The CRIF in action
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Published on 7 November 2005

CRIF INVITED TO PROTESTANT CELEBRATION

The French Protestant Federation celebrated its hundredth anniversary at the Maison du Protestantisme (Protestant House) in Paris. The Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, read a message from Jacques Chirac retracing the contribution of Protestants to France. “Who shall ever forget the significant, indeed deeply moving, part that Le Chambon-sur-Lignon played in defending persecuted Jews during World War II? I personally treasure the moving memory of my visit to that highland plateau, that wonderful land which gave expression to what is best in mankind,” wrote the Head of State.




The Protestant Federation brings together 17 church denominations and 70 associations, representing some 900,000 people.

The French Protestant Federation had invited Roger Cukierman and Haïm Musicant to the centenary celebrations. “We have a particularly warm spot in our hearts towards Protestantism,” declared CRIF’s president. “Very often at the peril of their lives, French Protestants saved numerous Jews during the war. We shall always owe them an eternal debt of gratitude”.


Roger Cukierman hailed the “harmonious” development of relations between CRIF and the FPF. “In the past, we have had our differences over the Middle Eastern conflict. We have been able to talk these things through.” A sign of this positive climate, the CRIF-FPF liaison group – which has been operating for almost three years now – is organising a trip to Israel in the first part of 2006. It is co-chaired by Dinah Azoulay, a member of the CRIF steering committee, and by Jean-Noël Bouillane de Lacoste, president of the radio channel Fréquence Protestante and a former French ambassador to Israel.

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