France

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in France}}
[[File:Reims Cathédrale Notre-Dame 5002 (fixed angles).jpg|thumb|left|180px|alt=Notre-Dame de Reims façade, gothic stone cathedral against blue sky|[[Reims Cathedral|Notre-Dame de Reims]] is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the [[Coronation of the French monarch|Kings of France were crowned]] until 1825.{{Efn-ur|The last ''sacre'' was that of [[Charles X of France|Charles X]], 29 May 1825.}}]]
France is a secular country in which [[freedom of religion]] is a constitutional right. The French policy on religion is based on the concept of ''[[laïcité]]'', a strict [[separation of church and state]] under which the government and public life are kept completely secular, detached from any religion. The region of [[Alsace]] and [[Moselle]] is an exception to the general French norm, since the [[local law in Alsace-Moselle|local law]] stipulates official status and state funding for [[Lutheranism]], [[Catholicism]] and [[Judaism]]. According to the national survey of 2020 holden by the [[INSEE]], 34% of the French population adhered to [[Christianity]], of whom 25% were Catholics and 9% other Christians (without further specification); at the same time, 11% of the French population adhered to [[Islam]], 0.5% to [[Buddhism]],  0.5% to Judaism, and 1.0% to other religions.<ref name=religion2020/> 53% of the population declared that they had no religion.<ref name=religion2020/>

Catholicism was the main religion in France for more than a millennium, and it was once the country's [[state religion]]. Its role nowadays, however, has been greatly reduced, although, as of 2012, among the 47,000 religious buildings in France 94% were still Catholic churches.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 February 2012|title=Observatoire du patrimoine religieux|url=http://www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/rubriques/gauche/actualites/actualites-de-la-base-de-donnees|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126171213/http://www.patrimoine-religieux.fr/rubriques/gauche/actualites/actualites-de-la-base-de-donnees|archive-date=26 November 2013|quote=94% des édifices sont catholiques (dont 50% églises paroissiales, 25% chapelles, 25% édifices appartenant au clergé régulier)}}</ref> During the [[French Revolution]], activists conducted a brutal [[dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution|campaign of de-Christianisation]], which put an end to the role of the Catholic Church as the state religion. In some cases, clergy and churches were attacked, with iconoclasm stripping the churches of statues and ornaments. After alternating between royal and secular republican governments during the 19th century, in 1905 France passed the [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|1905 law on the Separation of the Churches and the State]], which established the aforementioned principle of ''laïcité''.<ref name="georgetown2">{{cite web|title=France|url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206213909/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france|archive-date=6 February 2011|publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]]}}</ref>

To this day, the government is prohibited from recognising specific rights to any religious community (with the exception of legacy statutes like those of military chaplains and the aforementioned local law in Alsace-Moselle). It recognises religious organisations according to formal legal criteria that do not address religious doctrine, and religious organisations are expected to refrain from intervening in policymaking.<ref>''Joy of Sects'', Sam Jordison, 2006, p. 166</ref> Some religious groups, such as [[Scientology]], the [[The Family International|Children of God]], the [[Unification Church]], and the [[Order of the Solar Temple]], are considered [[cult]]s (''sectes'' in French, which is considered a pejorative term<ref>{{Cite web |title=Society2; religion in France; beliefs; secularism (laicité) |url=http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Society2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916220047/http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Society2.html |archive-date=16 September 2009 |access-date=20 September 2009 |publisher=Understandfrance.org}}{{Self-published source|date=June 2016}}</ref>) in France, and therefore they are not granted the same status as recognised religions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Commission d'enquête sur les sectes|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-enq/r2468.asp|publisher=Assemblee-nationale.fr}}</ref>