Accused of being a Christian by a Christian group

 

 

On 2 December, the 'Catholic' Bayard group decided not to recruit Alban du Rostu, who was being considered for the position of Director of Strategy and Development.

Bayard is owned by the Augustinians of the Assumption. In addition to 'La Croix', it owns the weekly 'Le Pèlerin', the monthly 'Notre Temps' and various children's titles.

"I never imagined that I would be criticised for being a Christian in a Christian group," he told L'Expresse.

"To be thrown out of a job against my will, after a long selection process, after signing an employment contract, and under pressure from unions and teams who refuse to meet with me on the pretext that I am being accused of other people's opinions, isn't that discrimination?"

In the past, du Rostu worked for Emmanuel Macron's cabinet at the Elysée Palace.

He believes that "in the current situation of opposition and widespread conflict in our society, it's urgent to build bridges and bring people together, overcoming divisions".

However, "some [left-wing] people prefer division, ad personam attacks and refuse dialogue".

Du Rostu was recruited by one of the leading executive headhunting firms after a long process of about ten interviews and reference checks.

Having started his career in mergers and acquisitions and at McKinsey, he had made around fifty investments as an investor, more than twenty of which were in sectors that could have been areas of development for Bayard.

"By hiring me, Bayard made the decision to fully embrace this shift towards new growth markets," he says.

The unions that opposed him did not accept his various proposals for discussion, "which is further proof of the problem that affects our society: fear rather than exchange".

L'Express asks du Rostu whether Catholics no longer know how to work together.

His answer: "I never imagined that I would be exposed to such sectarianism in a group with such strong values of tolerance and openness.

I believe that the Christian world, like society as a whole, needs to move beyond these sterile oppositions that exist only to divide. Rumours, mobs, cartoons and misinformation, the media and the frenzy of social networks... all the ingredients for division have appeared in just a few days.

Looking beyond my own personal experience, we urgently need to pull together to prevent society from splitting apart. With this in mind, in the coming weeks I would like to launch a broad initiative aimed at overcoming these sterile divisions and inviting those who wish to do so to choose dialogue and exchange".

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