The Minister of National Education inaugurates a school in Toulouse in tribute to Jules-Géraud Saliège, the child of Cantal
“I was moved, I must admit, when Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, called me to invite me and that he remembered the origins and Mauriacois roots of the cardinal. And it was a source of pride to be in Toulouse on behalf of the Mauriacois, to honor Jules-Géraud Saliège and to participate in this duty of remembrance. »
Tribute from the Minister of National Education to Saliège
Contacted on Friday, September 2, on the return trip to Cantal, the mayor of Mauriac, Edwige Zanchi, did not hide her emotion at having participated in the inauguration, the day before, of a school group called “Jules-Géraud -Saliège”, in Toulouse.
A ceremony in the presence, in particular, of the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, who had chosen, for his official trip back to school, the symbol of the action of Archbishop Saliège, made a companion of the Liberation by General de Gaulle and Righteous among the Nations by the Institute Yad Vashem. Bruno Faure, president of the Department and Alain Marleix, former secretary of state and deputy of Cantal were also on the trip to designate the native land of Saliège.
From left to right, Bruno Faure, President of the Department of Cantal, Alain Marleix, former Secretary of State, Jean-Luc Moudenc, Mayor of Toulouse and Edwige Zanchi, Mayor of Mauriac.
A figure in the fight against persecution
Born February 24, 1870 in “Crouzit-Haut”, a hamlet of Mauriac, Jules-Géraud Saliège made history with his commitments against barbarism and, in particular, with his letter of protest against anti-Semitic persecution, read in the churches of his diocese, August 23, 1942. An act of resistance which, eighty years later, is not forgotten. His letter now sits within the Toulouse school group with a commemorative plaque and a tree was planted in his memory on Thursday in the school’s green courtyard. Died in Toulouse in 1956, Archbishop Saliège left his mark in several places in the city.
On Thursday, the speeches underlined the cardinal’s courage in the dark periods of the Second World War, his humanity.
The Republican Values of a Churchman
“His letter is a lesson in the duty of memory, republican values, “Never again,” commented Edwige Zanchi. It is great that it is displayed in an establishment that welcomes 450 kindergarten and primary school children. »
The Saliège association in Mauriac
If Cantal does not have a “Saliège” school, a stele is defined in his memory at “Crouzit-Haut” and a Mauriac street bears his name as well as an association that bears his story. “But we can perhaps consider paying him another tribute on Mauriac”, slips Edwige Zanchi.
Magali Roche
Saliège’s letter in 1942
My very dear brothers,
There is a Christian morality, there is a human morality which
imposes duties and recognizes rights. These duties and
these rights belong to the nature of man. They’re from
God. We can violate them. It is not in the power of any mortal to
delete them.
That children, women, men, fathers and
mothers are treated like a vile herd, that the
members of the same family are separated from each other
others and dropped off for an unknown destination, he was
reserved for our time to see this sad spectacle.
Why does the right of asylum in our churches no longer exist?
Why are we losers? Lord have mercy on
we. Our Lady, pray for France.
In our diocese, scenes of horror (1) took place
in the camps of Noé and Récébédou. Jews are
men, the Jewesses are women. Foreigners are
men, foreigners are women. All is not
allowed against them, against these men, against these women,
against these fathers and mothers. They belong to the genus
human. They are our brothers like so many others. A Christian
can’t forget it.
France, beloved homeland France which bears in the
awareness of all your children the tradition of respect for
human person, chivalrous and generous France, I
do not doubt it, you are not responsible for these horrors (2).
Receive, my dear Brothers, the assurance of my respectful
devoted.
(1) We reproduce the original letter. The phrase was repeated
by “moving” after Bishop Saliège received pressure.
(2) For the same reason, this word has been replaced by “errors”.