France 'no longer a Catholic country'
By Henry Samuel in Paris
Last Updated: 1:47am GMT 10/01/2007
Barely half the French population describe themselves as Catholic,
according to a poll released yesterday, sparking a leading
religious publication to declare France "no longer a Catholic
country".
A poll published in Le Monde des Religions yesterday showed the
number of self-declared French Catholics had dropped from 80 per
cent in the early 1990s and 67 per cent in 2000 and to 51 per cent
today.
The number of atheists has risen sharply to 31 per cent from 23 per
cent in 1994.
"In its institutions, but also in its mentalities, France is no
longer a Catholic country," wrote Frederic Lenoir, editor in chief
of Le Monde des Religions.
French Catholicism, while suffering during the Revolution, did not
begin its real decline until 1905, experts say, when pre-war France
was declared a secular state, all funding of religious groups was
stopped and religious buildings were declared the property of the
state.
Yesterday's poll showed that only 10 per cent go to church
regularly mainly to Sunday mass or christenings. Of the 51 per
cent who still call themselves Catholics, only half said they
believed in God. Many said they were Catholics because it was a
family tradition.
Le Monde des Religions cited varied reasons for the decline,
including the rural exodus, changing values and the rise of
individualism. One devout Catholic said the biggest problem was
that younger generations were no longer interested.
"When you go to Sunday mass, it's just old people, except for
special occasions like midnight mass," said Marie-France Guillon, a
retired school teacher from the fishing village of Crac in
Brittany. "When I tried to get my grandson, who took communion in
March, to go to Sunday school, he said 'no thanks, I'd rather stay
and play monopoly.' "
Despite the drop, however, Catholicism remains by far the country's
number one religion. The poll found Muslims accounted for only four
per cent of the population (up from two per cent), Protestants
three per cent and Jews one per cent.
"Catholicism will remain the most important religion," said
Frederic Lenoir, who pointed out that the number of regular
churchgoing Catholics still equalled the total sum of French
Muslims, Protestants and Jews.