HOW'S THAT SECULARISM WORKING OUT FOR YOU?:

France 'no longer a Catholic country' (Henry Samuel, 10/01/2007, Daily Telegraph)

Barely half the French population describe themselves as Catholic, according to a poll released yesterday, sparking a leading religious publication to declare France "no longer a Catholic country". [...]

The number of atheists has risen sharply to 31 per cent from 23 per cent in 1994.

French Catholicism, while suffering during the Revolution, did not begin its real decline until 1905, experts say, when pre-war France was declared a secular state, all funding of religious groups was stopped and religious buildings were declared the property of the state.