Picked up and commented on by over 200 media outlets, the CSA poll on French Catholics that we published in our last issue has had a considerable impact and sparked numerous reactions in France and abroad. Even the Vatican, through Cardinal Poupard, reacted, denouncing the "religious illiteracy" of the French. I would like to revisit some of these reactions.
Members of the Church have rightly pointed out that the dramatic drop in the number of French people identifying as Catholic (51% compared to 63% in recent polls) is primarily due to the wording of the question: "What is your religion, if you have one?" instead of the more commonly used: "To which religion do you belong?" The latter wording suggests a sense of sociological belonging: I am Catholic because I was baptized. The wording we adopted seemed much more relevant for measuring personal adherence, while also leaving more room for the possibility of declaring oneself "without religion." It is quite clear, as I have repeatedly emphasized since the publication of this poll, that there are more baptized people than those who identify as Catholic. A poll with a more traditional wording would likely yield different figures. But what is more important to know? The number of people raised Catholic or the number of those who consider themselves Catholic today? The way the question is asked is not the only factor in the figures obtained. Henri Tincq reminds us that in 1994, the CSA institute asked, for a poll published in Le Monde, exactly the same question as for the poll published in 2007 in Le Monde des Religions: 67% of French people then said they were Catholic, which shows the sharp decline that has occurred in twelve years.
Many Catholics—clergy and laity alike—have also felt discouraged by the decline of faith in France, as evidenced by a series of statistics: among those who identify as Catholic, only a minority remain truly committed to the faith. I cannot help but place this survey in the context of the recent passing of two great believers, the Dominican Marie-Dominique Philippe and Abbé Pierre (1), who were true friends.
These two Catholic figures, from such different backgrounds, essentially told me the same thing: the centuries-long decline of Catholicism as the dominant religion could be a real opportunity for the Gospel message; it could be rediscovered in a truer, more personal, more lived way. In Abbé Pierre's eyes, a few "believable believers" were preferable to a mass of lukewarm believers whose actions contradicted the power of the Christian message. Father Philippe believed that the Church, following Christ's example, had to experience the passion of Good Friday and the silent mourning of Holy Saturday before undergoing the profound transformation of Easter Sunday. These devout believers were not overwhelmed by the decline in faith. On the contrary, they saw in it the possible seeds of a great renewal, a major spiritual event, putting an end to more than seventeen centuries of confusion between faith and politics that had distorted the message of Jesus: “This is my new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.” As the theologian Urs von Balthazar said: “Only love is worthy of faith.” This explains the fabulous popularity of Abbé Pierre and shows that the French, even if they don't consider themselves Catholic, remain extraordinarily sensitive to the fundamental message of the Gospels.