslim birthrates!!!!
BRAVO for France. In Ottawa Canada, we have the Pro-Life March in May on Parliament Hill. The first few years, the march was ignored in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. After a few years, a brief paragraph mentioning hundreds when there were over 6000 mostly with young adults. Now it is in the 10’s of thousand and not much reporting but for the Gay Pride Parade, with hundreds of marchers, usually a full page and also part of the front page. It shows that the media is biased against the normal man woman family structure.
France’s new leader Hollande is a socialist. He is poking a finger into the eyes of believers in traditional marriage. He is no more radical in his views than our very own socialist Obama who now also embraces the absurdity of the ages: “Same Sex Marriage”… Socialists are basically subversive of the public order and enemies of morality. They have always been and shall always be. There was good reason wiser popes of the past condemned socialism, communism, and modernism via the Syllabus of Errors which was tossed on the ash heap of history by the subversives who dominated Vatican 2. We desperately need a Vatican 3 to save our Church from its enemies within. The abominations we see today at every juncture stem from this ill-conceived effort to “improve” Holy Mother Church.
“…the subversives who dominated Vatican 2.”
Anton, are you talking about the Holy Spirit (who was invoked over the Ecumenical Council), the Holy Father, the Magisterium of the Church, or Father Joseph Ratzinger who was asked by his Bishop to help prepare documents for the Council?
Among other things, young Fr. Ratzinger indicated that Council documents “should provide answers to more pressing problems and should do so, as far as possible, without judging and condemning, but by using a maternal language, presenting the wealth of the Christian faith and its comforts.”
Such suberversives!!!