Catholic schools in France have been warned to remain neutral on the issue of same-sex marriage by the 
country’s Education Minister, Vincent Pellion.
Mr Peillon has written a letter to all of the country’s 8,300 Catholic school principals, claiming that they have the responsibility to maintain “neutrality” regarding the debate over homosexual marriage in their institutions, Le Monde and the French Press Agency report.
The letter comes as French Catholics prepare to take part in a national march this Sunday against government proposal to legalise same-sex marriage.
Mr Pellion claimed that discussion of the issue in schools could cause “homophobia” against homosexual students.
“It is your responsibility in effect to ensure that the debates that are occurring in French society not be expressed, in the schools and establishments, by the phenomena of rejection and homophobic stigmatisation,” wrote Peillon.
“I call you to the greatest vigilance regarding the conditions of the legitimate debate regarding marriage for all (…) notably in private establishments under contract,” he said. “It is therefore proper to call for restraint and neutrality within all of the institutions so that schools are not made the object of any manipulation.”
Peillon also asks principals to inform him “as quickly as possible regarding eventual incidents and regarding any initiative contrary to these principles, within the public institutions as well as the private institutions under contract.”
Most private Catholic schools are regarded as “under contract” with the national government, which pays the salaries of the teachers, although the schools maintain their autonomy as private institutions.
French president Francois Hollande has made clear that he supports his Education Minister’s controversial statements.
“Secularism is a principle of the Republic” Mr Hollande said, claiming that “there is a principle that appeals to the neutrality of the government and notably within educational establishments under contract…”
The government’s reaction comes in response to a letter sent by the Catholic bishops’ secretary of education, Eric de Labarre, to all Catholic school principals in December, urging them to permit students the “freedom” to act in response to the government’s proposed legislation.
“Each school, middle school or high school can undertake the initiatives that seems to it to be locally most appropriate to permit each one to exercise an enlightened freedom regarding the choice which is today envisaged by the public power,” wrote Mr Labarre.
Eduation Minister Peillon reacted to Labarre’s letter, calling it a “mistake.” “It doesn’t seem opportune to me to import into the school the debate regarding marriage for everyone,” he told the French press.
Meanwhile, a new poll suggests that the House of Lords may oppose the UK Government’s attempts to pass same-sex marriage legislation quickly.
According to the survey, six out of 10 members of the Lords polled said that the Government should call a halt to its plans to change the marriage laws until it becomes clearer whether there is broad public support, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary disclosed to the Commons last month that just under 53 per cent of responses to the online listening exercise were in favour.
The polling also showed strong objections in both houses to the prospect of the Government invoking rarely-used parliamentary powers to change the law without the support of the House of Lords.
It is likely to pass the Commons despite an expected rebellion by more than 130 Tory MPs but the outcome of a vote in the Lords is far less clear.
A ComRes poll of peers carried out for the Coalition for Marriage (C4M), which campaigns against the change, found that 56 per cent agreed with the statement that the Government should “not proceed” with the changes if the consultation does not show “broad support”.
When asked whether the measure should simply be shelved until after the next election irrespective of the consultation outcome opinion was finely balanced with 46 per cent in favour and 49 per cent against.
Meanwhile a separate poll of MPs found that two thirds of members of the Commons are to opposed to using Parliament Act to get the legislation through if it is blocked in the Lords.