--- title: The Pope in Paris | TIME description: TIME Rome bureau chief Jeff Israely on the Pope's visit to France, where religion is in flux with fewer practicing Catholics and a growing Muslim population canonical: https://time.com/video/OKb9jLmx/ og:title: The Pope in Paris og:description: TIME Rome bureau chief Jeff Israely on the Pope's visit to France, where religion is in flux with fewer practicing Catholics and a growing Muslim population og:url: https://time.com/video/OKb9jLmx/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OKb9jLmx/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Pope in Paris twitter:description: TIME Rome bureau chief Jeff Israely on the Pope's visit to France, where religion is in flux with fewer practicing Catholics and a growing Muslim population twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OKb9jLmx/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The Pope in Paris > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Pope in Paris [Watch (HLS stream): The Pope in Paris](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OKb9jLmx.m3u8) (4:34)  _Published 2008-09-12. TIME Rome bureau chief Jeff Israely on the Pope's visit to France, where religion is in flux with fewer practicing Catholics and a growing Muslim population_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:00 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [See The Weirdest Memorabilia You Can Buy For The Pope’s U.S. Visit](/video/oXCDMcuo/) ### See The Weirdest Memorabilia You Can Buy For The Pope’s U.S. Visit [Pope Francis Says Catholics Should Not "Breed Like Rabbits"](/video/h1rWW3md/) ### Pope Francis Says Catholics Should Not "Breed Like Rabbits" [Sinéad O'Connor On: The Pope & Religion](/video/tgeLsGIV/) ### Sinéad O'Connor On: The Pope & Religion --- ## Transcript >> Following far- flung trips to America and Australia, Pope Benedict XVI arrived today for a visit much closer to home. His four days stay in France includes a meeting with President Sarkozy, an open- air mass in Central Paris, and a trip to the southwest pilgrimage town of Lourdes. Known as the eldest daughter of church and home of the papacy in the 14th century, France is still a Catholic country in many ways with some 75 percent of its citizens baptized. But faith in France is in a state of flux with ever fewer practicing Catholics and a growing in more observant Muslim population mixing in the context of laïcité, the more rigid French form of separation of church and state. The country's famous cathedrals these days are as likely to be filled with tourists as worshipers. Just 10 percent of Catholics attend mass in France and growing numbers question why the church and even its Supreme Pontiff are worthy of special attention. >> I don't see why he should be especially welcomed and I don't see why he should be more welcome than Dalai Lama has been last [ unk ] ago. >> Those French Catholics who are faithful to the church's teachings know that they are swimming against the stream of modern life. -[ Foreign Language ] [ Foreign Language ] >> Sarkozy, a nominally Catholic, two- time divorcee, has nevertheless looked to inject religion into the public debate in a whole new way. He used to visit to a Rome Basilica in February to speak about a positive laïcité. Some see it as a reaction to the increasing assertiveness of French Muslims who have been challenging longstanding dark line separating church and state which famously led to the ban of headscarves in public schools in 2004. >> It's true that there are lots of-- there's more and more Muslim people in France and less an less Catholics. I mean, all the [ unk ] that even the ones who are not going to the church [ unk ] that their country is Catholic and it's important for them that the Catholic would still be the first religion of the French because of its history. The France is a Catholic country and it's good that it continues. >> Practicing Catholics like Caroline Lamour wonder about the future of France's strict secularism. >> Muslim, they don't accept that and they are more than 10 percent of the population. So, we have to change. They don't accept that, you know, that you have this big separation that you will only [ unk ] for your home, private life. >> Right. >> They want to be Muslim 100 percent. >> Lamour says there may be a good lesson in this for French Catholics. >> That's-- I mean, we don't have to be ashamed of our faith. >> Benedict is clearly concerned about the church's eldest daughter and regularly denounces the rise of relativism throughout the west. Cardinal André Vingt- Trois, the archbishop of Paris, is trying to put the best face on the state of Catholicism in France for the pontiff's visit. -[ Foreign Language ] >> The Pope ran into trouble in a by- now famous discourse about faith and violence exactly two years ago today in Regensburg, Germany that offended many Muslims. The Vatican has since worked to repair the damage and the French Muslims we spoke with welcomed Benedict as a fellowman of God. -[ Foreign Language ] >> France's changing demographics are bound to affect the country's unique approach to secularism and in a smaller way, perhaps, a Papal visit will, too. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Pope in Paris","description":"TIME Rome bureau chief Jeff Israely on the Pope's visit to France, where religion is in flux with fewer practicing Catholics and a growing Muslim population","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OKb9jLmx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2008-09-12T17:08:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OKb9jLmx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/OKb9jLmx/","duration":"PT4M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/OKb9jLmx/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```