Culture of France

The culture of France is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as the influence of recent immigration. France has played an important role for centuries as a cultural center, with Paris as a world center of high culture.

Schools

Since the era of Jules Ferry, the prime minister and Minister of Education, all state-funded schools before university are free, obligatory and laïque, meaning separate from the church.

Lifestyle

At the beginning of the 20th century, France was a largely rural country with somewhat conservative Catholic morals. However, in the course of the century, major changes have occurred: the countryside has become largely depopulated, and the population has largely become de-christianized. This has led to important changes in social morals.

Religion

Traditionally a predominantly Roman Catholic country, with anticlerical leanings, France is since the 1970s a very secular country. However, public holidays are still largely traditional Catholic holidays; and knowledge of facts about the history of Catholicism (for instance, the attribute of saints) is considered normal for an educated person. The French generally consider that since the 1905 law of separation of Church and State, they have struck an excellent balance between the rights of religious people and the neutrality of public institutions with respect to religious matters, summarized in the concept of laïcite.

Social and political outlook

The French maintain a strong gap between civilian life and religion. Religion is considered as private as possible, and it is considered offensively inquisitive to enter religious discussions in most contexts. Communautarisme — that is, the forming of ethnic or religious communities separate from mainstream life —, though present, is considered undesirable. French people in general are opposed to clerical power and its influence in policy; the separation of religion from government power is legally referred to as laïcite. French politicians, with the exception of a few right-wing politicians such as Christine Boutin, generally do not discuss their religious positions, and do not use religious arguments in political advocacy.

Islamic fundamentalism is considered as a real threat for the cohesion of the French society. Reasons for tensions include the desire of certain imams or other Muslims not to abide by French laws, regulations and customs. Following cases of conflicts about Muslim girls breaching school dress regulations or refusing to attend certain classes, the French government adopted a statute prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols in public primary and secondary schools; see French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools. These tensions echo earlier quarrels with respect to the influence of the Catholic church in French society (clericalism vs laïcite) and the influence of the Pope in French public affairs (gallicanism vs ultramontanism).

The French public and government pay attention to certain minority religious groups, considered as “cults” (sectes). This is particularly the case since a much-publicized 1995 of mass murders and suicides inside the Order of the Solar Temple. Public concerns include the well-being and education of children in cults that isolate themselves from the community; the advocacy of medical practices generally considered hazardous; the defrauding of members by greedy leaders; and sexual abuse. Such concerns have resulted in the foundation of commissions charged with the monitoring of possibly dangerous “cults”, as well as the enactment of legislation easing the prosecution of criminal organizations. See French legislation for the prevention and repression of cultic groups that infringe on human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Legal status

Following from the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, France guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right and the government generally respects this right in practice. A long history of violent conflict between religious groups led the state to break its ties to the Catholic Church early in the last century and adopt a strong commitment to maintaining a totally secular public sector. Of the country’s 10 national holidays, 5 are Christian holidays.

A 1905 law instituted the separation of Church and State and prohibited the government from recognising, salarying or subsidising any religion. In the preceding situation, established 1801-1808 of the Concordat, the State used to support the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Calvinist Church and the Jewish religion and provided for public religious educations in those religions. For historical reasons, this situation is still current in Alsace-Moselle, where the national government salaries clergy from those four religions as state civil servants, and provides for non-compulsory religious education in those religions in public schools and universities. Also, for similar historical reasons, in French Guiana, Catholic priests are civil servants of the local government.

Religious buildings built prior to 1905 at taxpayers’ expenses are retained by the local and national government, but may be used at no expense by religious organizations. As a consequence, most Catholic churches are owned by the government. The government, since 1905, has been prohibited from funding the building of any newer building; accordingly, newer churches and synagogues are built from private funds.

Islam, mostly practiced by immigrants from former French colonies in Northern Africa and their descendants, is now the second religion in France. An ongoing problem is the lack of adequate prayer facilities for Muslim inhabitants. Muslims have no pre-1905 publicly built edifices, and thus must build and support all religious buildings at their own expense. Some local governments de facto subsidize prayer rooms as part as greater “cultural associations”. An ongoing topic of controversy is whether the separation of Church and State should be weakened so that the government should be able to subsidize Muslim prayer rooms and the formation of imams. Advocates of such measures, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, declare that they would incite the Muslim population to better integrate into the fabric of French society. Opponents contend that the state should not fund religions. Furthermore, the state ban on wearing conspicuous religious symbols, such as the islamic female headscarf, in public schools has alienated some French Muslims, provoked minor street protests and drawn some international criticism.

Religious organizations are not required to register, but may if they wish to apply for tax-exempt status or to gain official recognition. The 1901 and 1905 laws define two categories under which religious groups may register: “associations cultuelles” (associations of worship, which are exempt from certain taxes) and “associations culturelles” (cultural associations, which are not exempt from these taxes). Associations in these two categories are subject to certain management and financial disclosure requirements. An association of worship may organize only religious activities, loosely defined as liturgical services and practices. A cultural association may engage in profit-making activity. Although a cultural association is not exempt from taxes, it may receive government subsidies for its cultural and educational operations, such as schools. Religious groups normally register under both of these categories; the Mormons, for example, run strictly religious activities through its association of worship and operate a school under its cultural association.

Under the 1905 statute, religious groups must apply with the local prefecture to be recognized as an association of worship and receive tax-exempt status. The prefecture reviews the submitted documentation regarding the association’s purpose for existence. To qualify, the group’s purpose must be solely the practice of some form of religious ritual. Printing publications, employing a board president, or running a school may disqualify a group from receiving tax-exempt status.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, 109 of 1,138 Protestant associations, 15 of 147 Jewish associations, and approximately 30 of 1,050 Muslim associations have tax-free status. Approximately 100 Catholic associations are tax-exempt; a representative of the Ministry of Interior reports that the number of nontax-exempt Catholic associations is too numerous to estimate accurately. More than 50 associations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have tax-free status.

According to the 1905 law, associations of worship are not taxed on the donations that they receive. However, the prefecture may decide to review a group’s status if the association receives a large donation or legacy that comes to the attention of the tax authorities. If the prefecture determines that the association is not in fact in conformity with the 1905 law, its status may be changed, and it may be required to pay taxes at a rate of 60 percent on the present and past donations that fall within a legal category close to that of inheritance. (original text from a report from the US Department of State)

Statistics

The French government does not keep statistics as to religion. However some unofficial statistic exist from CIA and poll:
The 2003 CIA World Factbook lists the religion of France as: Roman Catholic 83-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5-10% (mostly, North African immigrants and their descendants), unaffiliated 4%. The sources for this data are unclear.
A 2003 poll 41% said that the existence of God was “excluded” or “unlikely”. 33% declared that “atheist” described them rather or very well, and 51% for “Christian”. When questioned about their religion, 62% answered Roman Catholic, 6% Muslim, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 2% “other religions” (except for Orthodox or Buddhist, which were negligible), 26% “no religion” and 1% declined to answer.

The discrepancy between the number of “atheists” (41%) and the number of with “no religion” (26%) may be attributed to people who feel culturally close to a religion, follow its moral values and traditions, but hardly believe in God.

Gallup International reports that 15 percent of French citizens regularly attend religious services, compared to 10 percent of UK citizens and 57 percent of American citizens.