France’s "loi de laicite," or secular law, has led to a serious decline of Christianity and a significant rise in the Islamic religion, according to an article on the Chicago Tribune.
France has marked 100 years since the separation of Church and State. Known as "loi de laicite," the secular law grants all religions equal status and ensures that all are separated from the state.
As in most European states, Church attendance in France has fallen to its lowest level. Moreover, Christianity has been in serious decline in recent years. A recent poll showed that although 88 percent of French identify themselves as Roman Catholic, only 5 percent go to church on most Sundays; 60 percent say they "never" or "practically never" go.
On the other hand, Islam has shown that it’s a powerful force. The 12 million to 15 million Muslims who live in Europe make less than 5 percent of the continent’s total population, but the rigidness by which they practice their religion has led many Western scholars to predict that Islam will become Europe’s dominant faith.
Princeton University historian Bernard Lewis, the dean of American Middle East scholars, predicts that Europe will be an Islamic continent by the end this century "at the very latest."
And George Weigel, a top American theologian, frets about "a Europe in which the Muezzin summons the faithful to prayer from the central loggia of St. Peter's in Rome, while Notre Dame has been transformed into Hagia Sophia on the Seine--a great Christian church become an Islamic museum."
France, which hosts Europe’s largest Muslim population, surely will be a test case for these predictions. Islam is the country’s fastest growing religion, with more than 4.5 million Muslims who make up about 7 percent of France’s total population.
Most French Muslims say that Islam is compatible with their life in the West. Mosques in France are often packed with worshippers on Friday afternoon prayers, marking an unusual public manifestation of religiosity in a country where Christianity is on the decline.
Adel Remdannie, 28, a security guard at a department store, said he wants Islam to be viewed as a "normal" religion. "People think Islam is dangerous. They see us [at Friday prayers] and they think we are extremists. But for us, praying is a normal thing. My parents go to prayers. I go to prayers. It is how we follow our religion," he said.
On the other hand, Sunday masses at French churches are usually attended by a few number of mostly elderly women.
"Mass is boring," said Odon Vallet, a religion professor at the Sorbonne. "The ceremony isn't very beautiful; the music is bad; the sermon is uninteresting. Mass is for people who have nothing else to do on a Sunday--no sports, no hobbies, no shopping, no entertainment”.
France has marked 100 years since the separation of Church and State. Known as "loi de laicite," the secular law grants all religions equal status and ensures that all are separated from the state.
As in most European states, Church attendance in France has fallen to its lowest level. Moreover, Christianity has been in serious decline in recent years. A recent poll showed that although 88 percent of French identify themselves as Roman Catholic, only 5 percent go to church on most Sundays; 60 percent say they "never" or "practically never" go.
On the other hand, Islam has shown that it’s a powerful force. The 12 million to 15 million Muslims who live in Europe make less than 5 percent of the continent’s total population, but the rigidness by which they practice their religion has led many Western scholars to predict that Islam will become Europe’s dominant faith.
Princeton University historian Bernard Lewis, the dean of American Middle East scholars, predicts that Europe will be an Islamic continent by the end this century "at the very latest."
And George Weigel, a top American theologian, frets about "a Europe in which the Muezzin summons the faithful to prayer from the central loggia of St. Peter's in Rome, while Notre Dame has been transformed into Hagia Sophia on the Seine--a great Christian church become an Islamic museum."
France, which hosts Europe’s largest Muslim population, surely will be a test case for these predictions. Islam is the country’s fastest growing religion, with more than 4.5 million Muslims who make up about 7 percent of France’s total population.
Most French Muslims say that Islam is compatible with their life in the West. Mosques in France are often packed with worshippers on Friday afternoon prayers, marking an unusual public manifestation of religiosity in a country where Christianity is on the decline.
Adel Remdannie, 28, a security guard at a department store, said he wants Islam to be viewed as a "normal" religion. "People think Islam is dangerous. They see us [at Friday prayers] and they think we are extremists. But for us, praying is a normal thing. My parents go to prayers. I go to prayers. It is how we follow our religion," he said.
On the other hand, Sunday masses at French churches are usually attended by a few number of mostly elderly women.
"Mass is boring," said Odon Vallet, a religion professor at the Sorbonne. "The ceremony isn't very beautiful; the music is bad; the sermon is uninteresting. Mass is for people who have nothing else to do on a Sunday--no sports, no hobbies, no shopping, no entertainment”.
