French bishops have warned against what they call a growing "Catholic
Islamophobia" as opinion polls show increasing concern in France about
the role Muslims are playing in society and the perceived threat they
present to French national identity.
The bishops' comments coincided with a call from France's Muslim
Council for the Government to denounce what it said was a proven rise in
anti-Muslim attacks.
Angoulême Bishop Claude Dagens, a member of the prestigious Académie
Française, said it pained him to see anti-Muslim feelings growing among
Catholics.
"We are living in a society where fear is seeping into every
corner," he told journalists during the bishops' plenary meeting in
Lourdes last week.