Emmanuel Macron flirting with the red line?

On November 29, 2024, Emmanuel Macron, in the heart of Notre-Dame, thanked those who worked to rebuild the building. Never has a president given a speech in a cathedral. Did he violate the principle of French secularism? The law of separation of Church and State, dating from 1905, establishes the neutrality of elected officials on religious questions. They can dialogue with cults, as long as they do not interfere in the practice of religion.

“The speech at Notre-Dame is, in my opinion, part of a purely political speech, there are no remarks of a religious nature,” analyzes Clément Benelbaz, lecturer in public law. Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, has, in the past, flirted several times with the red line, notably during his speech before the bishops of France, on April 9, 2018, where he invited the Church not to “feel on the margins of the Republic”.

However, he is not an exception, since his predecessors, including Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, also sometimes came to terms with the principle of secularism.

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Loi 1905 :

Legifrance

Press articles:

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Radio France

Clément Benelbaz – lecturer in public law, author of a thesis “The principle of secularism in French public law”

Bernard Lecomte – journalist, specialist in the papacy, author of “France-Vatican: two centuries of secret war” (Perrin, 2024)

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