Religion in Marseille

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Modern-day Marseille's cultural diversity is reflected in the wide variety of religious beliefs of its citizens.

Contents

Christianity

Catholicism

The Archdiocese of Marseille is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in France. The Archepiscopal see is in the city of Marseille, and the diocese comprises the arrondissement of Marseille, a subdivision of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.[ citation needed ]

In 2013 there were 715,000 Catholics in Marseille, forming 68.2% of the total population of the diocese. [1]

Eastern Orthodox

[ better source needed ]

Armenian Apostolic Church

[ better source needed ]

European immigration to Marseille

In 2014 the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE, for its acronym in French) published a study, according to which the number of Italians, Portuguese and Spaniards in the south of Marseille has doubled between 2009 and 2012. [2] According to the French Institute, this increase resulting from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period, has pushed up the number of Europeans installed in the south of Marseille. [2] [3] Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107 percent between 2009 and 2012, i.e. in this period went from 5,300 to 11,000 people. [2] [3]

Pentecostals

[ better source needed ]

Buddhism

According to Smithsonian Magazine, there is a small community of Buddhists in Marseille of 3,000. [4] The Phap Hoa Pagoda is the largest Buddhist place of worship in the city, founded in 1990 by a Buddhist monk, Thích Thiền Định. [5]

Islam

As official data on religion are generally not collected in France on the principle of secularism ("laïcité"), the precise number of Muslims in Marseille is not available. [6] An unverified source estimate Muslims to constitute 20%[ citation needed ] [7] of the city's population. A survey of high-school students carried out in 2000–2001 suggests that 30–40% of young people have a Muslim background. [8] In 2015, The Guardian reported that were 250,000 Muslims in Marseille. [9]

In Marseille, there are seven halal abattoirs during Eid al-Adha, 73 prayer spaces, including 10 in the city centre.[ citation needed ] The city still does not have an official mosque. [9]

Religiosity

According to a 2011 survey, three-quarters of the Muslims in Marseille considered themselves actively observant Muslims, one-quarter responded no, and 3% of respondents declined to answer.[ citation needed ] Of those who considered themselves actively observant, 40% stated that they prayed, and 11% added that they attended a mosque on a regular basis.[ citation needed ] The intensity of religious practice was not gender-related; a few more women indicated they actively practised (39%, in comparison with 35% of men). [10] [ better source needed ]

History

Immigration to Marseille

Muslim immigration from the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) started to increase in the 1970s. [11] Marseille's population of Algerian descent is estimated to be at least 150,000. [12] [ citation needed ] Over the last 30 years, the city has become the main destination for Comorians immigrants. [4] As of 2014, there are approximately 61,700 Turks also living in Marseille. [13]

Judaism

The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot estimated that around 80,000 Jews lived in Marseille in 2013, comprising just under 10% of the city's population.[ citation needed ] In 2017, Marseille had the third-largest Jewish population of any urban centre in Europe. [14] There are around 50 synagogues in Marseilles, 47 of which are Orthodox. [15]

References

  1. ↑ "Archdiocese of Marseille". Catholic hierarchy. 1 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "El número de inmigrantes españoles en Francia se ha duplicado con la crisis". 28 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Qui sont les nouveaux immigrés qui vivent en France ?".
  4. 1 2 Purvis, Andrew (December 2007). "Marseille's Ethnic Bouillabaisse". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  5. ↑ "The Phap Hoa Pagoda, a Buddhist temple in Marseille - Guide.en-vols" . Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Adam (2015-01-09). "Map: France's growing Muslim population". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  7. ↑ "Resentment grows between Christians and Muslims in France". PBS NewsHour. 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  8. ↑ A survey of high-school students carried out in 2000–2001 suggests that 30–40 per cent of young people have a Muslim background, F. Lorcerie, "Cités cosmopolites. Sur les identités sociales des lycéens marseillais [ dead link ]" (Cosmopolitan estates. On the social identities of high-school students of Marseille), Report for FASILD, IREMAMCNRS, Aix-en-Provence, January 2005. Survey carried out with V. Geisser and L. Panafit.
  9. 1 2 Azadé, Annabelle (2015-03-03). "Marseille's Muslims need their Grand Mosque – why is it still a car park?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  10. ↑ Lorcerie & Geisser 2011 , p. 66
  11. ↑ Schwartz, Yaakov (6 December 2020). "Work, history and dialogue keep Jews, Muslims happy together in sunny Marseille". The Times of Israel . ISSN   0040-7909 . Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  12. ↑ Lorcerie & Geisser 2011 , p. 101
  13. ↑ Zaman France. "La communauté turque compte 611.515 personnes en France". Archived from the original on 2014-12-21. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  14. ↑ Ruiz, Teofilo F. (14 August 2017). The Western Mediterranean and the World: 400 CE to the Present. John Wiley & Sons. p. 255. ISBN   9781118871423 . Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  15. ↑ Liphshiz, Cnaan (August 8, 2017). "It's Jew vs. Jew in France as conflict over women reading Torah turns ugly". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved September 20, 2017.

Sources

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