Bishop Matthieu Rougé, who leads the French bishops’ conference’s Council for Catholic Education, said responsible adults must lead young people to express their concerns peacefully.
Bishop Matthieu Rougé of the Diocese of Nanterre, France, has condemned the “destructive” violence at student-led protests throughout the country and encouraged peaceful dialogue to address students’ struggles and concerns.
Students began holding protests in late September, citing frustrations with education quality and a lack of funding and resources at schools. By early October, numerous protests became violent with arsons, lootings and confrontations with police, leading to millions of dollars in damage and hundreds of injuries. More than 5,000 people have been arrested.
Bishop Rougé, who leads the French bishops’ conference’s Council for Catholic Education, told Vatican News that the violence reflects “the distress experienced by this generation of young people” in an Oct. 3 interview published by the Vatican-run news outlet.
“Violence expresses this distress: setting fire to some high schools, even newly built ones, manifests a destructive form of violence that cannot be condoned,” Bishop Rougé said, adding that it expresses “an inner violence among some young people who have not found meaning in their lives.”
The bishop said suffering is linked to
