Saint Yves used for the promotion of Human Rights
On the occasion of the celebrations for the VIIth centenary of the death of St. Yves Hélory de Kermartin, patron saint of lawyers and Bretons, John Paul II sent a message to Mgr. Lucien Fruchaud, Bishop of St-Brieuc, dated May 13.
The Europe of the Rights of Man, he wrote, must make sure that the objective elements of the natural law remain at the root of positive laws.
John Paul II recalled the career of the great Breton saint: magistrate, lawyer and priest, faithful to defend the principles of justice and integrity, attentive to guarantee the fundamental rights of the person, the respect of his basic and transcendental dignity, and the protection which the law must assure him.
John Paul II underlined the topicality of the message and witness of St. Yves, in particular his concern to promote an equitable justice and to defend the rights of the poorest. Consequently, the Pope invited the architects of the construction of Europe to spare no effort in order that the rights of all, especially the weakest, be recognized and defended.
It seems somewhat risky to mingle St.Yves with Human Rights because, as Jean Madiran often points out, these are the Rights of Man Without God. There are principle which it is dangerous to try to adapt, indeed it is even impossible to do so. It is unfortunate that our hierarchy have styled themselves experts in this kind of salvage operations, leaving a destructive confusion concerning the true rights of God. At a time when the Vatican and the Pope demand that Europe remember honestly and openly, its Christian origins, it would be well for them to remember this distinction.
