With the presence of our confrere Fr. Serafino M. Lehaire in Italy, originally from Belgium and French speaking, the search to open a mission in France began, where our confreres could exercise their French in view of our mission to the French speaking people, like in Benin. After contacting some of the various dioceses in France, Providence disposed that our confrere encountered the bishop of Tuolon, and a providential encounter in the Curia with the parish priest Père Benoit Arnauld led to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Angels. The statue of Our Lady “with hands joined” made of chestnut wood and found in the 11th century, is there venerated by the French people. Throughout the year in this Sanctuary, the people of Pignans make their traditional pilgrimage to Our Lady under the title “Notre Dame des Anges.” (“Our Lady of the Angels”).
Official name: French Republic Capital: Paris Area: 543,965 sq km; 210,026 sq mi
People: Population: 61,083,916 (2007 estimate)
Largest cities, with population Paris: 2,153,600 (2005 estimate) Marseille: 820,900 (2005 estimate) Lyon 466,400 (2005 estimate) Toulouse 435,000 (2005 estimate) Nice 347,900 (2005 estimate)
Ethnic groups Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, and Nordic; North and West African, Caribbean, Indochinese, and Basque minorities
Languages French, regional dialects and languages (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish), English, Arabic
Religions Roman Catholic 81 percent Protestant 2 percent Jewish 1 percent Muslim 5 percent Nonreligious 11 percent
Education Education expenditure as a share of gross national product (GNP) 5.6 percent (2002-2003) Number of years of compulsory schooling 11 years (2002-2003) Number of students per teacher, primary school 19 students per teacher (2002-2003)
Government Form of government Presidential republic Head of state President Head of government Prime minister (premier) Legislature Bicameral legislature National Assembly: 577 deputies Senate: 321 senators
Constitution 28 September 1958; amended in 1962 to provide for direct election of the president, in 1992 to comply with the provisions of the European Union (EU) Maastricht Treaty, in 1993 to tighten immigration laws, and in 2000 to shorten the president's term to five years
Highest court Court of Cassation
Economy Gross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) $2.1 trillion (2005) GDP per capita (U.S.$) $34,935.50 (2005)
GDP by economic sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing 2.2 percent (2005) Industry 20.9 percent (2005) Services 76.9 percent (2005)
Monetary unit* 1 euro (€), consisting of 100 cents *The French franc (F) became linked to the EU single currency, the euro (€), on 1 January 1999 at a fixed rate of 6.55957 to 1 euro (€). Euro coins and bills replaced the French franc as the national currency on January 1, 2002.
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The Word Was Made Flesh is a monthly missionary review of MISSiOMARIAE.NET. It publishes articles on the missions and related topics such as the Directives of the Magisterium on the missions, Apostolic spirituality, Mariology, homilies and sermons and more...
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