Verdsliggørelse à la française

Resumé

This article - Laizication à la française - examines how the modern French state established a hostile and antagonistic relation to the Catholic Church and how this endeavour was partly fuelled by the 1789 Revolution. It is in particular the period 1880-1905 which is crucial for understanding this process of transformation because of the establishment of the modern French Nation during these years. The political laizication of the nation involves moral principles for the French society. As the French State puts itself in a direct anti-religious role, it also engenders a remarkable discrepancy between liberal principles of freedom and real politics. The relation between state and nation is key to understanding why the French state engaged in such a hostile confrontation with the Catholic Church.