Minister of Public Worship

The Minister of Worship (or "Minister of Public Worship", or "Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs") is a cabinet member in the Government of France responsible for overseeing the French government's relationship with religions. An area of particular attention was the Roman Catholic Church's role in public education, and the portfolio of Minister of Worship was frequently combined with "Minister of Public Education". After the founding of the Third Republic in 1871, the Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 law on the separation of the State and the Church, the Minister of Worship was combined with the Minister of Interior. Thus, it is in that quality that the previous Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy created in 2003 the CFCM.