The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

France is an officially secular nation in the heart of Europe. While most citizens espouse Roman Catholicism, France also has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. In recent decades, France’s religious demography has been further widened as large groups of Muslims have emigrated from North African nations. The French government maintains a strong tradition of secularism and non-interference in religious matters. While this commitment has made France a religiously diverse and tolerant nation, it has also occasionally complicated the relationship between the state and minority religious groups.

Statistics and Demographics

In accordance with the French government's constitutional separation of church and state, the official census does not ask questions concerning the religious affiliation of French citizens. There are, therefore, no official statistics on the proportion of French citizens who are affiliated with any particular religious tradition. Several independent polls have asked French citizens about their religious affiliation, but the results differ significantly. A good example is a January 2007 poll cited in the 2007 US International Religious Freedom Report. This poll indicates 51% of France's 64 million citizens considered themselves to be Roman Catholic, though only eight percent of these attended mass weekly. The poll further found that 31% of French citizens identified themselves as atheists, four percent as Muslims, three percent as Protestant Christians, one percent as Jews, one percent as Buddhists, and slightly less than one percent as Sikhs. Other polls have indicated that France's Muslim population may be as high as ten percent, however, so none of these numbers can be definitive.

• The 2007 United States Department of State International Religious Freedom Report provides an overview of religious pluralism in France, including a section on statistics.
  
• Wikipedia's article on "Religion in France" cites a large number of different polls on France's religious makeup.
  

Religious History of France

Christianity in France

Prior to 58 BCE, residents of Gaul (an area which includes modern France) practiced various forms of Celtic polytheism. The Celts in Gaul worshiped a variety of deities and spirits, attempting to harness the powers of the natural world for the good of their community. The presence of weapons and tools in Celtic burial mounds of the period also indicates a belief in an afterlife. Following the Roman invasion of Gaul in 58 - 52 BCE, these nature-oriented religious practices were supplemented with Roman deities.

The Romans introduced Christianity in the third century CE, and by the late fifth century the Christian sects of Ariansim and Roman Catholicism had come to dominate the religious life of Gaul. In 486, Clovis I, a Frankish tribal leader, succeeded in uniting the tribes in Gaul and defeating the last Roman governor. Clovis then converted from his native polytheism to Roman Catholicism, establishing it as the official religion of his kingdom. In doing so, Clovis established strong connections with the Catholic hierarchy in Rome.

By the eighth century, Clovis' dynasty had waned and the territory it controlled had become divided. In 768, Charlemagne assumed the throne of the Franks. In his subsequent career he not only reunited the various Frankish regions, but also extended his realm into Italy and Spain. In 800, Pope Leo III was threatened by the people of Rome, and sought Charlemagne's intervention. Charlemagne did so, and on Christmas Day the Pope Crowned him "Emperor of the Romans," further tightening the relationship between the kings of France and the Roman Catholic Church.

This alliance continued throughout the Middle Ages, a time when the Catholic Church was flourishing in France. Grand cathedrals were built, and French monasteries became some of the most important centers of learning in all of Christendom. The influence of France on Roman Catholicism reached its zenith in 1305, when the papal court was moved from Rome to the French city of Avignon, where it remained until 1377. While the papacy eventually moved back to Rome, the French government remained closely connected to the Catholic Church into the nineteenth century.

By the mid sixteenth century, however, Protestantism had established strong roots in France, particularly in the south and along the Atlantic coast. Protestants in France, known as Huguenots, multiplied rapidly, and the Catholic establishment soon came to view them as a threat. This resulted in official persecution of French Huguenots in the years leading up to 1562. In 1562, several hundred Huguenots were killed in the town of Vassy. Following this attack, Huguenot communities bonded together, raising their own soldiers and calvary and openly opposing the throne. The military clashes between Catholic and Huguenot forces, know collectively as the Wars of Religion, continued for the next 35 years. The conflict climaxed in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572. On that day, on the order of the king of France, thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris and other cities.

Following the massacre, open warfare between Catholics and Huguenots persisted until 1598, when Henry of Navarre issued the Edict of Nantes. Henry had been the Huguenot candidate for the throne for many years, but had been unable to definitively overcome his Catholic opponents. In 1598, however, he officially converted to Roman Catholicism, placating his critics and allowing him to become the new king of France. One of his first acts as king was to issue the Edict of Nantes, proclaiming that both Huguenots and Catholics were citizens and had the right to worship as they saw fit, thereby ending the Wars of Religion.

The Edict of Nantes, proclaiming religious tolerance in France, remained in place until 1685, when King Louis XIV revoked it, declaring Protestantism illegal. While the revocation of the Edict of Nantes did not reignite the previous century's Wars of Religion, it did cause many prominent Huguenots to flee France. These emigrants settled in Great Britain, Prussia, the Dutch Republic, Switzerland and North America. This mass emigration effectively reestablished Catholic supremacy in France.

The French Revolution in the late eighteenth century briefly interrupted this pattern of Catholic religious dominance. For a brief period following the Revolution, Catholicism lost favor with the government, while enlightenment movements, such as the "Cult of Reason", found official favor. Napoleon viewed religion dispassionately, as a product of man that could be a useful tool of government. In his 1804 coronation as Emperor, Napoleon famously took his crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself. In this not-so-subtle rebuke, Napoleon broadcasted his belief that the state operated separately from and superior to Church authority.

In 1815 Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, and was succeeded by a series of kings who were strongly conservative and loyal to the Catholic Church. For the next 50 years, the relationship between the Church and the French government varied widely, depending largely on which faction was in power at a given time. While official favor varied, however, the government during this period generally recognized four official religions: Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism and Judaism. In 1871, following the Franco-Prussian War, the Third French Republic was established. Initially, the Third Republic followed this tradition, recognizing these same four religions as valid and authorized expressions of religious sentiment.

In 1905, the French government promulgated a law establishing the separation of church and state. This law ended state sponsorship of any religion. At the same time, it established that all religious buildings built prior to 1905 were the property of the state, though individual religions could use them free of charge. By ending official sponsorship of religion, this landmark law put the various religious traditions in France on level ground. Citizens could worship however and whenever they wished, without fear of government intervention. Since 1905, the French government has scrupulously adhered to this policy of strict secularism (with the important exception of World War II, which will be discussed below), not even collecting statistics concerning the religious affiliation of its citizens.

At the same time as the official relationship with the Catholic Church was weakening, however, France has remained a predominantly Catholic country. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of French citizens adhered to Roman Catholicism. In recent decades, however, while Roman Catholicism remains the largest religious tradition in the country, there has also been a precipitous decline in attendance at mass. According to a 2007 poll, only half of respondents identified themselves as Catholic, and only eight percent of those claimed to attend mass weekly. While there has been an increase in some forms of Protestant worship, including "prosperity" churches tied to immigrants of African descent, France has continued to experience a rapid decline in its Christian population.

Judaism in France

Like Christianity, Judaism has a long history in France. There is evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now France from the first century onwards. Under Charlemagne, France's Jewish population included prominent merchants and traders, and a Jew was sent as Charlemagne's ambassador to the Muslim Caliphate in Baghdad. Starting in the tenth century, however, French Jews suffered a series of suppressions, often including the confiscation of goods, expulsion from various regions and occasionally execution. Sometimes these repressions involved only a limited area, while at other points they were carried out on a national scale. From the fourteenth through the seventeenth century, French kings repeatedly expelled France's Jewish population en masse.

This situation did not improve dramatically until the eighteenth century, when official attitudes towards Jews began to soften. Under Louis XVI violations of the edicts of banishment were tolerated, and populations of Jews lived relatively undisturbed in Paris and other areas. In 1790, the revolutionary government accorded Jews full status as citizens of France. Napoleon, perceiving the political usefulness of the Jewish community, abolished laws restricting Jews to the ghettos. This political progress continued throughout the nineteenth century, so that by the early twentieth century French Jews had the same legal standing as French Christians. Conditions had improved so much by this point that large communities of Jews immigrated to France from other, less tolerant regions of Europe.

In 1940, the northern portion of France was occupied by Nazi Germany, bringing their campaign against the Jews with them. In the south of France, the Vichy government actively aided the German Gestapo in their efforts to round up and kill France's Jewish population. By the end of the war, France's Jewish population had been decimated, with estimates that as many as 83,000 French Jews were killed (over a quarter of the French Jewish population at the time).

Following the War, France's Jewish population recovered slowly, and now numbers around 500,000, with most concentrated in and around Paris. As will be discussed more fully below, however, France has recently experienced a rise in the number of hate crimes directed against its Jewish population. As a result of the unease this has caused, French Jews are emigrating to Israel and other places in increasingly large numbers.

Islam in France

In the middle ages, there were a few Muslim communities in France, but these were small and did not last for long. In the nineteenth century, France established several colonies in Muslim areas of Africa. France recruited regiments of colonial soldiers from these colonies, and by World War I, these regiments formed an important part of the French army. The first modern mosque in France, the Great Mosque of Paris, was built by the government in 1922, as a gesture of remembrance for the Muslim colonial soldiers who had been killed in World War I. By this point, there were small communities of immigrant Muslims living in France, but large-scale immigration would not occur until after World War II.

Following World War II, France had an urgent need for workers to help it rebuild, and many Muslim men immigrated from France's North African colonies. In 1974, the French government passed a law allowing the families of these workers to move to France and settle. The children of these families were automatically granted French citizenship, creating a second generation of French Muslims.

Many members of this second generation of French Muslims of North African descent live in close-knit communities in the suburbs of large French cities today. While the Islamic faith is often an important part of their identity, some studies indicate that a majority of second generation French Muslims do not attend mosque regularly. For many young French Muslims, Islam may be more important as an aspect of their inherited culture than as a broader set of religious principles. There is considerable bias against young people of North African descent by employers, leading to high levels of unemployment. As will be discussed below, these economic problems, combined with feelings of alienation from the broader French culture and society, helped foment the riots that shook France in the fall of 2005.

Buddhism in France

Buddhism is a relatively recent addition to France’s religious community, although by some estimates it is now France’s fourth largest religion. While estimates of the current number of French Buddhist vary widely, most researchers seem to agree that there are at least one to two million French Buddhists. The majority of France’s Buddhist population is made up of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, but there is also a growing community of French converts. In the 1970s, several prominent Tibetan teachers settled in the south of France, particularly the Dordogne region. Under their influence, France became one of the most important regions for Tibetan Buddhists outside of Tibet and India.

Hinduism & Sikhism in France

Fuelled by immigration from the Indian Subcontinent, both Hinduism and Sikhism form small but growing communities in France. Some estimates place the numbers of Hindus in France at over 100,000, while the number of Sikhs is roughly 10,000. While the Sikh population is small, it has garnered significant media attention because of the 2004 law banning the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in French public schools. While largely directed at Muslim girls who wear headscarves, this law was also interpreted to apply to Sikh boys who wear turbans. As wearing a turban is considered a religious requirement for Sikh men, many Sikh boys have refused to remove their turbans in school. In several cases, this has led to the student’s expulsion. The Sikh community has, therefore, become a flash point in the debate over secularism and religion in French society. This issue will be discussed in detail below.

Further Historical Resources

Wikipedia provides several useful articles on the history of various religions in France: Huguenots, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism

Wikipedia also provides articles on religion in France in general, and on the Law of 1905 in particular.

The Jewish Virtual Library contains a detailed account of Judaism in France.

Le Poulet Gauche provides a detailed account of the French Wars of Religion.

The University of North Carolina in Greensboro provides a useful timeline of French history.

Lionel Obadia, a lecturer in Anthropology at the Université Charles-de-Gaulle has written an article on the spread of Buddhism in France titled, “Tibetan Buddhism in France: A Missionary Religion?”

The Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News contains several articles relating to recent developments concerning religion in France, including the controversy about the 2004 law banning the wearing of religious paraphernalia in public schools.

Constitution and Religious Freedom

The current French constitution was adopted in 1958, and had been amended 18 times by 2007. It incorporates language derived from the ideals of the French Revolution, prominently incorporating social freedoms into its text. The right of all citizens to worship freely is established in the preamble, "It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs."

The 1958 constitution incorporates many elements of previous French law, and the approach of the government to religion is based on a law first passed in 1905. This law enshrines the idea of laïcité, the idea that the government should not interfere in religion and that religion should not interfere with government. In accordance with the idea of laïcité, the 1905 law forbade the French government from distinguishing between its citizens on the basis of religious belief or lack thereof. All citizens have, therefore, the right to worship without government interference or oversight. The 1905 law also forbade government sponsorship of any particular religion or the clerics of any religion.

Current French government policy continues the tradition of laïcité. As noted in the 2007 US International Religious Freedom Report, the government scrupulously maintains its secular position, avoiding any actions that could be considered to favor one religion or another. Religious groups are not required to register with the government, though they are allowed to if they want to seek tax-exempt status. In general, French government policy has led to widespread religious freedom in France.

In 2007, French President Nicholas Sarkozy began advocating the amendment of the 1905 Law separating church and state to allow some government sponsorship of religion. Specifically, he wants to establish public funding of mosques and state education for Muslim imams, with an eye towards better integrating France’s Muslim population into broader French society. His proposals have met fierce resistance from advocates of laïcité, who oppose any government interference with religious matters. At the time of the writing of this report, President Sarkozy’s ideas did not seem to stand much chance of being passed. The Pluralism Project’s Religious Diversity News contains up-to-date articles that will track this story as it develops.

The English text of the French constitution.

The French text of the French constitution.

The French text of the Law of 1905.

The BBC provides a useful discussion of the concept of laïcité.

For the 100th anniversary of the 1905 Law separating church and state in France, The Pew Forum prepared an excellent report on the idea and implications of laïcité.

The 2007 US International Religious Freedom Report provides an overview of the protections afforded to religion by the French state.

Government Policy and Practice

As noted in the 2007 US International Religious Freedom Report, France generally enjoys a high level of religious freedom. Citizens are free to worship as they like, without government interference. At the same time, the French government's strict adherence to laïcité has come into criticism on several fronts. In 2004 the government passed a law banning conspicuous religious symbols from French public schools. For many supporters, this law was seen as an extension of the French government's tradition of secularism. For others, however, it was unwarranted government intrusion into private religious practice. laïcité has also complicated the French government's response to rising levels of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, as well as to the riots of 2005 and 2007. These controversies will be discussed in detail below.

Rising Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia

Over the last decade, France has seen a marked increase in attacks on people and on property directed at Jewish and Muslim populations. In the fall of 2000, following the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada, gangs of young Muslim men attacked several Jewish organizations. (It has been argued that these young men are "Muslim" by culture only, as they tend not to practice Islam.) Muslim groups have also complained of Islamophobia in French society, pointing out that unemployment among Muslim youth is several times higher than in French society in general.

In 2004, groups with Neo-Nazi affiliations desecrated hundred of Jewish and Muslim tombs at cemeteries across France. While these attacks are not commonplace, their recent increase is disturbing, and has lead to feelings of fear within French Jewish and Muslim communities. Within the Jewish community, this has resulted in remarkably high levels of emigration to Israel and the United States. Within the Muslim community, the perceived Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments were a major cause of the 2005 Paris riots. While the vast majority of French citizens support a religiously pluralistic society, the recent increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, along with the 2004 law banning religious symbols in public schools, point to increasing tensions between French secular society and religious minority groups.

The Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News contains several news articles detailing the recent increase in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

2005 Riots and Government Response

On October 27, 2005, French police chased two teenagers accused of petty crimes. The teenagers sought shelter in an electrical substation, where they were electrocuted. Their deaths sparked widespread rioting across the country, the largest display of civil unrest in France since 1968. By the height of the riots, on November 7, 2005, 274 towns across the country had been disturbed. After the riots ended, nearly 3,000 youth had been arrested, 9,000 cars had been burned, and an estimated two hundred million Euros of property had been damaged. Riots again broke out, on a smaller but arguably more intense scale in November of 2007. In this cycle of rioting, there were widespread reports of the use of shotguns and gasoline bombs, and over 80 police officers were injured.

Both cycles of rioting were concentrated in immigrant communities in French suburbs, and most of the youth who participated in the riots were the children of Muslim immigrants. Because of these connections with Islam, many commentators initially feared that the riots were an expression of militant Islamic extremism. As the riots continued, however, many observers questioned the link between the riots and religion. Most of the complaints the rioters made, it was noted, were economic rather than religious. Many of the youth who participated felt marginalized and barred from society because of their ethnicity. As noted above, French immigrant communities have very high unemployment rates, and second-generation immigrants feel that their ethnicity is a barrier to full participation in the French culture and economy. Many rioters also had only a tangential relationship with Islam. While most were of Islamic descent, few attended mosques with any regularity. Many observers, therefore, have questioned the rioters’ devotion to Islam, and have concluded that the riots were rooted in a sense of economic hopelessness, rather than religious fervor.

Whether the rioters were motivated by religious or economic frustration, the response to what happened was an indication of some of the problems surrounding religious integration in France. Many commentators’ initial responses to the riots reflected a fear of Islam as a destabilizing agent with the potential to dilute or weaken “French” culture. Further, by virtue of their ethnicity, the youth who participated in the riots were sometimes viewed as only partially French. While polls consistently show that the majority of French citizens support the idea of a pluralistic society, the 2005 riots demonstrate how difficult the attainment of this ideal can be.

The Pluralism Project’s Religious Diversity News includes many articles pertaining to the 2005 and 2007 riots.

Wikipedia has a very thorough article on the 2005 riots, with many useful links to outside articles and resources.

Ban on Religious Symbols in Public School

In the 1980s, many French school administrators and teachers began to express discomfort with the wearing of Muslim headscarves in school. It was felt that wearing such clothing contributed to feelings of female subjugation, caused individual women to feel pressured to adopt a religious lifestyle, and led to feelings of separation from wider “French” culture.

Accordingly, the French government tried several times to ban headscarves from schools. A straight ban on Islamic headscarves was seen as violating the government's responsibility not to support any particular religion, so a broad measure was required. In July 2003, a commission was set up to review the government's commitment to the ideal of laïcité. Among other conclusions, the report decided that public schooling in France was aimed at training students for a professional career, and at making them good citizens. This mission, it was felt, presupposed ideas such as gender equality and respect for secularity. The commission's report determined that conspicuous religious symbols, like the Muslim headscarf, violated these ideas, and therefore recommended banning them from French public schools.

In December 2003, President Jacques Chirac introduced legislation to ban such religious symbols, and on February 10, 2004, the Lower House passed it, with the caveat that the law would be reviewed after one year. At the time, all major French political parties supported the ban, as did most French citizens. A poll conducted in February 2004 showed that 69% of French citizens supported the law. This poll also showed that 42% of French Muslims supported the ban, despite perceptions that it was aimed primarily at Muslim head coverings.

Despite this strong level of support, the law has sparked vociferous opposition. The law's opponents argue that it encroaches on personal religious freedom by forcing state notions of secularity on individual students. Opponents have pointed out that many of the young women who wear Islamic headscarves do so of their own free will, sometimes against their parents' wishes. In addition to the many young Muslim women affected by the law, Sikh boys who refuse to remove their turbans have also been expelled. Christian students have also been affected, as they are no longer free to wear visible crosses. In the first semester of the law’s enforcement in September 2004, 48 students were expelled for refusing to remove clothing that authorities felt was under the ban. Opponents from each of the religious traditions feel that the state does not have the right to impede these basic freedoms of religion and expression.

Many members of the Muslim and Sikh communities have responded to the law and its enforcement with outrage, in some cases by opening their own private schools, where students are free to wear whatever they wish. As a result, some opponents of the law fear that rather than forcing students to integrate, the law has further widened the gap between secular and religious elements in France. There have also been major protests, both in France and abroad, and the leaders of states as diverse as Egypt and India have personally brought their complaints against the law to the French President. The French government, however, has remained firm in its commitment, and the law remains as a major point of contention. Nevertheless, the law remains broadly popular in France, with some polls estimating that as much as 75% of the population supports it.

The Pluralism Project’s Religious Diversity News contains several news articles detailing the events surrounding the implementation of the law.

In 2004, the Pluralism Project published a report discussing the recently passed ban on wearing religious symbols in France, as well as similar developments in other countries.

Wikipedia includes extensive discussion of the law.

Interfaith Activity

There is a wide range of groups in France who do work related to interfaith issues. Some of these groups are affiliated with major international organizations; others deal only with France. While many of these groups have a strong web presence, few have websites in English. Almost all of the links that follow, therefore, connect to sites in French.

Interfaith Centers/ Organizations

Religions pour la Paix
Religions pour la Paix is the French affiliate of the The World Conference of Religions for Peace, an international organization seeking to promote peace by coordinating the efforts of various local religious groups. With this mission in mind, Religions pour la Paix organizes conferences, provides news, and publishes essays on inter-religious issues in France.

Fédération pour la Paix Universelle
Fédération pour la Paix Universelle is an international organization, based in France, that seeks to promote world peace through inter-religious dialogue. Their website contains news, projects, and discussion of peace-related issues. They are also affiliated with the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, an international organization seeking to promote peace through religious understanding.

Amitié Judéo-Musulmane de France
Amitié Judéo-Musulmane de France is an organization working to promote Jewish/Muslim dialog. Among other activities, they conduct tours to Holocaust sites for Muslim students.

Droit Des Religions
Droit Des Religions is a French organization advocating religious freedom and tolerance in French society. Their website contains a large collection of official documents related to the status of religious freedom in France.

Children of Abraham
Children of Abraham is an international organization, based in Paris, that seeks to promote religious tolerance and understanding among Jews and Muslims through inter-religious dialogue. The group has an ongoing online course introducing Jewish and Muslim youth to each other and to each other's religious practices.

Islam & Laïcité
Islam & Laïcité is an organization that brings representatives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as secularists together to discuss the relationship of Islam to other religions and wider French society.

Relevant Research Centers

Euro-Islam
Euro-Islam is an organization that researches Islamic issues in Europe. They provide detailed country studies, news analysis, and other resources on the state of Islam in Europe. They provide an excellent country study of France, as well as up to date news related to Islam in France.

Centre D'études Interdisciplinaires des Faits Religieux
Centre D'études Interdisciplinaires des Faits Religieux is a French academic department at l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. They research religion in modern society, including its interactions with the state, society, and inter-religious concerns.

Centre Civique d'Etude du Fait Religieux
Centre Civique d'Etude du Fait Religieux is a French organization that researches religion in society. They offer courses and conduct conferences, seeking to enhance the understanding of religion in France, particularly in its relationship with the notion of laïcité.

Institute de Science et de Theologie des Religion
Institute de Science et de Theologie des Religion at the Universitas Studii Tolosana is an academic organization dedicated to fostering interfaith understanding, respect, and dialogue. They have created materials intended for students (including course syllabi), the general public, and professionals who face intercultural challenges in their workplace. Their website is in French, but has an English description of their goals and methods.

Institute for Research and Debate on Governance
The Institute for Research and Debate on Governance explores different ideas and rationales concerning governance. As part of this project, the Institute explores ways that religion and religious pluralism impact the governance of society. While their research is primarily written in French, their site is available in French, Spanish, and English.

Groupe Societes, Religions, Laïcités
Groupe Societes, Religions, Laïcités is an academic research consortium, based in France, that convenes conferences and publishes research on topics related to the study of religion and society, including the analysis of the role of religious pluralism in modern societies. Their website includes some English resources.

Eurel
Eurel is a research center that monitors issues related to religious freedom and pluralism in Europe. Their English website includes extensive reports on various issues in France.

Religious Minority Organizations

These organizations support religious minority communities:

Islam

Conseil Français de Culte Musulman
CFCM was founded in 2003 at the instigation of the French government, in order to have a unified organization representing France's Muslims. Since that time, the CFCM has taken the lead in representing French Muslims in negotiations with the government, and in explaining Islam to society more broadly.

Union des Organisations Islamiques de France
Union des Organisations Islamiques de France is the French branch of the Union of the Islamic Organizations in Europe. They are one of the largest independent Muslim organizations in France, and maintain a high media profile. They are somewhat controversial, however, as they maintain strong connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, and are sometimes accused of tending towards a conservative vision of Islam.

l'Union des Jeunes Musulmans
l'Union des Jeunes Musulmans is an organization of French Muslim youth who seek to help preserve Muslim identity in France. They offer courses, support religious groups, and undertake social action in an attempt to increase awareness of Islam in French society.

Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie en France
Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie en France keeps track of Islamophobic incidents in France. Their website publishes regular reports on these incidents, seeking to spread awareness of the rising levels of Islamophobia in France.

Oumma.com
Oumma.com is perhaps the largest website dedicated solely to French Muslims. They publish news and essays related to issues of concern to France's Muslim community.

Ligue Française de la Femme Musulmane
Ligue Française de la Femme Musulmane is an organization dedicated to supporting French Muslim women.

La Grande Mosquée de Paris
La Grande Mosquée de Paris is the official website of the Grand Mosque in Paris, including news and information of concern to the Islamic community in France.

Judaism

Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France
Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France is a nationwide umbrella organization that seeks to unite various Jewish organizations within France, providing a public face for France's Jewish community, supporting their needs and concerns with national and local governments, as well as coordinating and supporting other organizations. Their website also has limited information available in English.

Consistoire Central des Israelites de France
Consistoire Central des Israelites de France was founded in 1803 as a national organization responsible for Jewish religious life in France. The Consistoire Central continues in that role today, providing religious support to France's Jewish community.

Fonds Social Juif Unifie
Fonds Social Juif Unifie is a nationwide social organization for French Jews. They organize Jewish festivals and other social functions, helping to bind France's Jewish community together. Together, the CRIF, Consistoire Central, and the Fonds Social form a triumvirate of organizations dedicated to the political, religious, and social needs of French Jews.

L’Union des Etudiants Juifs de France
L’Union des Etudiants Juifs de France is an organization that provides news and services to France's Jewish students.

Buddhism

Union Bouddhiste de France
Union Bouddhiste de France is an organization seeking to unite various Buddhist groups and denominations.

Protestant Christianity

Fédération Protestante de France
Fédération Protestante de France is an umbrella group representing the French Protestant Community.

Sikhism

United Sikhs
United Sikhs is an international Sikh Community that maintains an office in Paris. They have been at the forefront of protests against the 2004 law banning conspicuous religious symbols in French schools.

Other Resources

RDN News Coverage

Many of the issues raised in this report continue to evolve rapidly. The Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News contains up to date news articles on these topics, and on religion in France more generally. Click the links below to find articles relating to the following topics:

Pluralism in France

2005 Riots

Ban on Religious Symbols in Public Schools

Rising Anti-Semitism

Rising Islamophobia

Other Reports and Country Studies

Euro-Islam provides an excellent country study of France.

For the 100th anniversary of the 1905 Law separating church and state in France, The Pew Forum prepared an excellent report on the "100th Anniversary of Secularism in France".

Eurel provides several reports, in both French and English, detailing various issues with religious pluralism in France and other European countries.