Freedom of religion in France

Freedom of religion in France is guaranteed by the constitutional rights set forth in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

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. In the 1500s, the Protestant faith gained numerous converts in France. 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.

Catholicism remained the state religion of France until the 1790s, when it was heavily persecuted during the French Revolution. After Napoleon Bonaparte became head of state, he brought an end to the religious turmoil by negotiating the Concordat of 1801 with the Pope, allowing Catholic worship, education, and charitable activities to resume with financial support from the state. This agreement continued in force throughout the 19th century, despite rising anti-clericalism. Toleration was also extended to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jews.

Since the enactment of the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, the French government has followed the principle of laïcité (secularism), in which the State does not recognize or support any religion as official (except for the local law in Alsace-Moselle). Instead, it merely recognizes certain religious organizations, according to formal legal criteria that do not address religious doctrine. In return, religious organizations are to refrain from involvement in the State's policy-making.

In 2023, Freedom House scored the country 3 out of 4 for religious freedom;^[1] this was mainly due to the Reinforcing Republican Principles Bill (the Anti-Separatism Law), as well as high-profile anti-semitic speech in the public media.