Christians in France are warning that a Bill passed in the Senate could see religious freedom significantly restricted.
Commonly referred to as the ‘Anti-separatism law’, the legislation was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron last year in the aftermath of a terror attack in Paris.
The Bill seeks to fight radical Islamism by controlling the content being taught in mosques, and putting tighter restrictions on foreign funding and home schooling. A revised and toughened version of the Bill was recently passed by 208 to 109 votes.
The government argues the Bill will uphold secular republican values. ‘This legislation is not legislation against religions, nor against the Muslim religion in particular. It is a law of emancipation in the face of religious fanaticism,’ said Prime Minister Jean Castex.
But many Christians fear it will compromise their freedom to worship. Deborah Prisk, a missionary who has worked in France for 15 years, said sermons being monitored and stricter funding controls were their main areas of concern.
‘The proposed law does have much more severe sanctions on both religious organisations, which can be shut down, and pastors individually. We fear that upholding a strong Biblical model, therefore, of family, sexuality and gender is something that will be closely monitored.’
Keith Butler, pastor of La Garenne-Colombes Baptist Church in the suburbs of Paris, said: ‘Implicitly, the government is now moving away from neutrality to religion towards suspicion instead. Additionally, to avoid stigmatising Muslims, some very sad and untrue accusations have been thrown at evangelicals. Furthermore, and most significantly, there will be a thought at the back of many preachers’ minds: could the Regional Prefect listen to my sermon, decide it contravenes the principles of the Republic, and shut us down? These powers are new’.
Places of worship will also be required to declare any non-French donation of over €10,000 in a bid to reduce foreign influence.
Prisk added: ‘Such gifts will have to be declared to the state and will require expensive independent oversight. It will cost about €6,000 for churches to comply. This is a massive expense for a church that has a budget of, say, only €100,000 a year. We fear that it will seriously hinder small churches and new church plants.’
The proposed law is expected to be on the statute book by this summer.
