Shrine to Our Lady in Sassy
‘The numbers are grim. Last year, according to reports, more than one-third (35 percent) of France’s population and almost two-thirds (63 percent) of youth said they belonged to “no religion.”’
Not only are France’s church-goers aging, so are church officials — the average priest in the country is now 75, forcing the importation of foreigners to conduct religious services
Father Innocent Feugna, an African deacon who toils at St Pierre de Guise in northern France, complained that his congregation in aging and dying out.“ Here I’m preaching to pensioners,” he lamented to BBC.
.“The Catholics are dispersed throughout the country, more heavily in the rural areas than in the urban centers, but nevertheless geographically omnipresent,” said Yates.