French Catholic church warns against burqa ban

 Daily Times

PARIS: The French Catholic church warned Paris on Monday against banning the burqa and said France must respect the rights of Muslims if it wanted Islamic countries to do the same for their Christian minorities. Bishop Michel Santier, the top French Catholic official for inter-religious dialogue, said very few women in France wear full veils and Muslim leaders agree it is not obligatory in Islam. If Paris passed a law, Santier said, “The result could be the opposite of what is desired and lead to a reaction that increases the number of women wearing the burqa. “The French, including the Catholics among them, should not let themselves be gripped by fear or a ‘clash of civilisations’ theory,” he said. 

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• view: The French burqa ban —Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times
  

  The (French Parliamentary) commission recommended that if the government was going to ban the burqa, it should compensate by declaring as public holidays the religious festivals of Muslims and Jews. It also recommended that steps be taken to integrate Muslim and other minorities into the French mainstream
  

• French Catholics Warn Against Muslim Veil Ban, IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

  ...French Jewish leaders have already expressed concern about a veil ban.
  ...Prominent Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan has said that the French debate on the wearing of burka reflects growing self-doubts inside the society.

• The French Catholic Church warned Paris today against banning Muslim full-face veils The Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne