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Diminution of faith and religion

According to the CSA survey carried out in March 2003 for La Vie and Le Monde newspapers, faith is also in decline.

Question: Personally, what place does religion occupy in your daily life?
General French population General French population: Result of January 1994
Important 38 42
- Very important 15 15
- Somewhat important 23 27
Not important 62 57
- Not very important 32 29
- Not important at all 30 28
Do not answer - 1
TOTAL 100 100

France is, indeed, far behind Poland where 86% of respondents claim that religion occupies a considerable place in their lives. Out of 10 European countries where the survey on the Europeans’ values was conducted, France has come out 7th with only 46% of the population affirming that religion occupies a considerable place in their lives. However, there is 41% that believes that "the spiritual dimension is important in life". 78% believes that "religion is man’s basic need and that it shall stand the test of time".
According to the CSA survey carried out in June 2005 for La Croix newspaper on "The return of the sacred", 41% of the French believe that the spiritual dimension is "important" for their personal success in life: 13% of the respondents claim that it is "very important" and 28% believe it is "somewhat important". On the other hand, 57% find it "not important": 24% think that the religious dimension is "not very important" while 33% maintain that it is "not important at all". Meanwhile, the same CSA survey reveals that 48% of the respondents claim to be less interested in religion now than they were ten years ago. The religious perception also evolves rather negatively. According to the CSA survey on "The return of the sacred" (June 2005), 45% of the respondents think that religion, in France, occupies a more considerable place than it did 10 years ago. 26% hold the opposite opinion and 27% believe that religion has remained stable for 10 years. Furthermore, 47% deem this place very considerable and 31% believe this place considerable enough. Only 18% find it not considerable enough. Finally, 38% reckon that religion is in decline and 40% think it is stable while only 14% hold that it is progressing.

D 25 September 2012    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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