Jewish and Muslim families transmit their religion better than Catholic families

Muslims and Jews transmit their faith better than Catholics. This is one of the salient aspects of the survey published by INSEE on March 30, according to which ” 91% of people raised in Muslim families and 84% in Jewish families continue to claim the religion of their parents”, compared to only 67% of those raised by Catholic parents.

This strong family reproduction is explained above all, according to the study, by religious education within the family. “Parental religious socialization is clearly more consistent for Muslims and Jews, nearly three-quarters of whom say it was somewhat or a lot of importance »can we read there.

As far as Islam is concerned, Simona Tersigni, sociologist, underlines in particular the place occupied by the body in transmission. “Learning about religion through bodily experience takes place little by little”she explains, taking the example of Ramadan, which children and adolescents learn to follow at a given age.

Bodily experience of religion

In Islam, where the five daily prayers and Ramadan fasting are obligatory“religion actually paces the day and the year », she explains. Kantcho, a 25-year-old Malian, admits that she doesn’t talk much about religion to her three young children, but knows that they see her doing her ablutions and her prayers five times a day.

“My children saw us doing Ramadan, then they did it themselves”, also reports Sabrina, a 54-year-old childminder, whose children are already grown. She says she raised them “in a spirit of openness”, while respecting the religion. When they were small, she read them surahs from the Koran before sleeping, and she always makes sure that they don’t eat pork or drink alcohol.

The Muslim religion, marked by the migratory experience of the first generations, also constitutes “a pillar of identity”, adds Simona Tersigni.“It’s an issue of loyalty in relation to family values ​​and everything that relates to deep identity. » However, this religious identity is not “frozen” : “There may be atheists who call themselves Muslims, and who continue not to eat pork because they have been socialized in a Muslim environment”she notes.

A duty of memory

Among Jews, the pillar of transmission also lies in family reunions, believes Martine Cohen, sociologist of Judaism in France and Europe, for whom “The link to the divine passes above all through the community link”. Lionel Medioni, 58, father of three, agrees. The regularity of the Shabbat, which he celebrates every Friday within his family, allows him to have “puerile and profound discussions”but which are always the occasion “to exchange and question religion”.

Other springs come into play in Judaism. According to Martine Cohen, “the collective identity formed around the persecution of the Jews also plays an important role in the transmission”. Coming from a Moroccan Jewish family, Andrea Dahan, 24, considers that “the fear that Jewish culture is being lost through the generations” calls for a particularly important duty of memory.

“We are constantly reminded that our people have suffered, from the exodus from Egypt to the Holocaust, including the expulsion from Spain”, explains the young woman. This passing of the memorial relay requires reinforced pedagogy: “It is never a shame for us to explain why we celebrate such a holiday, she continues. On the contrary, it is encouraged. »