COUNTRY
FrancePOPULATION
65,630,692 (July 2012 est.), note: the above figure is for metropolitan France and five overseas regions; the metropolitan France population is 62,814,233GDP PER CAPITA
$35,600 (2011 est.)RELIGIONS
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, paganAT THE CENTER
RELATED RESOURCES
ORGANIZATIONS (6)
Evangelical Lutheran Church of France
French Council for the Muslim Faith
Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine
French Council for the Muslim Faith
Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine
PEOPLE (6)
QUOTES (8)
Nicolas Sarkozy on France's Christian Heritage
March 3, 2011
Benedict XVI on Christian Contributions to France
September 12, 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy on Encouraging People to Hope in a Speech at the Lateran Church of Saint John in Rome
December 20, 2007
March 3, 2011
Benedict XVI on Christian Contributions to France
September 12, 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy on Encouraging People to Hope in a Speech at the Lateran Church of Saint John in Rome
December 20, 2007
PUBLICATIONS (3)
France
Interviews (15)
French religious policy is based on the concept of laïcité, a strict separation of church and state under which public life is considered completely secular. France was historically regarded as the “eldest daughter” of the Roman Catholic Church. The French Revolution (1789) saw a radical shift in the status of the Church with the launch of a brutal de-Christianization campaign. After the back and forth of Catholic royal and secular republican governments over the 19th century, laïcité was established under the Third Republic and codified with the 1905 Law on the Separation of Church and State. The constitution of the Fifth Republic (1958) guarantees freedom of religion. Today, most French citizens still identify as Catholics, although church attendance is very low. Through immigration, mainly from North Africa, Muslims now comprise about 10% of the French population. French Muslims have faced problems balancing their religious obligations with laïcité; a 2004 law on conspicuous religious symbols prohibits students and teachers from wearing Muslim headscarves in public schools.
Background: This conversation between Ray Caggiano (SIM Special Projects Manager), Bob Blees (SIM Medical Advocate), John Barnshaw III (SIM Health Advocate), and Anny Gaul (Berkley Center) took place on May 11, 2011 in Charlotte, NC, at SIM’s U.S. headquarters. The interview was conducted as research for a series of issue surveys done by the Berkley Center with the support of the Luce/SFS Program on Religion and International Affairs. Anny Gaul sat down with the SIM staff members responsible...
Background: This discussion between Dominique Peccoud and Katherine Marshall took place at Georgetown University on February 3, 2011 and focused on Father Peccoud’s reflections on his work at the ILO and his reflections following his retirement from the ILO after his 12-year term. He explores the unique and historic role of the advisory position he held at the ILO, as a Jesuit within a United Nations institution. He highlights how the significance of decent work, the mantra of the ILO, is...
Background: The context for this discussion is preparation for a consultation on faith and development in South and Central Asia in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on January 10-11, 2011. The consultation is an endeavor of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with support from the Henry R. Luce Foundation. Its aim is to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that are, in varying...
Background: This discussion between Reverend Karpf and Katherine Marshall took place in Washington DC, soon after Ted Karpf retired from seven years at the World Health Organization in Geneva. The interview focuses on his extraordinary life journey, exploring his understanding of the church and his pastoral role. He describes his central role in the earliest understandings of the implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and how that led to his work on national and international public health...
Background: This exchange between Scilla Elworthy and Katherine Marshall took place in July, 2010 and traces Elworthy's multifaceted work over the years on women and peace. She began decades ago, sparked by a report she was asked to compile for UNESCO reviewing its contribution to the 1980 UN Mid Decade Conference on Women. She highlights the many threads that link work at the most global level, for example on nuclear disarmament, with actions at the local level, where women play prominent...
Background: Etienne De Jonghe's career has focused on working for world peace. He was Secretary General of Pax Christi International for nearly 30 years. (Pax Christi is a Catholic international peace movement, autonomous with respect to church authorities with a very strong lay input. Its international secretariat is currently located in Brussels.) In the first part of the interview, De Jonghe reflects on the evolution of Pax Christi over the years and his role in guiding and shaping the...
Background: This discussion took place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 23, 2009 between H.E. Nhek Buntha, Augustina Delaney, and Michael Scharff. It was conducted in preparation for a consultation on faith and development in Southeast Asia held in Phnom Penh Cambodia on December 14-15. In this discussion, Her Excellency speaks about the role of morality in Cambodian society, its historical roots, and its importance for development. The Khmer Rouge regime, as she notes from her personal...
Background: This discussion took place as part of preparations for a consultation on faith and development in Southeast Asia, held December 14-15 2009 in Phnom Penh. The interview was conducted by telephone between Heng Monychenda and Michael Bodakowski. Heng Monychenda, Director of Buddhism for Development, works to bridge the teachings of engaged Buddhism with development, contributing his personal understanding of the Cambodian context, the training he received at Harvard University, and...
Background:This exchange with Augustina Delaney in Phnom Penh was part of a WFDD review of development and faith in Cambodia; it was supplemented by an email exchange with Katherine Marshall. The interview focuses on the history and evolution of KEAP's work in Cambodia and its role in helping to restore the Buddhist culture and institutions after the Khmer Rouge period. More broadly, it explores the continuing challenges to Cambodia's Buddhism as it is confronted by both politics and...
Background: Augustina Delaney and Michael Scharff met Father Kike in Battambang on October 15, 2009, as part of the World Faith Development Dialogue's review of development and faith in Cambodia. The interview was updated in September 2010 by Katherine Marshall, in an email exchange with Father Kike. The discussion explores the links between faith and works in Battambang. Father Kike touches on tensions between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Battambang, Buddhist-Catholic...
Background: Cornelio Sommaruga held many leadership posts over a long career, including in the Swiss Diplomatic Service, president of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), and President of Initiatives of Change (IofC). Since his formal retirement from the ICRC in 1999, he has headed numerous nongovernmental organizations and undertaken several public service tasks. In this interview, he reflects on his career and above all questions how, across his different challenges,...
Background: As part of the Peacebuilding Practitioners Interview Series, Jason Klocek interviewed Sammy Kalisa, who serves as a Project Manager for Rwandans Allied for Peace and Progress (RAPP). In this interview, Kalisa provides his opinion on what more needs to be done to complete the reconciliation process in Rwanda. He also discusses what Rwandans can learn from their history.
Background: Rajmohan Gandhi, the President of Initiatives of Change International (IofC) and the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, reflects in this interview on his more than 50-year association with IofC; he first met Moral Rearmament, as the organization was then known, in Scotland in 1956. Gandhi sees IofC's work as well as his own as intimately connected to his grandfather's vision of social change; both are grounded in commitment, discipline, and courage. The simplicity of the idea behind...
Background: This conversation between Noureddine Benmalek and Katherine Marshall, originally spoken in French, was part of a December 17, 2007 symposium at Georgetown University's Doha Campus on "Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World." In this interview, Mr. Benmalek speaks about his interest in non-violent Islamism. In addition to explaining his own views on Islamism, Mr. Benmalek offers insight into how Islamist organizations oriented toward development...
Background: Dr. Hany El-Banna is Co-Founder and President of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), an international relief and development organization that aims to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the world's poorest. He is a member of the Three Faiths Forum and was selected to be a member in the World Economic Forum's Community of West-Islam Dialogue (C-100). El Banna is also a trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee and a member of the Advisory Group to the International Department of...