Freedom of religion in France
From the conversion of King Clovis I in 508, the Roman Catholic faith was the state religion for a thousand years, as was the case across Western Europe.
A series of bloody persecutions and religious civil wars were ended by the Edict of Nantes issued by King Henry IV, granting official tolerance and protection to the Protestant minority.
However, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Henry's grandson, Louis XIV in 1685, forced many Protestants to convert to Catholicism or flee the country as Huguenot refugees.
Elle garantit le libre exercice des cultes sous les seules restrictions édictées ci-après dans l'intérêt de l'ordre public.
)The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which is considered by legal authorities to have equal legal standing with the Constitution of France, states: No one may be questioned about his opinions, [and the] same [for] religious [opinions], provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.and: The law has the right to ward [i.e., forbid] only actions [which are] harmful to the society.
The French concept of religious freedom did not grow out of an existing pluralism of religions but has its roots in a history with Roman Catholicism as the single official religion and including centuries of persecution of people not endorsing it, or straying from the most official line, from the Cathars to the Huguenots and the Jansenists – this lasted until the French Revolution.
In 2004, the French Parliament passed a law prohibiting the wearing of ostentatious religious garb in public primary and secondary schools; motivations included the tradition of keeping religious and political debates and proselytism out of such schools, as well as the preservation of the freedom of Muslim female students forced to wear certain costumes out of peer pressure.
Individuals organizing as groups with the exclusive purpose of worship (associations cultuelles) may register as such and get significant tax exemptions set by law.
The matters were made even more complex by the fact that some of the groups involved are based in the United States, where they actively lobbied the intervention of the government of that country.
Leaders of the French Protestant minority claim that freedom of religion was actually well protected in France and that cultural sensitivity and careful relationships with local authorities and other Christians could prevent most difficulties.
They conclude with an assessment that since the restructuring of the main agency concerned with this issue (referring to the new MIVILUDES replacing its predecessor, MILS), have reportedly improved religious freedoms in France.
It stated that "The French government's promotion of its understanding of the principle of secularism should not result in violations of the internationally recognized individual right to freedom of religion or belief.
"[23] On 14 September 2010, an act of parliament was passed resulting in the ban on the wearing of face-covering headgear, including masks, helmets, balaclava, niqābs and other veils covering the face in public places, except under specified circumstances.
[24] It was reported that a set of rules including a ban on religious signs or symbols at civil marriages was introduced in the 9th and 10th arrondissements of Marseille.
("So that everyone within its law can search in peace for the light") The National Assembly instituted the first Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France in 1995, headed by parliament members Alain Gest and Jacques Guyard, following the mass suicide of adepts of the Order of the Solar Temple.
On March 21, 2000, the Justice Court of Paris found Jacques Guyard guilty of defamation for having called Anthroposophy a secte ("cult") practicing "mental manipulation".
(Le Monde March 23, 2000) The most controversial part of the report was the appendix, where a list of purported cults compiled by the general information division of the French National Police (Renseignements généraux) was reprinted.
It contained 173 groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, the Theological Institute of Nîmes (a fundamentalist Christian Bible college), and the Church of Scientology.
Major concerns listed in these official reports and other discussions include: The government of Alain Juppé created in 1996 the "Observatoire interministériel des sectes" ("interministerial board of observation of cults") which delivered yearly reports and out of which grew in 1998 the "Interministerial Mission in the Fight Against Sects/Cults" (MILS) headed by Alain Vivien.
In its announcement of the formation of MIVILUDES, the Government acknowledged that its predecessor, MILS, had been criticized for certain actions abroad that could have been perceived as contrary to religious freedom.
