Teologia e Estudos da Religião em França

Resumo

During the past few years, the place of Religious studies has increased all over Europe, and sometimes it’s in competition with Theology. There are plenty of reasons at the origin of this phenomenon. There is of course the increasing secularization of society with major Christian denominations losing their influence – religious practice is diminishing, vocations are scarcer, and theology institutions are gradually recruiting a much more diverse public than only from among the religious and clerics. Yet religions are not disappearing from society, Islam itself is experiencing a rise in strength, other religious references are emerging, and probably there has never been so much talk about religion as we now have. Within this context of radical pluralism, non-confessional Religious studies appear much more respectful of the principle of laïcité. The concept of the religious is expanded to, and thus influences or sacralises, new realities; traditional religions are reproached, probably like never before, and terrorist attacks turned them into scapegoats. Vandalism of confessional places and religious discrimination have become common.