Catholicism in France

This isn't really marketing or travel related, but rather, something interesting about France. The Pop was in France this past week visiting with Sarkozy and giving mass in various churches and blessing those in Lourdes (really interesting PBS show about Lourdes was on a couple of months ago. If you are interested in why people with grave illnesses flock there, watch the documentary!)

With the Pope’s recent visit to France (see this article from France24), it seems appropriate to look at Catholicism in modern France. There is often talk of Islam in France and how the influx of Muslim people are affecting the national identity, but can we honestly say that the national identity was primarily Catholic before the influx?

L’INSEE does not have any hard data on each religion in particular, but there are some studies on religious practice (see here) that show that faith in France is falling. In 2005, approximately 45% of people 15-24 did not practice nor have belief in any faith whereas for those over 60, the percentage is much lower (around 15%). Some of this can be attributed to getting older and feeling a higher need for practice and belief in faith, but not all of it. We are seeing a generation that is rejecting faith.

I think many of us have the thought that France is a predominantly Catholic country (probably because of the history of the church there, not because we hear a lot about religion in France), but that does not hold true in data or in experience. When I was in France, I went to cathedrals for “Messe” and saw mostly empty pews. There are also stories of the need for priests to lead churches (see this English article from the BBC)

Though there is still a demand for priests and adherents in the seats, Pope Benedict XVI made it clear that the standards will not be lowered. One article discussed the recent actions of some priests to make divorced people whole again in the eyes of the church allowing them to become full members and the Pope avowed that this was not acceptable behavior. The church may be suffering in numbers, but the rules will still be enforced.

For many years now, the government has been pushing the country to become less involved in religious affairs and has been pushing things that Catholicism does not agree with: abortion, rights for gay and lesbian partners and parents, no religion in schools, etc. In fact, on his visit, the Pope and Nicolas Sarkozy talked about “laïcité de la France” but Sarkozy seems to be backtracking a bit. He is encouraging “laïcité positive” in placing religion in the public sphere again and having conversations about religion. The Pope had very large audiences in Paris and in Lourdes; Catholicism in France might be experiencing a slight resurgence, but it’s not appropriate to say it has been the practiced religion of the people for quite some time.

Catholicism does still impact the society with children celebrating not only their birthdays, but also their “saint day” (each day has at least one saint to honor and because most are named after these saints, each person has a “saint day” See this calendar. Does your name have religious origins? Can you find which day is your “saint day”? Alexandra would be Alexandrine with the date of April 2nd).
Major holidays are still celebrated by even the not practicing, non-faithful (Noël, Pâques, Carnaval, etc.)

Overall, there are still some remnants of the time when Catholicism was a major force in the daily and political life, but France has gone secular. Many French students visiting the US talk about how surprised they are to hear each politician say “God Bless America” as that would never happen in France. Religion had been pushed to the private sector until the rise of Islam was noticed and public conversations about religion arose again.