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Religious practice

Religious practice is low but varies according to religion

D 2 October 2023   

Evolution of the prayer practice

Whether the prayer practice remains stable or is on the increase, it is nevertheless changing. According to the TSN-SOFRES survey on the French and prayer conducted in February 2007*, one out of (...)

Whether the prayer practice remains stable or is on the increase, it is nevertheless changing. According to the TSN-SOFRES survey on the French and prayer conducted in February 2007*, one out of two French people claims to "pray or meditate". These results are similar to those obtained in the survey carried out in 2001 where 50% of the French claimed to pray. Therefore, prayer does not seem to be in decline.
Meanwhile, the survey reveals its evolution to becoming a much more individualised activity. Thus, in 2001, when asked if they pray (excluding "meditation"), 57% of the French affirm to have never prayed and 13% claim to pray rather rarely.
It is also observable that prayer has been personalised as 48% claim to pray "in a group or with family" and this percentage has come down to 38% in 2007. The survey also reveals an activity that is less related to any institution or religious tradition. Thus, 80% of those who pray do it at home while there are 38% praying in places of prayer. There used to be 48% in 2001.
Finally, only 15% of those who pray affirm to pray "to Christ" while there were 25% of them in 2001. This evolution is much more visible among young people. Only 5% of young people within the age range of 25-34 and even 0% of those within the age range of 18-24 pray to Jesus.

4 pray to Jesus.asis: those who pray 22-24 March 2001 (42% of the sample) 14-15 Feb 2007 (41% of the sample)
- To God 65 59
- To the Virgin Mary 35 29
- To no one in particular 15 18
- To Christ 25 15
- To relatives, family and friends (Spontaneous answer) 5 6
- To saints (Spontaneous answer) 4 4
- Other answer 6 2
- No answer 2 3

In July 2014, an IFOP survey on The French and Mary shows that the practice of praying regularly to the Virgin Mary has diminished: from 31% of the French in 1988 to 22% in 2014.

* TNS-SOFRES survey conducted for Le Pèlerin weekly newspaper in February 2007. Detailed results of the survey are available on the La Croix website.

D 8 July 2014    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

Religious practice: statistics of the Catholic Church

The decline in the religious practice of Catholics is confirmed by the statistics provided by the church:
1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2019 Baptisms - From 0 à 7 years 506 877 458 626 (...)

The decline in the religious practice of Catholics is confirmed by the statistics provided by the church:

1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2019
Baptisms
- From 0 à 7 years 506 877 458 626 380 093 325 878 283 570 240 159 179 061
- After 7 years 6 624 13 504 20 961 23 197 19 371 22 155 25 243
- Total 513 501 472 130 401 054 349 075 302 941 262 314 204 304
- Percentage of baptisms among the births of the year 64,3% 61,9% 51,7% 45% - - -
Catechumens (converted adults preparing to be baptised) 2 800 5 000 9 474 9 564 - - 4251
Confirmations - 91 281 62 003 49 515 46 475 43 627 41 205
Weddings
Catholic weddings 217 479 147 146 122 580 97 432 74 636 - 44 951
Of which – two spouses are Catholic - 136 956 108 229 83 047 63 273 46 952 37 234
- one spouse is Catholic - 10 190 14 351 14 385 11 363 8 902 7717
Civil weddings - 287 000 305 500 271 600 251 700 236 300 218 468

The church gathers 10 326 parishes, belonging to 15 dioceses in metropolitan France and 9 overseas dioceses (2021).

Source : website of the Catholic church, general statistics and statistics concerning sacraments.

D 2 October 2023    AAnne Lancien AAnne-Laure Zwilling

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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