The complex and frequently-misunderstood concept of laïcité - secularism - is set to be reinforced with the creation of a new office designed to oversee the application of one of the fundamental principles of the French republic.
If you follow French news reports you will have seen recently a lot of controversy about 'Islamo-gauchisme' - but what exactly does this term mean and is it really the French version of 'woke'?
The French parliament on Tuesday votes on a bill to battle Islamist extremism, which the state argues is needed to bolster the secular system but critics say breaches religious freedom.
Three Muslim groups refused on Wednesday to back an anti-extremism charter pushed by French officials following a spate of jihadist-inspired attacks, dealing a blow to a flagship initiative of President Emmanuel Macron's government.
Three months ago, President Emmanuel Macron made a speech in the Paris suburbs in which he promised a law to combat radical, Islamic 'separatism' writes John Lichfield.
The French government has issued a new 80-page guide on how to ensure the treasured principle of securalism (laicité) is respected in schools in France. From long skirts and sex education here are six of the main rules.
A French mayor and dozens of other MPs and elected councillors from around the Paris region sang the Marseillaise on Friday as they marched towards around 200 Muslim worshippers in a bid to stop them praying in the street.
Nearly 37,000 people signed an online petition as of Thursday protesting against a French court order to remove a cross from a statue of the late Polish-born Pope John Paul II in Brittany, western France.
France's highest court has demanded that a cross overhanging a statue of former Pope John Paul II be removed from a a square in a Breton town, provoking anger among those who believe France's Catholic heritage is being destroyed.
In a secular state bruised by a string of jihadist attacks, religious education is a sensitive subject. But in recent years, France has cautiously begun developing religious education in schools.
A teacher in central France has been suspended after he read passages of the bible to his primary school pupils. Educagtion authorities in the staunchly secular country have been accused of overreacting.
A town in eastern France has been ordered to remove a statue of the Virgin Mary to comply with a national ban on religious symbols in public, the local mayor has said.
A mayor on the French island of Corsica on Monday became the third nationwide to announce a ban on burqinis, after violent clashes broke out, allegedly sparked by tourists taking pictures of women wearing the full-body swimsuit.
French schools were supposed to celebrate a national Day of "Secularism" on Wednesday, but it appears the subject was hardly given a mention. The Local looks at why.
Paris transport chiefs have lifted their ban on an advertising poster mentioning "Christians of the East," after coming under fire for pushing France's beloved secularity too far.
As the annual Christmas battle over nativity scenes rages in France, it was a victory for the traditionalists in southern Montpellier on Friday as a court refused to order the removal of a town hall creche.
The latest row over secularism in France has erupted after a court in the western city of Nantes ordered a traditional nativity scene to be removed from the Christmas decorations in a local council building.
A French official has stoked controversy this week by suggesting some of France’s Christian holidays should be removed and replaced with a national day off for the Jewish and Muslim festivals of Yom Kippur and Eid.
The French government announced this week, that a “secularism charter” will be placed in every school in the country by the end of September. The plan is only the latest in a series of recent controversies over the place of religion in French education.
A French headteacher stirred up a storm when she sent a letter to parents, suggesting pupils would be forced to eat meat at school, because “secularism must be respected in its entirety”. She has since been forced to backtrack.
France’s education minister presented his plan for school pupils to learn “secular morality” values to the French parliament on Monday. The project has been likened to a call by Marshal Petain, who led Nazi-allied, Vichy France, during World War II.
France’s education ministry published its annual grades for secondary schools, or lycées, on Wednesday, revealing that private, religiously-affiliated schools were among the top performers and that Paris was home to many of the highest ranking institutions.
Public opinion has already taken shape in France’s new secularism debate, with two new polls revealing the vast majority of French people would ban religious symbols, in particular the Islamic veil, from all workplaces.
A row over secularism has erupted again in France after a court annulled the sacking of a nursery assistant, fired for refusing to remove her Muslim head scarf. The decision represented 'a dark day for secularism in France' said one former minister.
