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Religious practices

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 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