Promoting laicité (secularism, or the aggressive separation of Church and State) is still a feature of French governments in the 21st century.

The French Defy Socialists over Gay Marriage

by Joseph Meaney

Many should be aware of the massacres and massive human rights violationsvisited upon the Catholic Church during the French Revolution, especially in the Vendée, but there is another more recent period in French history in which the Church was violently oppressed that has received far less attention. 

Historian Jean Sévillia’s Quand les catholiques étaient hors la loi (When Catholics were Outlaws) covers the period from 1876-1906 when the democratically elected French governments dedicated to “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” arrested and deported over 30,000 priests, brothers and nuns for the crime of being members of Catholic religious congregations. 

The full weight of the state, police, army, and judiciary was brought to bear on these souls who dedicated their lives to God in prayer and ran schools, hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, etc. 

I begin with this historical overview because France is once again entering a period of social turmoil with strong religious overtones.

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