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Home , Politics of France, Religion in France

France – Mission based Assignment

Introduction

My association with started in 1966 and 1967 when we had an exchange trip from school to a town called Chateaubriand in . Following that in March 1981 I got a job with the French pharmaceutical company Les Laboratoires Servier who were about to move to Fulmer village just north of Stoke Poges . From then on for nearly thirty years I had day to day contact with working in the UK, on the telephone to France, but also quite frequent business trips lasting from overnight to a week at a time over in France. Ialso got involved going over to France to sing with the worship band, which started an association for about five years or so with a tiny evangelical church in Calais, which some of us used to visit quite regularly, but progress was slow and eventually the association fizzled out.

Ethnic Origins and Early Christian History

Archaelogy indicates that France has been settled continuously since Paleolithic times, though the inhabitants are originally Celtic in origin, and had migrated from the Rhone Valley into , now France. There was also some mingling of tribes with more Germanic peoples notably the Basques in Gascony. In about 600BC, Greek and Phoenician traders established settlements along the Mediterranean coast, notably at . Province was colonised by the Romans in the second century BC and Julius Caesar conquered part of Gaul in 57-52 BC, with his final battle at Verangetorix, and the capital of was Lugdunum (current day ). was introduced into Gaul in the 1st century AD, though it is not clear who the evangelists were. It is possible they could have come directly from the Holy Land. In AD 171 Irenaeus was appointed Bishop of Lyons in order to replace Pothinus who was killed during persecution. Iranaeus was moved to pursue a church with a single authority and doctrinal standard, which was affirmed by others, and wrote a creedal statement in Greek at the end of the second century AD. This was to dispel the gnostoicism which was prevalent at the time. There is now only a copy left in Armenian, and it contains three articles addressing spiritual encounters with God the Father , Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. This doctrine was to stay in place for many centuries. Irenaeus died in AD 202. In the third century, western Christians were becoming attracted to the monastic life similar to that followed by the Eastern Churches. In 361 AD, a soldier called Martin (later St Martin) established his first monastic community in a place called Liguge which is near Poitiers and in AD 372 he became Bishop of and established his second monastic community at Marmoutier which lasted until the in 1789. He attracted many young aristocrats from Gallo Roman families into the religious life. Celtic missionaries evangelised much of Europe between the 5th and 6th centuries AD . They had developed their faith on their own with no influence from Rome, and their came from the True Vine and of continuous praise and prayer. They introduced art into worship, the greatest being the Book of Kells, now in Trinity College Dublin. For them nature was also a self expression of the divine. Irish monks also established monasteries in Gaul in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. They were sent out from the 24 hour prayer and worship centres in Lindisfarne and Iona. They had the wisdom to preserve art and literature, both Christian and secular, when the Visigoths, and Burgundii sacked parts of the old Roman Empire in Gaul, and in so doing preserved civilisation as we know it today.

Geography and Location

Mainland France is situated just thirty miles from the United Kingdom at its nearest, just across the English Channel. This is the northern border, with the Atlantic Ocean and Bay of Biscay to the West, Spain and to the South West, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, Switzerland and Italy to the South East and Germany Luxembourg and Belgium to the North East. Apart from extreme northern France, the country has been described as four river basins and a plateau. There is also , an island in the Mediterranean, and some overseas departements (, , Reunion, and ) countries and territories (New Caledonia, , Wallis and Futuna Islands ) and the French Southern and Antartic Territories.

Demographic Information

The population of France in 2010 was 64 million. , the capital of France is the largest city with Marseille, , , Nice, Nantes, and Bordeau also having greater than 210,000 inhabitants. France was made up historically of many separate provinces, and these still remain as geographic, cultural and economic divisions which retain their own striking diversity. In 1972 , 22 regions based on these historical provinces were established. 75% of the country is urban, but there is a great mingling of peoples, together with a large ethnic diversity particularly in Paris and Marseille, due to North African immigrants. It has been calculated that there are 101 people groups over the whole country and only eight of these groups are recorded as speaking French, though some speak local dialect versions of the parent language. The rest (93) are other ethno linguistic groups which are too many and too scattered across France to mention individually. On account of the absolute diversity of the inhabitants of France, Herve Le Bras and Emmanuel Todd wrote in 1981 that from an anthropological point of view, France ought not to exist. The original Celtic, Germanic and Frankish tribes had almost as many origins as the population of modern France. Since France has been pieced together by treaties and conquests, and since two-thirds of the territory has been French for less than three hundred and fifty years, it is not surprising that there is no deep rooted sense of national identity. They belong to a town, a suburb, a village or a family, but not a nation or a province.

People, Government and

The French people are known to have a very laid back attitude to life , and do not tolerate foreigners easily. French culture and mealtimes are taken very seriously, and the family is the central part of their society and culture. They are also a very private people. I certainly can count on one hand , the number of times I got invited out, when I was over there on business, which could be very lonely.

The is a semi-presidential system, determined by the French Constitution of the Fifth , considered to be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social republic. The constitution provides for a and proclaims France’s attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national as defined by the Declaration of 1789, which refers back to the French Revolution. The President shares power with his appointee, the Prime Minister. Parliament comprises the and the . It was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the , and therefore the French government has to abide with European treaties, directives and . Politically there are parties ascribed to all political doctrines from the far left to the far right, which is similar to the rest of Europe. Since 1905 there has been no connection between Church and state.

Wars, Invasions, and other Critical Events

As all countries, France has gone through its share of upheavals over the centuries, which has shaped the nation into what it is today. From the Conquest of the Romans , the Hundred Years War, to the end of the Second World War, there have been regular events, wars and political intrigue going on with neighbouring countries. The biggest event which affected the whole of France was the French Revolution in 1789 , when the reigning royal family was deposed and beheaded because the people were living in poverty, and the Royal Family had everything. France has also been invaded by Germany on three occasions. (Franco-Prussian War, World Wars 1 and 2 )

Religion

The statistics list for France list Christianity as 61.1%, Non Religious as 26%, Islam as 26%, as 1.0% , Ethnic 0.9% and Unknown Religions as 0.4%. For Christianity it breaks down so that 94.2% are Roman Catholic, Protestant 3.1%, Orthodox 1.7% and other 0.7%. Although the majority of Christians are listed as Roman Catholic, actually religious practice varies greatly. The saint or Virgin Mary of one village need not be the same as the saint or Virgin Mary from the village down the road. Beliefs and practices centred on prehistoric stones and magic wells bore only the faintest resemblance to Christianity. The local priest might be useful as a literate man, but as a religious authority had to prove his worth in competition with healers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, and people who could change the weather. Morality and religious feeling are independent of church dogma. It is thought that there are currently more clairvoyants in France than Catholic priests. In my travels in France I have found some places where there was such a spiritual darkness around that I used to find it very difficult to pray. I have also found the French to be very philosophical. In many companies there are quotes from Voltere or other notaries written on a slab of marble on the wall in the reception area.

The Reformation and Beyond

French Protestantism started , as it did across Europe at the end of the fifteenth Century , courtesy of Martin Luther, and was successful in France due to the prevailing mental attitude. The Catholic Church despite attempts at reform, had slipped into inactivity, ignorance and a relaxation in discipline. The Renaissance had turned men back to the cult of pagan antiquity, naturalism and unbelief. The first leader of the Protestants was Lefevre b’Etaples, who translated the Bible into French. He also produced two other books, a Salter in 1509 and a commentary on the epistles of St Paul in 1512. Scripture contained all authority in matters of and he preached justification by faith, even counting good works as nothing. He saw the Catholic Mass only as a commemoration of the Cross of Jesus Christ. In 1522 his Latin Commentary and it’s preface was seen as the manifesto of the Reformation in France and was agreed upon by six or seven other leaders of the time. It was not intended that this group should leave the Catholic Church, and Lefevre became Vicar General of Briconnet, and some of the others held similar roles within the Catholic Church. Their aim at that time was to preach the pure gospel, therefore leading people back to the genuine religions of Christ and away from corruption from the superstitions of Rome. In 1521 the parliament in Paris prepared measures against Lefevre but the King interfered on his behalf. The situation went on for about 70 years with alternate repression and leniency, but at the same time the group now known as the kept growing and spreading across the country. John calvin came to the fore in about 1533.

In 1559 there was a synod in Paris of protestants from all over France and a confession of faith based on the writings of John Calvin was prepared, standing against the Catholic beliefs of intercession to the saints, oral confession, sacrifice of the mass and indulgencies as purely human inventions. Then in 1572 again at a protestant convention in Paris, 2000 were massacred (St. Bartholomew’s Eve) together with another 8000 over the rest of France. This period of militant Protestantism and government reprisals lasted until 1598 when the was proclaimed which gave about a hundred years of religious tolerance between the two groups, though the Roman Catholics thought the Huguenots had too much tolerance, and they had too little. During this time Protestantism continued to spread rapidly. Cardinal Richlieu, who was appointed in 1622, tried to change it by leaving the religious side of things but taking away their political power. In 1627 the Huguenots made an alliance with the English, and an English fleet landed at but was seen off by the French King and Cardinal Richlieu. When Louis XIV came to the throne , the position of the Huguenots became more untenable and after 1660, all the protestants got were encouragements to convert to Catholicism. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked in October 1685, the Huguenots started to prepare to leave France, and they were a big loss to the as they were mainly trades people, merchants, weavers, furniture makers etc. However, in the Cervennes region of France in 1688 there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. A 16 year old girl called Isabeau Vincent started going into ecstacies, with shaking and fainting and prophecies. This impacted many to repentance, and there were angelic vistations and people were lead to meetings by lights in the sky. They were driven by a thirst for holiness, with prayer and fasting and exuberant worship. However some of them took up military resistance against the forces against Protestantism, and between 1702 and 1708 there were actions against this group, called the Camisards. By now the Protestants were living in secret. In 1806 Napolean had sorted out the political situation following the Revolution but the protestants were now very languid and had lost their fire. In1810 there was a ‘reveil’ or awakening led by some of John Wesley’s followers, but they were not well received. There then followed over two hundred years a complete fragmentation of the protestants into what we find today.

Today

There are small pockets of Protestant activity, but it is made more difficult, as its not possible to hire facilities in France unless you are a recognised authorised group. There is a reluctance and wariness of all groups who are not Catholic, particularly the Huguenots and any groups who could be called cults, possibly following the Order of Solar Temple mass murders in 1995, but this often means some denominations such as the Assemblies of God and Pentecostals, are treated with utter suspicion. As a result of the culture , closeness of the family and unwillingness to give religious opinion, will be difficult. There are about 60 missionary societies operating in France, though they are mostly small, apart from YWAM and the Southern Baptists from America.

There are some English churches working in France. Some of the South Coast New Churches are working in Caen, and New Frontiers have churches in Nimes, Campere and Alles. There are Pentecostal churches in Angers and Orleans, and Open Heaven Loughborough have a church in . Bethel, from Redding California, also have Podcasts to France and there are House churches and ethnic churches in Paris. Also Alpha is being run in some of the Catholic churches, together with youth work and calls for men to join the priesthood.

Politically Nicolas Sarkosy apparently sees France’s main religions as positive contributions to French society, and visited the Pope in 2007. He has publicly acknowledged France’s Christian Roots, and encouraged and faith to come back into the public sphere. This is a major step forward which has not been seen in France previously.

Clearly there is evangelism and missionary work going on in France today, but there is so much national fragmentation and hostility that it will take a big move of God and persistent prayer to get it going. There are signs that there is a relaxation of attitude, particularly within some of the politicians, but this needs to come from changes in peoples hearts as a result of the Holy Spirit, rather than political dictates. There are two wells of previous activity which need to be unblocked, in the Cervennes following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and also in Marmoutier where St martin’s monastry was established.

Conclusion

There needs to be a cohesiveness to bring the nation together, so that they care for their fellow men, and for the closeness of family life to be redeemed by the Lord so that it is more inclusive of outsiders, and for the missionary groups to find the keys in terms of prayer and prophecy to bring them together as one nation under God. Revival is needed to fulfil God’s purposes to reconquer and reconcile all French people to Him, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Mary Drew June 2011

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A History of Christianity Diamaid MacCulloch Penguin Books 2009 The Discovery of France Graham Robb Picador Books 2008 The New Mystics John Crowther Destiny Image Publishers 2006 www.joshuaproject.net Ethnic People Groups of France www.question.com France www.infoplease.com France, History Geography Government and Culture http://en.wickipedia.org/wiki/ /Government of France/ www.newadvent.org/cathen/07527b.htm Huguenots Nigel and Jean Stock (2011) personal communications