7.16 La laïcité expliquée — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read an explanatory text on la laïcité , the French principle that separates the state and religions, written in simple French from the French Wikipedia article and the legal texts it cites. Explain the principle in French and in English: the neutrality of the state, the freedom of the citizen. Recognise quotations of legal texts: the first article of the Constitution and the second article of the law of 1905. Follow a text that presents a debate fairly, with certains pensent que … d'autres pensent que . Sentences from this text, before the notes. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English En France, la laïcité est un principe qui sépare l'État et les religions. In France, laïcité is a principle that separates the state and religions. L'État est neutre : il ne favorise aucune religion The state is neutral: it favours no religion il ne favorise aucune religion, et il n'est pas non plus contre les religions it favours no religion, and it is not against religions either La laïcité protège aussi une liberté importante : la liberté de conscience. Laïcité also protects an important freedom: freedom of conscience. La République ne reconnaît, ne salarie ni ne subventionne aucun culte. The Republic neither recognises, nor pays, nor subsidises any religion. l'État ne paie plus les prêtres, les pasteurs ou les rabbins the state no longer pays priests, ministers or rabbis Prerequisites : 5.17 and 4.26 — this reading follows the institutions vocabulary of 5.17 Vocabulary . It uses the connectors of 4.26 Grammar and the language of explanation you met in 7.12 Reading , and it supports the argument lessons of this phase. About this text This text was written for this course, about 570 words long, as a simplified explanation based on the French Wikipedia article Laïcité en France , consulted in October 2026, and on the legal texts that the article cites: the Constitution of 1958, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, and the law of 9 December 1905 on the separation of the Churches and the State. Because it is adapted from Wikipedia, it carries Wikipedia's licence, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. The three quotations from the legal texts are given word for word; official legal texts are not protected by copyright in France. The word laïcité has no exact English translation. Secularism is the usual rendering, but it suggests a society without religion, which is not what the French principle means. La laïcité concerns the state: the state has no religion and favours none, so that every citizen can have a religion, or none, freely. You met the word already: the state school is laïque in 7.12 Reading , and religion was one of the private topics of 6.17 Conversation . The subject is often argued about in France, and the text tries to present it without taking a side. Read it as a description of a principle and of a debate, not as an argument. The language of the text Definitions and negations. The definition is built on negations: l'État ne dépend d'aucune religion , il ne favorise aucune religion, et il n'est pas non plus contre les religions . Ne … pas non plus means not … either . Quotations. Legal texts are quoted in French quotation marks with a colon before them: Son deuxième article dit : « La République ne reconnaît, ne salarie ni ne subventionne aucun culte. » Notice ne … ni ne , a formal way of joining negated verbs: neither recognises, nor pays, nor subsidises . Contrast. The section on daily life is built on a contrast: pour l'État … la laïcité veut dire la neutralité ; pour les citoyens, au contraire, la laïcité veut dire la liberté . Au contraire signals the turn. Presenting a debate. Certains pensent que … D'autres pensent que … sets out two positions without choosing. Both verbs take the indicative, because each group asserts its view. Reading it a second time, section by section The introduction. The word is hard to translate, yet everyone in France knows it. A definition. Separation of state and religions, neutrality of the state, freedom of conscience, and the first article of the Constitution. A bit of history. The influence of the Catholic Church before 1789; the Declaration of 1789 and its protection of religious opinions; secular state schools from the 1880s; the law of 1905; and the exception of Alsace and Moselle, which were German in 1905 and still have a different system. Daily life. Neutrality for the state and its agents; freedom for citizens; and the special rule of 2004 for pupils in state schools. A subject of debate. Two ways of understanding the principle, and some of the questions people argue about. Full translation An English translation of the whole text, made for this course and kept close to the original. The numbers are the paragraph numbers of the original text, so you can move between the two. Laïcité explained The word laïcité is hard to translate. Many languages have no exact word to express it. And yet in France it is a word everyone knows, and one that is often discussed in the newspapers. What is laïcité ? A definition In France, laïcité is a principle that separates the state and religions. The state depends on no religion, and religions do not depend on the state. The state is neutral: it favours no religion, and it is not against religions either. Laïcité also protects an important freedom: freedom of conscience. Every person is free to believe in a religion, to change religion, or to have no religion at all. Everyone may practise their religion, as long as this respects public order and the law. The French Constitution says so in its very first article: "France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic." A little history For centuries France was a country where the Catholic Church had very great influence. The king was crowned in a church, and the Church took care of schooling, births, marriages and deaths. The Revolution of 1789 began to change things. T