Sarkozys Greet Pontiff in Paris

Pope Benedict began his first visit to France yesterday amid controversy over the French separation of church and state and Nicolas Sarkozy's public interest in God.

The French president and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy went beyond protocol requirements to personally meet the pontiff at the start of a three-day tour, in which he will address a crowd of at least 200,0000 people in Paris today and another 250,000 at the southern pilgrimage shrine of Lourdes tomorrow.

Sarkozy used a welcome speech at the Elysée to stress France's Christian roots and repeat his view that religion can play a positive role in public life without threatening the secular state. He set out his new brand of "positive secularism", saying religion has benefits for society and should not be seen as a danger.

The French republic has a policy of strict separation of church and state and Sarkozy has previously sparked controversy for overusing the word "god" and breaking with the tradition that French leaders should not publicly discuss faith. The president - who is three-times married and calls himself a "cultural Catholic" and infrequent church-goer - carefully worded his speech to avoid angering the secularist lobby, which has protested against the cost of the Pope's visit to the public purse.

Before delivering an address to a Paris gathering of 700 intellectuals, film-makers, philosophers and Muslim leaders last night, Pope Benedict said "religion and politics must be open to each other".

The Pope's tour hoped to boost declining Catholicism in France. "Mission impossible" said the left-wing daily Libération yesterday. The number of ordinations of priests has dived in recent years, and of the 60 t0 65% of French people who say they are Catholic, only 5% of them go to church at least once a month.