Church-State Issues Shaping Up As Important In Next French Election

Reuters today reports that the separation of church and state is shaping up as an issue for France's next presidential election as politicians look for support among France's large Muslim minority. Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister who is already planning his campaign for the 2007 election, staked out the issue last week by appointing a commission to study possible changes to the law separating religious and secular matters. President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin responded over the weekend, reaffirming their support for the 100-year-old law on secularism and announcing that a change "is not on the agenda." Catholic and Jewish leaders oppose any change in the law, and Muslims are divided on the issue. The small Protestant Federation of France is the only long-established religious community calling for a change, mostly because evangelicals face administrative problems trying to build churches.