In front of the Freemasons, Emmanuel Macron defends secularism and active assistance in dying
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President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech alongside Culture Minister Rachida Dati and Grand Master Freemason Thierry Zaveroni during a visit to the Grande Loge de France (GLDF), the oldest Masonic obedience in France, in Paris, on May 5, 2025. SARAH MEYSSONNIER / AFP
The President of the Republic spoke on Monday, May 5, before the Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of France. In anticipation of the 120th anniversary of the 1905 law, he defended secularism, as well as the law opening up active assistance in dying currently being examined by the National Assembly. He congratulated the Freemasons for their "ambition to make man (...) the free agent of his life, from birth to death."
"The 1905 law is not an edict of tolerance but a law of freedom. It protects freedom of conscience, of worship (...) to believe or not to believe." Emmanuel Macron defended, Monday May 5, the spirit of the law on the separation of Church and State, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary next December. While debates are stirring society on the place of religion, the President of the Republic wanted to anticipate these celebrations and recall some "simple truths."
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