Cathedrals
The State owns 87 cathedrals as well as the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire in Carcassonne and the Church of Saint-Julien in Tours, all of which are classified as historical monuments.
The Ministry of Culture finances all maintenance, repair and restoration work within the limits of the provisions of the law of 9 December 1905 on the separation of Churches and the State.
These buildings are dedicated to Catholic worship. The devotee is represented by the minister of worship, rector of the cathedral, serving him. The express and prior agreement of the service provider is necessary for the organization of any event that it considers compatible with the exercise of worship in accordance with administrative jurisprudence. The use for cultural purposes of cultural buildings belonging to the State and classified in full as historical monuments is justified by the architectural and artistic interest of these buildings but this use requires the express prior agreement of the service provider.
Joint work between the State (Directorate General for Heritage and Architecture in the Ministry of Culture and Central Office for Religious Affairs in the Ministry of the Interior) and the representatives of the Conference of Bishops of France was undertaken under the authority of the Prime Minister, within the framework of the Church-State dialogue, in order to harmonize the provisions for the use of cathedrals and churches belonging to the State, in compliance with the provisions of the law of separation of churches and the State, the General Code of Property of Public Persons and the Heritage Code.
The work undertaken is translated into a series of practical sheets on the use of state-owned religious buildings contributing to establish the rules and uses necessary for the proper management of buildings and their real and movable heritage, specifying the role of the various stakeholders (serving, Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Building Curator, National Monuments Centre, Heritage Service and various potential users).
These sheets present the context of use of buildings and the legislative and regulatory references (sheets n° 1 and 2), the provisions on the conservation, safety and security of these buildings classified as historic monuments (sheets n° 3, 4 and 5), the procedure applicable during the modification work of the building and the conditions of financing the work in these buildings (sheets n° 6 and 7), the conditions for collecting state royalties when organizing concerts and other cultural events in state-owned religious buildings (fact sheet no. 8), the conservation and use of organs (sheet n° 9), the opening and management of a cathedral treasure (fact sheet no. 10), the police of worship in cathedrals (record no. 11).
All these cards are available to cathedral users and can be used as a reflection for the use of buildings used for worship not belonging to the state.
- Factsheet 1: Cultural Use of Cathedrals
- Sheet 2: Legislative and regulatory references
- Factsheet 3: The role of the historic monument curator in cathedrals
- Factsheet 4: Safety in cathedrals
- Sheet 5: Safety in cathedrals
- Factsheet 6: Modification work in cathedrals
- Fact Sheet 7: Financing the work in cathedrals
- Factsheet 8: The organization of concerts and other cultural events in cathedrals
- Sheet 9: Keep and Use a Cathedral Organ
- Fact Sheet 10: Open to the public and manage a cathedral treasure
- Fact Sheet 11: The Cult Police in Cathedrals
- Sheet no. 12: Filming, shooting and sound in cathedrals
- Amended Law of 9 December 1905 on the Separation of Church and State
- The buildings of worship in the General Code of Property of Public Persons (2006)
- Heritage Code, Book VI
- Circular of July 29, 2011 relating to the buildings of worship: property, construction, repair and maintenance, urban planning rules, taxation
- Secularism and religious freedom, collection of texts and jurisprudence, Les éditions des Journaux officielles, 2011 (unavailable)
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