French Secularists Fight To End Massive Catholic Subsidies

A report by a coalition of French secularist organisations shows that despite the law of 1905 separating church and state, the French State pays billions of euros to support religion.

The survey shows that the French state pays €8.2 billion to subsidise private – mainly Catholic – schools. This amount is augmented by individual municipalities giving €530 million, and regions and local authorities up to €499 million. La Libre Pensée – which is roughly the French equivalent of the NSS – says that the total of €9.2 billion represents “embezzled public funds to finance the schools for the few away from the schools of all”.

La Libre Pensée says this amount is equivalent to the cost (including social security contributions) of more than 200,000 jobs which are “stolen” by the Church from the Department of Education along with all the relevant investment and budget. La Libre Pensée says: “Every aspect of public life is plundered to finance religions. Thus, €242 million are embezzled through religious tax exemptions, subsidies to pro-life associations and contributions to the priests’ healthcare system. Nearly €100 million are unjustifiably paid for maintenance work for which departments, municipalities and regions have no responsibility. Throughout France, the housing of the 16,000 Roman Catholic diocese priests is paid for by local authorities for an budget cost of around €54 million.

The Department of Alsace Moselle was in German hands when the 1905 law was instituted and is therefore exempt from it, as are the French Overseas Territories. Additional expenditure there represent an unjustifiable anti-secular expenditure of €72 million. More than 2,000 priests are paid out of public funds to teach religion in state-owned schools.

The monthly income of a Roman Catholic bishop in Alsace: €4,484.57, of a Catholic priest: €2,703. 99, of a protestant minister: €3,150, of a Grand Rabbi: €2,916. 07 – and there are thousands of them being paid for out of taxpayers’ money.

The regulation known as the Martinière Circular (1966) makes it possible for religious associations to run profitable business activities. Thus, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sells altar candles worth more than two million Euros every year without paying taxes that would otherwise amount to €660,000.

Despite repeated requests to government asking for information on the amount of tax that religion is exempted from paying, there has been no reply.

La Libre Pensée observes that most of the religious exemptions were established during the Vichy regime in 1942. They say that subsidies given to the Roman Catholic Church amount to the equivalent of 20% of the country’s income tax revenue and a quarter of the annual national debt.

French secularists are now organising with a new unity and determination to protest at these blatant breaches of the 1905 law (Article 2 of which states: “The Republic does not recognise, does not salary nor subsidise any religion”). They will publish their findings in a “black book” which will be distributed extensively; they will appeal to the National Assembly to repeal the 1942 laws brought in by Martial Petain.