ABSTRACT

Free religious practice is an essential principle of all Western countries. However, the place of religion and the extent to which the church is kept separate from the state can vary; so as better to appreciate the specific character of laïcité1 in France, comparisons with other countries have to be made. In the United States and in Switzerland, there is no official church and the state does not finance any religious groups; yet the Swiss constitution begins with ‘In the name of God Almighty’ and the American president publicly swears allegiance to the constitution and closes his oath with ‘And so help me God’. England has an official church: the Queen is head of the Anglican Church and only an Anglican can be head of state; moreover representatives of the Church sit in the House of Lords. In Belgium, all ‘mainstream’ religious movements (including Islam) are financed by the state, and Catholicism permeates public affairs, for one of the three major political groups is the Christian Social Party. In France, the principle of laïcité is stricter: the law of 1905 imposed a strict separation between the public and the private spheres of activity. From being officially considered as one of the institutions structuring society, religious practice has become a purely private matter, confined to marginal associations.