France’s Catholic Schools Under Abusive State Scrutiny
Based on a report, Catholic schools in France are facing state inspections criticised as abusive and humiliating. Teachers reported unannounced classroom visits, students being questioned about their faith, and pressure to remove Christian symbols, all of which undermine the schools’ Catholic identity. Catholic education authorities warn that these practices violate both educator dignity and parents’ right to provide religious education.
A detailed report by the General Secretariat of Catholic Education (SGEC), published on December 8 2025, describes inspections that intensified after the Bétharram abuse scandal. While the report acknowledges the legitimacy of state supervision, it condemns the methods used, which it calls intrusive and demeaning. Inspectors reportedly entered classrooms without prior notice, questioned students directly about personal religious practices including attendance at Sunday Mass, and examined notebooks and spiritual diaries during lessons. Teachers were pressured to reduce the explicit Catholic content of their lessons and to remove Christian symbols, undermining the schools’ distinctive religious identity.
As reported by the Catholic News Agency, inspectors sometimes roamed school buildings in groups of 10 to 16 without accompaniment and even searched students’ backpacks. Guillaume Prévost, representing Catholic education leadership, denounced the behavior, saying: “We could not continue letting our teachers be humiliated.” These practices were put within a broader political context, following parliamentary calls for increased oversight of schools in the name of child protection—measures critics warn risk turning supervision into ideological imposition.
These inspections primarily violate Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Pressuring schools to limit their religious expression also affects parents’ right under Article 2 of Protocol 1 to guide their children’s education and touches on Article 8’s protections for private and family life. Beyond legal concerns, such oversight undermines trust in schools, intimidates staff and students, and restricts the exercise of religious freedom.
Sources: CNA, Infovaticana, enseignement-catholique.fr
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