The Catholic archipelago in France

They are in sparse ranks in certain parishes but they appear everywhere in “ Demonstrations “. We no longer know if they are progressive or traditionalist, in decline or in renewal, faithful or in full tinkering. It was time for a sociological investigation to outline the archipelago that they form: that of Catholics in France.

This book is the result of a survey carried out in 2010-2011 among more than one hundred and seventy committed Catholics, of various ages, sexes, social backgrounds, territories and statuses. The method chosen is qualitative, using individual or collective interviews, in-depth and semi-directive. The initiative comes from the association “ Confrontations » which succeeds the Catholic Center of French Intellectuals and which counts in its ranks a number of sociologists, including Catherine Grémion who participated in the survey. We cannot help but think on this occasion of the late Renaud Sainsaulieu who contributed so much to the work of Confrontations.

The exploitation of such a corpus then took two years. Since then, a new pope has been elected. Through an act of intellectual probity that must be welcomed, the investigators detected a bias in their sample along the way. Initially, with their partners being interviewed as a priority, the most social or liberal Catholics were over-represented. Additional interviews were also carried out in 2012-2013 with more traditional, even charismatic, Catholics. If the latter remain less represented in the final list (given in the appendix), extracts from their testimonies are nevertheless cited extensively in the book, as if to rebalance the restitution.

Ultimately, the most impressive thing is the strength of the portraits that are presented and the entire archipelago that is silhouetted. As the sample favors committed Catholics to the detriment of more lukewarm, progressive components more than traditionalist components, we could expect rather homogeneous results. In fact, it is a nebula full of tingling, tensions and subtleties that emerges.

An archipelago full of diversity

The key to the book is found in chapter five (pp. 143-203), at the beginning of the second part. This is where all the results are synthesized. The respondents certainly demonstrate unity: “ they all speak at least of the founding role of Jesus, of a unique God, of the need to articulate faith and practice… » (p 197). But they often prioritize the elements of their common faith differently.

Sociologists then propose to present types of Catholics, according to a space of positioning, based on two axes (p. 198). The first axis concerns the encounter with God and goes from inspiration to worship. The second axis concerns the implementation of faith and ranges from devotion to altruism. This makes it possible to distinguish four major areas of attitudes: the “ inspired “, THE “ emancipated “, THE “ conciliar claimed “, THE “ observers » (p. 203).

THE “ inspired » are in a poorly codified relationship with God and express a strong devotion. We find here above all the charismatic (re)converts.

THE “ emancipated » are also in a poorly codified relationship with God but move more towards altruism. There we find both released thirty-year-olds and older Catholic action activists.

THE “ conciliar claimed » maintain altruism but are in a relationship with God more codified by worship. There are in particular many women in charge within the Church, and even committed divorcees.

THE “ observers » are in worship and devotion. We find neo-classical Catholics but also traditionalists in reconquest, self-confident young people as well as confident heirs.

In parishes, the most visible tension is between the last two categories: that known as “ observers » and that called “ conciliar claimed “. Both categories are attached to worship, hence their strong presence in parishes. The others will be more in pilgrimages, social action movements, charismatic renewal groups. But the “ conciliar claimed » are more towards altruism while the “ observers » are more towards devotion. Concretely, some will propose neighborhood raids to serve hot soup to the poorest, others will recruit altar servers to prepare beautiful liturgies and encourage vocations.

It will be understood that these tendencies affect almost every Catholic. But here they put the entire archipelago under tension. In this regard, it would be interesting to subsequently quantify these different types in order to know the exact weight they each have in relation to the whole. It would then be appropriate to return to socio-demographic data in a more quantified manner. Thus, we feel that the “ conciliar claimed », undoubtedly more progressive on certain subjects, are also older on average. THE “ observers », more fond of tradition, are more represented in all age groups. Women seem more attached to worship than men, etc.

Participants and passengers

The preceding typology concerns committed Catholics. It is illustrated by twelve portraits, constructed in a more questionable manner in the first part. Indeed, each portrait is constructed in a fictitious manner, by merging several neighboring interviews, which pushes a bit towards caricature. It would have been more fruitful to show real itineraries of real people. For example, towards the end we cite the case of René Rémond (p. 282-283), a Catholic “ conciliar » very open to the world but outraged by the treatment that the French media most often inflict on the Church. By symmetry, there is the case of a Patrice de Plunkett (p 296), more “ observing » traditional but enthusiastically supporting social or ecological causes, as well as all movements of solidarity with Eastern Christians. In short, real portraits are more subtle and more dynamic than constructed fictions.

On the other hand, chapter five, again, contains yet another fundamental insight. Alongside the committed Catholics who are the subject of the investigation, it is indicated that there exists an even larger nebula: that of transient Catholics who have not been encountered. To tell the truth, the border between these two circles is not so clear. A very fine scale (p 155) also shows that there are several levels of involvement: conformation, internal or external protest, progressive disengagement. But there are also several levels of passengers: from the most consumer to the most clandestine, in short, ranging from relative indifference to opposition. Concretely, this ranges from parents who occasionally request a child’s baptism purely out of family habit, thus showing themselves to be quite “ consumers » ; up to the anticlerical networks which express a strong but negative link.

It would be interesting to continue the investigation towards these passengers, with the same finesse as it was carried out towards the most committed. Especially, once again, the border is blurred.

In this regard, the authors included as committed people who, in the sense of Hirschman or Merton, are more in the process of defection (exit) or deviance.

On the other hand, they are a little quick to exclude, because they are transient (pp. 163 to 166), people whom they consider too superficial even though they often have a more popular faith. So, asking for a baptism, even if it is also to please the grandmother, is perhaps not only a consumerist gesture ? And putting a candle in a church to obtain healing seems naive to the authors. However, the process is perhaps deeper than it seems. ?

From Church to Society

The end of the second part of the book is more classic. The contents of the interviews are cited on three successive themes in the last chapters: life in the parishes, the vision from the top of the institution, the perception of the treatment of the Church by the media. In passing, the solidity of the central typology is confirmed. THE “ observers » want solemn masses with a beautiful liturgy and are relatively indifferent to what the media may say about the Church. THE “ conciliar claimed » want communion masses, without excessive clericalism and would like bishops to learn to speak on television. THE “ emancipated » want thought-provoking celebrations that update the eternal message and are ready to go directly to the Internet to discuss the faith.

The survey also addressed positions regarding more societal issues. In the book, it is above all the positions towards the Church which are ultimately highlighted. We therefore certainly have a limited perimeter: that of Catholics most committed to the future of the Church, even before the future of society (addressed, however, in a complementary typology, p. 180 ff.). But, already as it stands, we have a very instructive panorama. It is likely to modify many preconceived ideas about what a “ Catholic », in France, today.

It is important to cross-reference this survey with more macroscopic data on Catholics in France. This is what the editor points out from the start. 60% of French people still say they are Catholic but they are often passengers, in the sense mentioned above. At the same time, 4.5% of French people attend mass every week. This is where we find many of those involved, studied in the investigation. However, although the percentage seems small, that still makes three million people (out of 65 million inhabitants). In a country where an election is won or lost within 2%, that still matters. Especially since three million is more than the P.S.L’UMPthere CGT and the CFDT reunited. Even if a third party mobilizes on a social debate, it can also bring people to the streets.

One final remark is in order. This Catholic archipelago in France also remains to be linked to a global group which counts more than one billion two hundred million baptized people. It is important to situate all the debates mentioned in the book on this scale. THE “ conciliar claimed » are named in reference to the Vatican Council II which was a global event. THE “ observers » refer to a universal and multi-millennial tradition. Even passengers or the disengaged now look with positive curiosity at Pope Francis. Catholics from all countries are ultimately inspired by good news that they want to send to the whole world.