The Power Struggle Between the Church and State in France

A power struggle often arises when two groups seek to control one set of resources; in the sociological context generally violence is a by-product of these forces, with researchers finding a correlation between power struggles and measures of collective violence (Davies, 1974). Salton (2012) has written extensively about the uniquely complex and contradictory relationship France as a country has with Catholicism; while the French are well known for their religious fervor, historically the country has withstood some of the most violent anti-religious episodes, bringing it dangerously close to destruction.

As Salton (2012) notes this paradox also manifests in her form—a country which at heart is predominantly Catholic and yet reveres the principle of Laïcité. The concept of laïcité also thought of as secularism, arises from French law dating back to 1905 which separates Church and State; essentially it is a product of the evolving relationship between Church and State in France (Colosimo, 2017). Doyle (2017) notes that the power struggle between the Catholic Church and the State was most intense following the French Revolution in the nineteenth century; she further states that in 1789 the monopoly of the Catholic Church in education was terminated and in 1905 the separation between Church and State became official, however between these dates a vicious power struggle took place between these two opposing forces. Salton, (2012) observes that in the eleventh century the Catholic Church, which was supposedly a spiritual institution had a lot of wealth and influence; thus tension with the French monarchy was unavoidable.

Several Popes declared that the Church had the power to remove kings, who exercised their powers indirectly subject to the desires of the Pope. This created hostility between the French monarchy and the Church, which begot Gallicanism—the principle whereby the French monarchy professed an independence from any other authority, explicitly stating that ordering or commanding anything related to temporal power was beyond the scope of a Pope’s powers. Salton (2012) discusses the different points of contention between the two entities across centuries. In the sixteenth century the Church’s custom of exchanging money for redemption and their interference in civil governance angered the proletariat. The advent of the Enlightenment in the seventeenth century brought about another confrontation—this time on the ideological front. The ideas propounded by thinkers like Descartes, Rousseau and Voltaire were counter to those propagated by the Church; the philosophers were especially critical of the Church rejecting notions of scientific discovery and clinging to the ideas set forth in the Scriptures.

The French Revolution marks the most traumatic rupture in this relationship. The revolution sought to replace the social system comprising of the clergy and the nobility called the Ancien Régime with a body politic of equal and free people. The State abolished all the privileges of the Church. Religious administration was modeled on public administration, with parishioners being elected, receiving their income from the State, and were required to pledge their allegiance to France. As the revolution became

more violent, hundreds of ministers were murdered, thousands sentenced to death by tribunals of the revolution, two thousand ministers were executed, sacraments, celebrations and temples were mocked and defaced. In 1801, Napoleon in an attempt to create harmony signed the Concordat with the Pope which allowed Catholicism to be practiced freely in France, but bishops were still nominated by the government. After the fall of Napoleon, the first major step in establishing the concept of secularism was with respect to education. In France Catholicism and public education had been deeply intertwined for centuries. In the late eighteen hundreds legislation emphasizing secular education as opposed to religious education was enacted; the intent was to inculcate patriotism and nationalistic sentiments hinged on the ideas of the Revolution and the Enlightenment. The relationship between Church and State in France finally came to its destined conclusion with the Law of Separation between Church and State being passed in December 1905, specifically stating that the State did not recognize or subsidize any religion (Museeprotestant.org, 2020).

In their seminal work John R.P. French and Bertram Raven proposed six different forms of power or bases of power, (i) coercive, (ii) reward, (iii) legitimate (iv) expert, and (v) referent and (vi) informational (World of Work Project, 2019). Raven (2008) notes that the choice of a particular base of power will be motivated by the desired goal and whichever base is chosen will enable the expedient accomplishment of predetermined goals. Coercion involves compelling others to comply by punishing non-compliance. It is susceptible to abuse and causes resentment. Reward involves giving benefits; these achieve compliance but over time may be perceived as entitlements. An authoritative position stemming from a hierarchy or formal relationships gives rise to legitimate power. Legitimate power gives rise to influence, but can be lost if the related position is lost. Expert power is derived from expertise and competence and lasts as long as the ‘expert’ is trustworthy. Referent power arises from a party’s perceived worth, value and attractiveness. Such a party inspires likability and respect. Informational power stems from a party’s control on the flow of information that is inaccessible to others or information asymmetry, however this power is lost when the ‘source’ of information is lost.

With respect to the power struggle between the Church and the State in France it can be said that initially the Church may have exercised reward oriented powers over the masses, promising them salvation by partaking in various religious rituals which may or may not involve them paying the church. Gradually as the Church gained influence, they also exercised legitimate power stemming from the wealth and hierarchy of the bishops, cardinals, ministers, and priests. As their influence grew in governance affairs, their power may have also arisen from informational sources, wherein they are privy to matters of the State. However as is evidenced by the previous discussion, the State itself, whether as the monarchy or the French Republic gained its powers from all these sources as well. The revolutionaries sought to sunder the legitimate power of the State by delegitimizing it through rhetoric at first and finally through mass executions. This delegitimizing was reinforced through educational reforms and finally legislation engendering the concept of laïcité in the context of governmental affairs which served as a death knell for any residual influence the Church might have had. Today secularism considered to be a French invention is one of the fundamental values of the French Republic (Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, 2020). Nowadays, while in many areas of French culture there is outright hostility towards religion, there are many néocatholiques representing a new generation of Catholics within the Church (Soper, den Dulk, & Monsma, 2017). Decherf (2001) notes that the government in France pays the salaries of teachers in religious schools, religious buildings dating to a period before 1905 are maintained by the State, and the government organizes religious funerals for heads of State. There are national representative bodies for Catholics and other religions, but the government regulates activities like observance, worship, teaching, practice to ensure any individual’s rights are not encroached. The 1905 legislation provides freedom from moral authority emphasizing freedom of conscience. It is quite possible that if the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, Napoleon’s attempts at negotiation and the educational reforms had not taken place the French system of government and the French psyche itself may be very different from what it is today. The delegitimization of the Church’s authority set the path for reforms where values of individual freedom and the enlightenment set the stage for unity in nationalism, secularism, peace and religious harmony throughout the Republic.

REFERENCES

Colosimo, A. (2017). Laïcité: Why French Secularism is So Hard to Grasp. Institut Montaigne. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/laicite-why-frenchsecularism-so-hard-grasp. Davies, J. (1974). The J-Curve and Power Struggle Theories of Collective Violence. American Sociological Review, 39(4), 607-610. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2094425 Decherf, D. (2001). French Views of Religious Freedom. Brookings. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/french-views-of-religious-freedom/. Doyle, A. M. (2017). Catholic Church and state relations in French education in the nineteenth century: the struggle between laïcité and religion. International Studies in Catholic Education, 9(1), 108- 122. Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. (2020). Secularism and Religious Freedom in France. France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/france-facts/secularism-and-religiousfreedom-in-france-63815/article/secularism-and-religious-freedom-in-france. Museeprotestant.org. (2020). The Law of 1905 - Musée protestant. Musée protestant. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from https://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-law-of-1905/. Raven, B. H. (2008). The bases of power and the power/interaction model of interpersonal influence. Analyses of social issues and public policy, 8(1), 1-22. Salton, H. T. (2012). Unholy Union: History, Politics and the Relationship between Church and State in Modern France. Rev. Eur. Stud., 4, 135. Soper, J. C., den Dulk, K. R., & Monsma, S. V. (2017). The challenge of pluralism: Church and state in six democracies. Rowman & Littlefield