La separation de l'eglise et de l'etat, le cas breton

Disestablishment : the case of britany

• Auteur / Autrice : Yves Tripier
• Direction : J. MICHEL SCHLICK
• Type : Thèse de doctorat
• Discipline(s) : Sciences des religions
• Date : Soutenance en 1995
• Etablissement(s) : Université Marc Bloch (Strasbourg) (1971-2008)

Résumé

La crise grave survenue entre l'eglise catholique et l'etat, a partir de la prise du pouvoir par les radicaux, en 1902, debouche sur un veritable ''etat de guerre'' entre le pouvoir civil et l'autorite religieuse. Des episodes de violences : explosions des congregations enseignantes durant l'ete de 1902, en bretagne suspension du traitement concordataire de pretres pour participation a des actions de resistance aux expulsions, ou pour le seul fait de continuer a faire en langue bretonne, leurs prones dominicaux, furent suivis de la rupture des relations diplomatiques avec la papaute, puis de celle du concordat de 1801 concretisee par le vote de la loi de separation de l'eglise et de l'etat, du 9 decembre 1905. Le nouveau regime de laicite, ne dans la defiance de l'etat vis-a-vis de l'eglise manifestee, en particulier, par les inventaires des biens ecclesiastiques, objet d'affrontements, evolua heureusement, surtout apres la 1ere guerre mondiale, vers une laicite plus neutre avec la reprise, en 1920, des relations diplomatiques entre la republique francaise et le saint-siege. Grace a la reconnaissance bilaterale des associations diocesaines,a la creation d'aumoneries catholiques dans certains etablissements publics (ecoles, hopitaux, prisons, armees) et aussi aux contratsconclus, depuis 1959, avec des ecoles confessionnelles (loi debre), on peut parler de nos jours d'une ''laicite ouverte'' pour qualifier les actuels rapports de l'eglise et de l'etat francais, qui peut servir de modele pour les etats democratiques modernes.

The serious crisis that broke out between the catholic church and the state from the moment the radical party came to power in 1902, led to a genuine ''state of war'' between the secular power and the authority of the church. Outbursts of violence ; the expulsions of teaching communities during the summer of 1902 ; in brittany the suspension of the concordat priests salaries for having taken part in resistance movements against the expulsions or for the simple fact that they went on preaching their sunday sermons in breton, were followed by the breaking down of diplomatic relations with the papacy, afterwards by that of the 1801 concordat which was put into concrete form with the passing of the bill on the disestablishment of the church on december 9, 1905. The new lay regime, born out of the state's challenge to the church, revealed particularly by the drawing up of inventories of the clergy's property, the subject of open defiance, fortunately developed especially after the first world war, into a more neutral form of secularity with the renewal of dioplomatic relations between the french republic and the holy see in 1920. Thanks to the bilateral acknowledgement of diocesan bodies, to the creation of catholic chaplainships in certain public institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons, the army) and also to the agreements reached since 1959 with denominational schools (the debre act), today one can speak of an ''open minded secularity'' for qualifying the present day relations between the church and the french state, which can be used as an example for modern democratic states.