Catholic Faith Under Fire in France?
This isn't oversight, it's intimidation and oppression.
Recent claims that the French government has “declared war on Catholic schoolchildren” are a little overstated, but not by much. Reports from Catholic education authorities in France describe state inspections that are aggressive, intrusive, and dismissive of Catholic identity.
Key points:
Catholic schools operating legally under state contract have faced intensified government inspections.
Teachers report being questioned about personal religious practice, including Mass attendance.
Inspectors allegedly examined and photographed students’ spiritual or prayer notebooks.
School leaders describe pressure to justify or remove Catholic symbols and religious language.
These actions take place within France’s strict secular (laïcité) framework, which explains—but does not justify—the severity of the approach.
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If I may give some context : Catholic schools in France operate under two types of rules. Either they are “Sous-Contrat” receiving money from the government, or “Hors Contrat”—which are nearly 100% private beyond the gov’t making sure that the material’s standards are held to (ie, your math teacher is competent in algebra). In Alsace, still bound by Napoleon’s concordat, things are even a little different.
Hors Contrat schools tend to be very very very expensive, which can be prohibitive for some families to send their children to. But this hors contrat model is what American Catholic schools are more similar to. The Sous Contrat schools are a middle road that Americans don’t really have a frame of reference for, unless your local Catholic school is in direct relationship with your city or township to a partnership type of degree. To France’s credit, the government is investigating the audits of the schools and has condemned the abuses that have been reported. Hopefully things are able to be set right.