Church in the World

Sarkozy calls for the return of RE

France

FRANCE'S STATE schools should teach religious studies to help pupils better understand other cultures, President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week, adding that, while state schools must remain firmly secular, knowledge of the great religions was also needed.

"We should not leave religion at the school gate," he told a meeting of teachers. "The origin of the great religions, their vision of man and the world, should be studied, of course not in any spirit of proselytism, not with a theological approach, but in a sociological, cultural and historical analysis."

State schools educate about 80 per cent of French young people and private Catholic schools about 17 per cent. State schools do not teach religion and many teachers are secularist, but have not reacted strongly to the call, which Sarkozy presented amid several other proposals for educational reform.

"The spiritual and the sacred have accompanied the human adventure for all eternity," said Sarkozy. "They are the source of all civilisations and one can open up more easily to others and speak with them more easily when one understands them."

The speech came as Catholic educators debated the future of their private system. In several interviews, the Archbishop of Avignon, Jean-Pierre Cattenoz, complained that few head teachers were committed Catholics and many schools had watered down their religious message to the "lowest common denominator" of tolerance and sharing. "In conditions like this, how can you evangelise children and pass on the Christian faith to them?" he asked.

Commentators said that his call to boost the schools' Catholic identity would push them into a religious ghetto. Versailles Bishop Eric Aumonier, the bishops' spokesman for Catholic education, said the cooperation between Church and public authorities was "loyal and constructive". But a Catholic education official said "not all the bishops share Archbishop Cattenoz's views".

Demand for Catholic schools is booming in France. With places for about 2 million pupils, they had to turn away 30,000 requests last year and 35,000 this year. But they cannot expand because they are linked to the state school system, which subsidises their secular courses and often provides teachers for them. The state schools are reducing their teaching staff, forcing Catholic schools to cut back too.

Polls say only 12 per cent of parents choose Catholic schools for religious reasons, the rest prizing them for their discipline and the lack of strikes that plague state schools. Some schools in poor suburbs are attended by a large number of Muslims because the Church wants its schools to be open to all local pupils rather than just a Catholic preserve.

Traditionalist parents disappointed with the Catholic system have launched about 250 private, unsubsidised Catholic schools that now educate about 20,000 pupils.

"Some families loyal to the Church apparently do not find what they want in our schools, especially in terms of religious culture, catechism and promotion of the faith," said Eric de Labarre, the recently retired head of the Catholic education network, adding: "This type of school presents a real challenge to our institution."