It is a surprising coda to the broadly anticlerical French Revolution—not to mention seemingly dissonant with contemporary discourse around secularism—that almost every single Catholic church in use in France today (some 95% of over 42,000) belongs to the government.
All parish churches built before 1905, the year in which the separation of church and state was enshrined in law, are the property of the country’s 34,955 communes (local councils or civic parishes). Of its 149 cathedrals, only nine are not publicly owned, with central government the owner of the vast majority and local government the remainder.
The Conference of the Bishops of France routinely undertakes an assessment of this built ecclesiastical heritage. In November 2024 it published the results of a particularly comprehensive year-long survey of the 94 mainland dioceses (87 replied), quizzing them about the state of the church buildings they use, as well as the furnishings and other intangible heritage (pilgrimage routes, liturgical feast days) they host.
French media has been quick to highlight the bad in these findings: 72 churches have been demolished since 2000; the number of publicly owned parish churches to have been deconsecrated since 1905 now stands at 326. A further 411 churches belonging to dioceses have also been deconsecrated.
The 13th-century Narbonne cathedral in south-east France is taller than Notre-Dame in Paris and has a spectacular interior, but the commune that is largely responsible for its upkeep has a population of just 60,000 people
Photo: Diego Delso
But, as the project lead and emeritus bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne, Alain Planet, puts it, “that’s not that many, over the course of 120 years”. What is more, quite a few have been built to meet new societal or urbanisation needs: 3,000 churches in total, including many of those 72 that were demolished. Sixteen are under construction at present.
This highlights two issues. First, many of the churches that have had to be rebuilt date back to the 19th century, when it was fashionable to destroy Medieval buildings and quickly and cheaply put something modern in their place. “Many of these today are a problem,” Planet says. “In many cases we can maintain them but sometimes they have to be rebuilt.”
Constant complaint
In September 2023, when the survey was launched, the historian Mathieu Lours made the point on France Culture radio that this was nothing new: “In every era, bishops and laymen alike have complained about the state of things and suggest it be remedied.” He also said that these 19th-century specimens deserve to be protected, as “fundamental markers” of French rural landscapes: “These are the churches you see from the furthest away. They’re often the biggest, the most architecturally ambitious, the most diverse: neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic, neo-Byzantine.”
The second, and more significant issue, to Planet’s mind, however, is that those rural landscapes are emptying of their people. The report finds 1,679 churches closed year-round. Reasons cited include health and safety, population decline, lack of use or critical works needed to secure the building.
“Talking about deconsecration doesn’t account for the larger problem of the many churches today that are not being used because there are no inhabitants left to use them,” he says. “There is a kind of dream to save everything, and of course I hope we succeed, for the beauty of the built heritage, but I don’t know how.”
The 19th century a ‘high watermark’
Planet cites Félines-sur-Rimandoule, a small village in the Drôme, south-east France, the parish of which counts only one person. Around 90km away, Mézilhac, in the Ardèche, counts 67, but has two churches to look after, because 120 years ago, under Napoleon, there were 1,300 inhabitants. The 19th century, as Lours put it, is the high watermark of both Catholicism and rural population.
At a time when local government budgets are ever tighter, even in cities, of course, funding is a challenge. The 13th-century Gothic cathedral of Narbonne, which is taller than Notre-Dame de Paris and would have been longer had it ever been finished, belongs to a commune of 60,000 people, that also has a number of other historic churches, each the size of a cathedral, to maintain.
But it is the petites communes that are struggling the most. As part of this project, the Conference of the Bishops of France has published a guide to patronage, for local mayors, particularly those in rural areas. It lists funding bodies and clarifies the laws around religious heritage protection.
Funding headache
If a building is listed, the commune gets between 25% and 50% of the funds required from central government. If not, it has to drum up financial assistance from other sources, public and private.
“To be sure,” Planet says, “today, the ministry of culture coughs a bit at the idea of listing new buildings because if it lists them then it has to pay for them.” A recent report in Le Monde noted that the ministry of culture “has not kept its promises, yet again”, in terms of heritage investment in 2024.
Contrary to the minister of culture Rachida Dati’s idea to make tourists pay to enter Notre-Dame as a source of income, the bishops remain in favour of keeping church access free across the board. If only because it is the law, or, as Planet puts it, “an achievement”—the clergy won this right in 1905. Also, the French public is justified in thinking they have already paid their dues: it is taxpayers’ money keeping these buildings afloat.
Thousands of endangered edifices
The charity Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 Catholic religious edifices across France are endangered. Interestingly, the bishops’ survey shows that Catholics are largely satisfied with how well their buildings are maintained.
In other words, in places where there are enough people to use it, this built heritage is looked after. It is a source of pride. The real problem is what happens when no one is left to pay attention. In response, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in September 2023 launched a donations campaign, shepherded by the Fondation du Patrimoine, to raise €200m over four years, for those metropolitan parishes with less than 10,000 inhabitants, or less than 20,000 inhabitants in the French overseas territories.
As of November 2024 the foundation has reportedly raised €16.7m, destined for 100 churches. Many have noted that this is not that much—not when you consider the eye-watering €843m in private giving that got Notre-Dame rebuilt so quickly. Planet says it is the equivalent of what one poorer parish has received over 200 years.
