French President Emmanuel Macron has called for defence of the 1905 law separating church and state, which marks its 120th anniversary on Tuesday, in order to preserve individual and collective freedoms.
Coming into effect on 9 December 1905, the law separating church and state is one of the founding texts of the principle of secularism, or laïcité.
It stipulates that "the Republic ensures freedom of conscience" and "guarantees the free exercise of religion" while respecting public order.
It neither recognises, nor pays the salaries of, nor subsidises any religion.
The law, drafted notably by politicians Jean Jaurès and Aristide Briand is a cornerstone of French Republican values.
"The Republic guarantees us freedom of thought, freedom to express what we want, freedom to believe as well as freedom not to believe, freedom to pray, to philosophise, to dogmatise, freedom of the mind, freedom to laugh, freedom to caricature," Macron stated in an address broadcast on social media platform X, on Tuesday.
Divisive debates
"This law also states that faith is not above the law, that no one can impose their way of believing in their religion on another simply because they believe their faith is superior to the law," he insisted.
Surveys have shown that the French public has only a partial understanding of laïcité – though a large majority believe it is under threat.
This sketchy understanding of what is meant to be a cornerstone of French law and the idea of vivre ensemble (national cohesion) has left plenty of room for rival interpretations over the years, leading to heated and divisive debates across the political spectrum.
Paty murder puts focus on role of teachers in passing on French values
For Macron, the secularism law goes hand in hand with the role of free public education in French society.
"We must defend secularism, the 1905 law, and the nation's schools to remain free, to make our own choices in society and in our personal lives," Macron explained.
The Jules Ferry laws of the late 19th century made school secular, free and compulsory for children aged 3 to 16.
Macron emphasised the public school system as "the surest way to be free and learn".
"It offers every child the transmission of knowledge, positive knowledge, free from any religious, cultural, or identity-based bias," Macron insisted.
Tribute to slain teachers
Macron also paid tribute to teachers Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard, "victims of the obscurantism of Islamist terrorism, which has been trying in vain to force us to submit for several years."
47-year-old Paty was murdered in October 2020 by an 18-year-old Islamist radical of Chechen origin after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed during a class on ethics and civic values.
Paty's killing took place just weeks after the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo republished the cartoons, which originally appeared in 2015.
Bernard was stabbed to death in Arras, in northern France, in October 2023 by a former student of Chechen origin, who was on France's terror watch list.
Macron referred to the men as "shining examples, guiding our path and our conduct in and through secularism".
He paid tribute to generations of teachers "faithful to the secular spirit of Jules Ferry, Aristide Briand, Jean Jaurès, and Ferdinand Buisson, who have guided the consciences of successive generations of young people on the path to emancipation."
(with AFP)
