The Concordat in Alsace-Moselle is the part of the

local law in Alsace-Moselle The territory of the former Alsace-Lorraine, legally known as Alsace-Moselle, is a region in the eastern part of France, bordering with Germany. Its principal cities are Metz and Strasbourg. Alsace-Moselle was part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

relating to the official status accorded to certain religions in these territories. This Concordat is a remnant of the Napoleonic

Concordat of 1801 The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation ...

. The 1801 Concordat was abrogated in the rest of France by the law of 1905 on the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

. However, at the time, Alsace-Moselle had been annexed by Germany, so the Concordat remained in force in these areas. The Concordat recognises four religious traditions in Alsace-Moselle: three branches of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and Reformed) plus

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

. Therefore, the French concept of ''

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...

'', a rigid separation of church and state, does not apply in this region. Several French governments have considered repealing the Concordat, but none have done so. On 21 February 2013, the

Constitutional Council of France The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...

upheld the Concordat, reaffirming its validity, in response to an appeal from a secularist group which claimed that the Concordat in Alsace-Moselle contradicted the secular nature of the French Republic.

Religious education

Under the Concordat, religious education is compulsory in public schools, at both primary and secondary level, although parents can now opt for a secular equivalent by a written request. These religious education lessons are given by members of the faiths concerned and under the control of the respective churches.

Ministers

Religious ministers in Alsace-Moselle (pastors, priests and rabbis of the four recognised faiths) receive a salary from the Interior Ministry, which, by virtue of the 1993 Lang-Cloupet agreement, is linked to civil service salary scales. In 2012, this was said to be costing the French state 54 million euros per year. They also qualify for unemployment benefits. The Bishops of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

and Strasbourg are appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, after agreement with the Holy See. This makes France the only country in the world where some Catholic bishops are still appointed by the head of state. The actual involvement of the French state is however nowadays considered purely nominal (although a recent appointment to the see of Metz was blocked at an early stage). Chief rabbis and presidents of the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and Protestant consistories are appointed by the Prime Minister. Ministers of the three Christian churches are appointed by the Interior Minister.

Theology faculties

The

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

includes two faculties of theology, one Protestant, the other Catholic. These are the only theology faculties in France, although the

University of Lorraine The University of Lorraine (), often abbreviated in UL, is a grand établissement created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine University – Metz and the National Polytechnic Institu ...

in Metz also has a theology department. Both faculties are responsible for training ministers for their respective religious traditions. The Catholic faculty comes directly under the authority of the Holy See, and the diplomas that it awards are recognised by the Holy See as canonical.

Other religions and religious traditions

There have been a number of attempts to extend the coverage of the Concordat to recognise other religions, notably Islam, as well as other branches of Christianity.

References

{{Alsace topics Religion in Alsace Culture in Alsace Lorraine

1801 Events January–March * January 1 ** The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland is completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the abolition of the Parliament of I ...

1801 treaties Treaties of the French First Republic France–Holy See relations Politics of Alsace