Emily Liner

I had a hard time thinking of a topic for this letter, because I didn’t want to revisit Catholicism or Islam in France.  But there’s no avoiding them.  For one thing, there really aren’t many other large religions in France.  According to the CIA World Factbook, 83-88 percent of the French are Catholic, 5-10 percent are Muslim, 2 percent Protestant, and 1 percent Jewish. 

In the random draw for a host family in Lyon, France, I was given a very devout Catholic family with four grown children and one still at home. My host mother, who teaches catechism in a private elementary school part-time, often laments the decline of the Catholic Church. Historically, the Catholic Church has been strong in France, but in the 20th century, participation has dropped precipitously. Fewer French citizens consider themselves Catholic, fewer French Catholics practice their religion, and fewer men are entering the priesthood. About 77 percent of the French population has received a Catholic baptism, but only about half of the country’s citizens actually consider themselves Catholic. In contrast, about a quarter of the American population describes itself as Catholic. Furthermore, in France, only eight percent of Catholics attend Mass once a week.