Paris archbishop condemns firing of Catholic school principal accused of violating secular laws

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 17, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

The archbishop of Paris spoke out this week against the firing of a Catholic school administrator who was accused of violating French laws prohibiting religious expression in educational settings. 

“We must be able to proclaim the Gospel in Catholic schools,” Archbishop Laurent Ulrich stated in an Oct. 12 interview with Radio Notre Dame, OSV News reported.

“It must also be possible, in these schools,” he added, “to set up small groups of Christian pupils who really want to cultivate their Christian faith, for catechism classes, outside school hours but nevertheless at times when the children are still at school.” 

According to the OSV News report, the prelate voiced his concerns in light of the recent controversial expulsion of a principal from a Catholic school in southern France who was accused of breaching the country’s constitutionally mandated secularism, otherwise referred to in French as “laïcité.”

Espeso was accused of allowing confessions and Mass to take place during school hours, mandating catechism courses, inviting a local bishop to a conference at the school, and pulling materials he had deemed inappropriate from the school’s library.

Laïcité is a principle born out of the French Constitution that essentially enforces the separation of church and state by prohibiting religious expression or proselytizing in the public sphere.

Private schools in France operate under the same regulations and follow the same curriculum as public schools and are state-funded. Catholic schools are allowed to maintain their religious identity and offer catechism classes, so long as they are not mandatory for students.

On Sept. 11, local education authorities removed Christian Espeso, 61, from his position as director of Immaculate Conception School in Pau, a small French town located in southern France, following an inspection by local education authorities.

The directorate of Catholic education of the Diocese of Bayonne, which is about 70 miles west of Pau, released a statement on Sept. 13 stating: “[The] decision, which we consider to be totally disproportionate in light of the facts for which he is accused, leaves many of us stunned.”

For his part, Espeso took part in an interview with the French-language outlet La Vie shortly after his expulsion in which he revealed that his suspension came after three anonymous reports were filed against him to the rector of education in Bordeaux.

In the Sept. 16 interview, Espeso denied some of the allegations, stating that he had not mandated attendance at the conference with the bishop. He said the courses offered at the school were not, in fact, catechesis courses but “religious instruction courses,” required only for some entry-level students. A Jewish and a Muslim parent confirmed to the rectorate that the courses were not catechesis, according to the former principal.

“We are under diocesan tutelage and it did not seem aberrant to me that students meet, once in their lives for some, a Catholic bishop,” he said. “Out of 200 senior students, 130 to 150 students were present since it was on a voluntary basis, contrary to what has been advanced in the press.” Those who did not attend were not penalized, he noted.

Espeso also addressed charges that he had interfered with teachers’ “pedagogical freedom,” telling La Vie that the complaint in question arose after he was informed by several young students who had been made “uncomfortable” after their teacher showed them a video with pornographic content. He had also removed a comic strip from the school library, which he said contained “incest scenes that could be shocking for sixth-grade students.” 

“I think I just did what I had to do,” he told La Vie. “I brought photocopies of the scenes in question to the rectorate.” 

Espeso served as head of the prestigious Catholic institution since 2013. The school is currently ranked first in the region and fourth in the country.

As reported by local French news outlets, parents and students of Espeso submitted written testimonies defending the former school administrator to educational authorities. Their accounts, which included statements from teachers, parents, and elected officials, Espeso told La Vie, refuted the accusations against him “point by point.”