Roman Catholicism in France
563566
226149498
2008-07-17T01:19:23Z
AnnaFrance
7002667
/* Legal status */ disambiguated wikilink to "congregation"
The '''Church of [[France]]''', somtimes called the "eldest daughter of the Church" owing to its early communion (second century) with the bishop of Rome, is part of the worldwide [[Roman Catholic Church]]. The French church is under the spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]], [[Roman Curia|curia]] in [[Rome]], and the Conference of French bishops.
There are an estimated 45 million baptised Catholics in France, (77% of the population), in 98 [[diocese]]s, served by 23,000 [[priest]]s. However, according to a [http://a1692.g.akamai.net/f/1692/2042/1h/medias.lemonde.fr/medias/pdf_obj/sondage030416.pdf 2003 poll], the numbers of believing and practicing Catholics are much lower.
==History==
[[Image:CouncilofClermont.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, given a [[Gothic architecture|late Gothic]] setting in this illumination from the ''Livre des Passages d'Outre-mer'', of c 1490 ([[Bibliothèque National]])]]
According to a medieval legend, [[Mary, sister of Lazarus|Mary]], [[Martha]], [[Lazarus]] and some companions, who were expelled by persecutions from the Holy Land, traversed the Mediterranean in a frail boat with neither rudder nor mast and landed at ''[[Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer]]'' near [[Arles]]. [[Provencal]] tradition names Lazarus as the first bishop of [[Marseilles]], while Martha purportedly went on to tame [[Tarasque|a terrible beast]] in nearby [[Tarascon]]. Pilgrims visited their tombs at the abbey of [[Vézelay]] in [[Burgundy]]. In the Abbey of the Trinity at [[Vendôme]], a [[phylactery]] was said to contain a [[relic|tear shed by Jesus]] at the tomb of Lazarus. The cathedral of [[Autun]], not far away, is dedicated to Lazarus as ''Saint Lazaire''.
The first written records of Christians in France date from the second century when [[Irenaeus]] detailed the deaths of ninety-year old bishop [[Pothinus]] of [[Lugdunum]] ([[Lyon]]) and other martyrs of the 177 [[persecution in Lyon]].
In 496 [[Saint Remigius|Remigius]] baptized [[Clovis I]], who was converted from paganism to Catholicism. Clovis I, considered the founder of France, made himself the ally and protector of the papacy and his predominantly Catholic subjects.
On Christmas Day 800, [[Pope Leo III]] crowned [[Charlemagne]] Emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], forming the political and religious foundations of [[Christendom]].
The [[Council of Clermont]], a mixed [[synod]] of ecclesiastics and laymen led by [[Pope Urban II]] in November 1095 at [[Clermont-Ferrand]] triggered the [[First Crusade]].
The [[Avignon Papacy]] was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven [[List of French popes|French]] popes, resided in [[Avignon]].
Prior to the [[French revolution]], the Catholic Church had been the official state religion of France since the conversion to Christianity of [[Clovis I]], leading to France being called "the eldest daughter of the Church." The King of France was known as "His Most Christian Majesty." Following the reformation, France was riven by sectarian conflict as the [[Huguenots]] and Catholics strove for supremacy in the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] until the 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]] established [[freedom of religion|a measure of religious toleration]].
[[Napoleon Bonaparte]] established the [[1801 Concordat]], whereby the State would subsidize the Catholic religion (recognized as the one of the majority of the French), as well as [[Judaism]], and the [[Lutheran]] and [[Calvinist]] branches of Protestantism. However, after the 1814 [[Bourbon Restoration]], the [[ultra-royalist]] government headed by the [[comte de Villèle]] voted the 1825 [[Anti-Sacrilege Act]], which condemned by [[capital punishment]] any stealing of consecrated [[Host (Holy Communion)|Host]]s. The law was repealed in the first months of the [[July Monarchy]] (1830-1848).
==Politics==
Growing discontent with respect to the influence of the Catholic Church in education and politics led to a series of reforms during the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] reducing this influence, under the protests of the [[Ultramontanist]]s who supported the [[Holy See|Vatican]]'s influence. [[Anti-clericalism]] was popular among [[Republicanism|Republicans]], [[Radicalism (historical)|Radicals]] and [[Socialism|Socialists]], in part because the Church had supported the [[Counterrevolutionaries]] through-out the 19th century. After the [[16 May 1877 crisis]] and the fall of the ''[[Ordre Moral]]'' government led by [[Marshall MacMahon]], the Republicans voted [[Jules Ferry laws|Jules Ferry's 1880 laws]] on [[free education]] (1881) and mandatory and ''[[laicité|laic]]'' education (1882), which enraged the Catholics.
[[Pope Leo XIII]]'s 1891 ''[[Rerum Novarum]]'' encyclical finally pushed recalcitrant Catholics, such as [[Albert de Mun]], to "rally" to the [[French Third Republic|Republic]]. However, the papal encyclical has always been questioned by some Catholics, including those members of the ''[[Action française]]'' [[reactionary]] movement. Roughly divided into a [[left-wing]] which supported [[liberalism]] and [[republicanism]], [[freedom of thought]], and defended [[Dreyfus Affair|Captain Dreyfus]], and a [[right-wing]] which supported [[ultra-montanism]] and struggled for a hypothetical "[[Restoration]]" of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'', [[France in the nineteenth century|France in the end of the nineteenth century]] bitterly opposed itself on [[secularism]] laws.
==Legal status==
Thus, the [[1905 French law on the separation of Church and State|1905 French law on the separation of Church and State]] removed the special status of the four state religions (although by the Briand-Ceretti agreement the state subsequently regained a role in the procedure for nominating bishops), except in Alsace-Moselle, at the time part of [[Germany]], but left to them the use without fee of the churches that they used prior to 1905. However, [[Emile Combes]], a member of the [[Radical-Socialist Party (France)|Radical-Socialist Party]] strictly enforced these laws, leading to clashes between the ''[[Wiktionary:congregation|Congregationists]]'' and the authorities. Anti-clericalism slowly declined among the French left-wing throughout [[France in the twentieth century]], while the question of religion and of freedom of thought seemed to have been resolved. However, it is still present as a defining trait of the left-wing, while most right-wing Frenchmen describe themselves as Catholics (although not necessarily practicing). Thus, the draft laws presented by [[François Mitterrand]]'s government in the early 1980s, concerning restrictions on the funding of private (and in majority Catholic) schools, were countered by right-wing demonstrations (in itself uncommon!) headed by the then mayor of Paris, the Gaullist [[Jacques Chirac]], who was to be his prime minister in 1986 and would succeed him in 1995 as president. In the same way, the [[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools|2004 law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools]], revived the controversy twenty years later, although the dividing lines also passed through each political side due to the complex matter of the subject. On this occasion, several [[Muslim]] associations have allied themselves with conservative Catholics to reject the law, while one of the consequences of the law was for Muslim college students whom refused to take out their veil or "conspicuous religious symbols" to drop the free, laic, public school system in favor of the private, Catholic schools (where the law isn't applied, being restricted to the public education system).
In any case, since the 1905 law on the separation of the Church and State, the prevailing public doctrine on religion is ''[[laïcité]]'' – that is, neutrality of the state with respect to religious doctrine, and separation of the religious and the public spheres. This state neutrality is conceived as a protection of [[religious minorities]] as well as the upholding of freedom of thought, which includes [[agnosticism]] and [[atheism]]. Although many Catholics were at first opposed to this [[secularism|secular]] movement, a lot of them have since changed opinions, claiming that this neutrality actually protected their faith from political interference which would damage it. However, some [[traditionalist Catholic]] groups, such as the [[Society of St. Pius X]], push for the return to the ''Ancien Régime'' or at least pre-separation situation, contending that France has forgotten its divine mission as a Christian country (an argument already upheld by the Ultras presenting the 1825 Anti-Sacrilege Act).
==Divisions==
{{Main|List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of France}}
Within France the hierarchy consists of:
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="left" style="margin-left:0.5em"><td style="background:#efefef;">
*Metropolitan archbishop
**Suffragan
</table>
<br clear="all">
[[Image:Province-ecc-france.jpg|thumb|Dioceses of metropolitan France. Provinces are demarcated by red lines and their seats (archdioceses) written in red letters.]]
*[[Archdiocese of Besançon|Besançon]]
**Belfort-Montbéliard
**[[Bishop of Nancy|Nancy]]
**Saint-Claude
**Saint-Dié
**[[Diocese of Verdun|Verdun]]
*[[Archbishopric of Bordeaux|Bordeaux]]
**[[Bishop of Agen|Agen]]
**Aire sur Adour
**Bayonne
**Périgueux
*Clermont-Ferrand
**[[Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay|Le Puy-en-Velay]]
**Moulins
**[[Bishopric of Saint-Flour|Saint-Flour]]
*Dijon
**[[Bishop of Autun|Autun]]
**Nevers
**[[Archbishop of Sens|Sens (-Auxerre)]] {{ref|arch}}
**Mission de France {{ref|prelature}}
*[[Archdiocese of Lille|Lille]]<ref>Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Diocese of Lille to a Metropolitan Archdiocese. Cambrai (the former Metropolitan) became its suffragan, while retaining the title "Archdiocese" (see {{cite web|url=http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/21904.php?index=21904&lang=en|title=Daily Bulletin - Elevazione di Lille (Francia) a Chiesa Metropolitana e Nomina del Primo Arcivescovo Metropolita|language=Italian|publisher=Holy See Press Office|date=2008-03-29|accessdate=2008-03-30}}).</ref>
**[[Archdiocese of Cambrai|Cambrai]]{{ref|arch}}
**[[Diocese of Arras|Arras (Boulogne, Saint-Omer)]]
*[[Archbishop of Lyon|Lyon]] (-Vienne) ([[Primate]])
**Annecy
**Belley-Ars
**Chambéry {{ref|arch}}
**[[Bishop of Grenoble|Grenoble]]
**Saint-Etienne
**Valence
**Viviers
*[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Marseille|Marseille]]
**[[Archdiocese of Aix|Aix-en-Provence]] (-Arles-Embrun) {{ref|arch}}
**[[Diocese of Ajaccio|Ajaccio]]
**Avignon {{ref|arch}}
**Carpentras
**Digne
**[[Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon|Fréjus et Toulon]]
**Gap
**[[Bishopric of Nice|Nice]]
*[[Bishopric of Montpellier|Montpellier]]
**Béziers
**Agde
**Carcassonne
**Mende
**Nimes
**Perpignan-Elne
*[[Archbishop of Paris|Paris]]
**Créteil
**Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes
**[[Diocese of Meaux|Meaux]]
**Nanterre
**Pontoise
**Saint-Denis
**Versailles
*Poitiers
**[[Bishopric of Angoulême|Angoulême]]
**La Rochelle
**[[Bishopric of Limoges|Limoges]]
**[[Bishopric of Tulle|Tulle]]
*[[Archbishop of Reims|Reims]]
**Amiens
**[[Bishop of Beauvais|Beauvais]]
**[[Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne|Châlons]]
**[[Bishop of Langres|Langres]]
**[[Bishop of Soissons|Soissons]]
**[[Bishop of Troyes|Troyes]]
*Rennes
**Angers
**Laval
**Le Mans
**Luçon
**Nantes
**[[Diocese of Quimper-et-Léon|Quimper (Léon)]]
**Saint-Brieuc
**Vannes
*[[Archbishop of Rouen|Rouen]]
**[[Bishopric of Bayeux|Bayeux (-Lisieux)]]
**[[Bishop of Coutances and Avranches|Coutances]]
**[[Bishop of Evreux|Evreux]]
**Le Havre
**[[Bishop of Sées|Sées]]
*Toulouse
**Albi {{ref|arch}}
**Auch {{ref|arch}}
**Cahors
**Montauban
**Pamiers
**Rodez
**Tarbes et Lourdes
*[[Archbishop of Tours|Tours]]
**Blois
**[[Archdiocese of Bourges|Bourges]] {{ref|arch}}
**[[Bishop of Chartres|Chartres]]
**[[Bishop of Orléans|Orléans]]
Immediately subject to the [[Holy See]]:
*[[Diocese of Strasbourg|Strasbourg]]
*[[Diocese of Metz|Metz]]
*Sainte-Croix-de-Paris (Armenian [[Eparchy]])
Other:
*[[Apostolic Exarchate in France, Benelux and Switzerland for the Ukrainians]]
France is the location of one of the world's major Catholic [[pilgrim]] centres at [[Lourdes]].
==Notes==
*{{note|arch}} The [[archbishop]]s of these [[archdiocese]]s are not [[metropolitan bishop]]s and thus do not wear the [[pallium]]. These are some of the few instances in the [[Latin rite]] church where this phenomenon occurs.
*{{note|prelature}} This is a territorial [[prelature]], not a [[diocese]].
== See also ==
*[[Calvinism]] and [[French Wars of Religion]]
*''[[Laicité]]''
*1825 [[Anti-Sacrilege Act]]
*[[1905 French law on the separation of Church and State]]
*[[Action Française]] headed by [[Charles Maurras]]
*[[Hospitalité Notre Dame de Lourdes]]
== Sources ==
{{reflist}}
{{Roman Catholicism in Europe}}
[[Category:Roman Catholic Church in France|*]]
[[Category:Politics of France]]
[[Category:History of Catholicism in France|*]]
[[Category:Contemporary French history]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Church by country|France]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic Church in Europe|France]]
[[de:Liste der französischen Diözesen]]
[[es:Iglesia católica en Francia]]
[[fr:Église catholique romaine en France]]
[[it:Chiesa cattolica in Francia]]