Fraternite Notre Dame thanks you to speak here.
In her humanitarian services of the poorest people in the world in Africa, Americas, Asia or Europe, Fraternite Notre Dame gives priority rights to the prevention of all discriminations. Fraternite Notre Dame’s members, religious missionaries and lay volunteers could see in their missions that the poorest, the most destitude, the minorities because they are thrown out, despised, are the target of discrimination, racism, oppressions on Europe, Africa, Asia, United States. They testify that religious, ethnical, linguistic, cultural minorities are oppressed by majorities.

Churches interfer before governments to safeguard their privileges and make sure that minorities would be silenced. Fraternite Notre Dame working on the different continents at the service of the most destitute with no distinction of class, race, sex or creed, has witnessed, just as other groups did, that these rights are being violated in some countries suffering from extreme poverty but what is unthinkable in the 21th century, these rights are even being violated in our european countries, said to be free, civilized and respectful of human rights.
In the writings our rulers refer to, our Constitution, freedom of conscience is assured. France counts in her constitution intangible rights. She guarantees exercice of worship under the only restrictions dictated in the interest of public order. The law of separation between Church and State guarantees freedom of conscience. Democracy as is taught to children in school books, is a political system but also a moral code: one explains to pupils that it is the system that best protects diversity, that best succeeds in having people from different origins, opinions, convictions and tastes, live together under common laws. Truly, this is what is being taught to our pupils from the 21th century and this is what they believe, since they are asked to do so.
What can be seen in France, what do we experience in France?
A fanatic and strenuous war against spiritual minorities, against educational trends that do not comply with the main trend of thinking imposed.
Then would what we teach to our dear children be lies? Would democracy no longer be what is used to? What happened to enriching diversity?

Fraternite Notre Dame after the examples of other minorities, had to undergo a process of intimidation, misinformation, slander, press are and blackmailing.
Certain catholics adopt a narrowness of mind, a sectarianism towards all other forms of convictions or expression different from, their own, to the point of exerting pressure and implementing religious persecution; both are unworthy of Christian brothers, in a European democracy on a land France, “called the eldest daughter of the church”.

The absence of freedom of expression is a sign of authoritarian regimes. Under the cover of the discriminatory anti-sect label, political and religious forces, united by a common sectarian thinking, exert pressure upon minorities such as ours, preventing the proper functioning of our social and humanitarian activities. Examples to be cited would be too numerous. In a series called “hunting sects in France”, the media channels follow one another in rapid succession and make headlines on television news and the press with public denunciations, limiting freedom of expression or convictions. What happened to the time when religious freedom in France was not jeopardired? When educational trends that acknowledged the spiritual dimension of the child were able to express themselves, because school teaching in the Republic would guarantee freedom of thinking and expression?

Fraternite Notre Dame estimates that each individual may have a different way of thinking and yet be free to express it, and she was able to assess that in the various countries where she opened missions with humanitarian aims, churches interfered before governments to safeguard their privileges and make sure that minorities would be silenced. In certain African countries, the installation of bishops and priests in their countries of origin is not favored. Such behaviors do not allow the expression of faith to thive, but maintains a form of moral tutorship instead of promoting the cultural identity of these countries. There is no reason not to accept religious minorities as long as they do not imperil the country, or prejudice the freedom of individuals.

Diversity and differences; which our school boods refer to in the 21 century for our young french pupils, should enrich is instead of creating further divisions. What we do not explain to children in school books is that major groups impose the monopoly of a particular viewpoint while censuring others, granting themselves the right to control everything, under the pretext that they are the majority in numbers. Numbers is not what makes up the quality of a particular group. The Democratic state is supposed to protect the weak against the power of the strong.

Fraternite Notre Dame makes it her duty to consider each human being with a same respect and a same state of mind. In its soup kitchens for the homeless in Chicago, New York, Paris or in Martinique, its schools and its orphanages (Haïti, Niger) its hospitals (Mongolia), in its helps to refugees, or victims of war or earth tremor like in Salvador, Fraternite Notre Dame works in various countries, serving the miserable street children, patients afflicted with AIDS, orphans, prisoners, the handicapped, the starving. The state of mind in which prevail peace, charity, tolerance and respect, and which is in keeping with the Declaration of Human Rights, is transmitted by Fraternite Notre Dame’s founder to its religious missionaries and lay volunteers.

- We ask to the states and to the international groups, they promove the elimination of discriminations and lyings texts from medias, the protection of the religious minorities.
- We ask to the states the means to practise their rights, to teach their acknowledges, traditions, customs and spiritual practises in real freedom.

The Fraternite Notre Dame expresses the wish to see in Europe respect for human rights turn effective in the actions performed, and notonly in words, so that peace, unity and tolerance may prevail within her.

[End of Declaration]