France: As Many Muslims as Practising Catholics in 18-29 Year-Old Demographic

Fewer and fewer French identify as being actively religious, and according to a new study there are now as many practising Muslims among the 18- to 29-year-old demographic as there are practising Roman Catholics.

In total, around 32 per cent of French in 2018 identify as being members of the Roman Catholic church, but the majority, 19 per cent, say that they do not practise, and only seven per cent say that they attend mass once a month — down from an already low nine per cent in 2008, French political magazine Le Point reports....

The rise of Islam in France was addressed by Archbishop of Strasbourg Luc Ravel, who tied the trend to the shifting population demographics, claiming, “Muslim believers know very well that their birthrate is such that today, they call it … the Great Replacement, they tell you in a very calm, very positive way that, ‘one day all this, it will be ours’.”...