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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