My two opposite comments:

Church and Society… In France, the connection between these two terms is very problematic because many people think that the State and the Society don’t have to do anything with churches.

“The religion must be a private matter; too many wars devastated France, Europe and World for religious reasons. The Revolution and the Law for the separation of the Church and the State (1905) have got us away from the pernicious Church’s influence. Do not start the same things with Islam again! The religions don’t have anything to do with the social life” are comments which are often heard.

Church and Society… This is the name of a commission of the CEC (Conference of European Churches). Its general assembly held in Lyon during last July under the theme “Called to one Hope in Christ”. A few words of the final message: “We affirm that the churches need to work for justice and speak truth to power! It is about breaking down walls between people, cultures and religions and learning to seek God’s image in the face of “the other”. It is about respecting and not only tolerating other human beings. Above all it is about finding new expressions of solidarity with the poor amongst us and in other parts of our world”.