1905 French law on the separation of Church and State

Encyclopedia : 1 : 19 : 190 : 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State

The first page of the bill, as brought before the Chambre des Députés in 1905

On 9 December 1905, a law was passed in France separating the church and the state. This law was based on three principles: the neutrality of the state, the freedom of exercise of religion, and public powers related to the church. This law is seen as the backbone of the French principle of laïcité. The law famously states "The Republic neither recognizes, nor salaries, nor subsidizes any religion".

Contents

1 Effects
2 Politics
3 References
4 See also

Effects

Prior to this law, the French national government funded four official religions: Roman Catholicism, Calvinist Protestantism, Lutheran Protestantism, and Judaism. It built churches, temples, synagogues and other religious buildings from taxes levied from the whole population (not just those affiliated with those religions).

The law put an end to the funding of all religious groups and declared all religious buildings property of the state and local governments; the government puts such buildings at the disposal of religious organisation at no expense to these, provided that they continue to use the buildings for worship purposes. Other articles of the law included prohibiting affixing religious signs on public buildings, and laying down that the republic no longer names French archbishops or bishops.

Because Alsace-Lorraine was at the time a part of the German Empire, the 1905 law, as well as some other pieces of legislation, do not apply there (see Alsace-Moselle). Similarly, the 1905 law was not extended to French Guiana, at the time a colony — and to this day the local government of French Guiana funds Roman Catholicism.

Politics

The leading figures in the creation of the law were Aristide Briand, Émile Combes, Jean Jaurès and Francis de Pressens.

Initially, the Roman Catholics were seriously affected, as the law declared churches property of the state and local governments. One point of friction is that public authorities had to hand over the buildings to religious organisations (associations cultuelles) representing layment, instead of putting them directly under the supervision of the church hierarchy. This caused civil disobedience and even riots by Catholics. The Holy See urged Catholic priests to fight in the name of Catholicism. Pope Pius X issued the Vehementer Nos encyclical denouncing the law as contrary to the constitution of the church. It did however free the church from state control as well since they could raise more funds than the modest amounts the state provided and they could choose their own bishops. This was not entirely new however since Catholics in the United States, Poland, and Ireland funded their churches without state support.

One may see the situation from another angle, namely that this law currently de facto favours traditional French religions, in particular Roman Catholicism, at the expense of religions of more recent expansion in France, such as Islam: while most Catholic churches were built before 1905, and thus are maintained largely at the expense of the government, followers of Islam and other religions have to pay the full price of founding and maintaining religious facilities. This is the reason why certain French politicians, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, favour funding other religions. The 1905 law, however, is often considered politically untouchable. Rivals of Sarkozy, such as Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin made a point that no change was foreseen to the law. [link]

In 2005 the sixth World Humanist Congress was held in France."The 16th World Humanist Congress was held in Paris in July 2005 on the theme of Separation of Religion and State. Commemorating the centenary of the 1905 French law which established such a separation, the World Congress passed an important declaration which has been published in the International Humanist News of August 2005." From [Defending the 1905 French Law of Separation of Religion and State] published by the International Humanist and Ethical Union

References

() ([updated official version] from Légifrance)
() [Dossier] from the French National Assembly

1905 French law on the separation of Church and State

Effects

Politics

References

See also