FRANCE RELIGION Religion. Three churches are recognized and supported by the state in France, - the Roman Catholic, the Protestant (subdivided into Calvinist and Lutheran), and the Hebrew. In Algeria the Mussulman creed is equally recognized.

Roman Catholic. - The Roman Catholic Church is much stronger than the others. It may perhaps be said that France is the country where this church is the most powerful ; at any rate, it has there its most perfect organization, and raises the largest sums of money ; and it is to France that, directly or indirectly, the Holy See appeals in all its difficulties. Most of the provisions of the " concordat" concluded in 1801 between the first consul Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. arc still in force. France is divided into dioceses, each governed by an archbishop or a bishop, and the dioceses into parishes, each of which has at its head a cure, or parish priest. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the head of the Government and confirmed by the pope; the archbishop of Paris receives a salary of 50,000 francs, and the others are paid 20,000 francs a year. The stipend of the bishops is 15,000 francs per annum. In 1789 France contained 135 dioceses, 18 of which were archbishoprics. The Constituent Assembly made the dioceses correspond exactly with the departments; but this was changed by the concordat of 1815. The archbishoprics and bishoprics now existing in France are as follows : - Archbishoprics. Bishoprics.