The educational system in France neither proscribes nor promotes religious education. Religious education in the French state system appears to play a marginal role in state education as a consequence of the progressive secularisation of France. Butis the situation any different in French private denominational schools? Logically, it should be.With the 31 December 1959 Act1on academic freedom, the French State integrated Catholic schools into the ‘public service teaching mission’ (‘mission de service public’) while acknowledging their ‘distinctive character’ (‘caractère propre’). In so doing, the State guaranteed the exercise of academic freedom by allowing children from religious families to receive a religious education as part of their schooling. However, the religious ethos of Catholic schools, their ‘distinctive character’, despite being acknowledged in the law, has become diluted.