The Minister of Worship (or "Minister of Public Worship", or "Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs") is a cabinet member

French government ministers

The Cabinet of France is a body of top administration members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. In French, the word gouvernement generally refers to the "Administration", but in a narrower sense to the Cabinet.The Council is responsible to the French National Assembly...

 in the Government of France

Government of France

The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...

 responsible for overseeing the French government's relationship with religions

Religion in France

France is a country where freedom of religion and freedom of thought are guaranteed by virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the...

. An area of particular attention was the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

's role in public education, and the portfolio of Minister of Worship was frequently combined with "Minister of Public Education

Minister of National Education (France)

The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

". After the founding of the Third Republic

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...

 in 1871, the Jules Ferry laws

Jules Ferry laws

The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French Laws which established free education , then mandatory and laic education . Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican School...

 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

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

 created in 2003 the CFCM

French Council of the Muslim Faith

The French Council of the Muslim Faith , is a national elected body, to serve as an official interlocutor with the French state in the regulation of Muslim religious activities. It is a non-profit group created on 28 May 2003, consisting of 25 CRCMs...

.

Ministers of Worship

• Jean Étienne Marie Portalis 11 July 1804 - 25 August 1807
• Félix, comte Bigot de Préameneu 4 January 1808 - 1 April 1814
• Denis Luc Antoine, comte Frayssinous 26 August 1824 - 3 March 1828
• François Jean Hyacinthe Feutrier 3 March 1828 - 8 August 1829
• Guillaume Isidore, comte de Montbel 8 August 1829 - 18 November 1829
• Martial, comte de Guernon-Ranville 18 November 1829 - 31 July 1830
• Achille Léonce Victor Charles, duc de Broglie 11 August 1830 - 2 November 1830
• Joseph Mérilhou 2 November 1830 - 27 November 1830
• Félix Barthe 27 November 1830 - 13 March 1831
• Marthe Camille Bachasson, comte de Montalivet
  Marthe Camille Bachasson, comte de Montalivet
  Marthe Camille Bachasson, 3rd Count of Montalivet was a French statesman and a Peer of France.-Family:...
  
   13 March 1831 - 30 April 1832
• Louis Gaspard Amédée, baron Girod de l'Ain30 April 1832 - 11 October 1832
• Antoine, comte d'Argout 31 December 1832 - 4 April 1834
• Jean-Charles Persil 4 April 1834 - 22 February 1836
• Paul Sauzet  22 February 1836 - 6 September 1836
• Jean Persil 6 September 1836 - 15 April 1837
• Félix Barthe 15 April 1837 - 31 March 1839
• Louis Gaspard Amédée, baron Girod de l'Ain 31 March 1839 - 12 May 1839
• Jean-Baptiste Teste
  Jean-Baptiste Teste
  Jean-Baptiste Teste was a French politician of the July Monarchy. He fell from grace in the Teste-Cubières scandal.-Early life:...
  
   12 May 1839 - 1 March 1840
• Alexandre-François Vivien 1 March 1840 - 29 October 1840
• Nicolas Martin du Nord 29 October 1840 - 12 March 1847
• Michel Pierre Alexis Hébert14 March 1847 - 24 February 1848
• Hippolyte Carnot
  Hippolyte Carnot
  Lazare Hippolyte Carnot was a French statesman.- Early life :Lazare was the younger brother of the founder of thermodynamics Sadi Carnot and second son of the revolutionary politician Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot, who also served in the government of Napoleon. He was born at Saint-Omer,...
  
   24 February 1848 - 11 May 1848
• Eugène Bethmont 11 May 1848 - 28 June 1848
• Hippolyte Carnot
  Hippolyte Carnot
  Lazare Hippolyte Carnot was a French statesman.- Early life :Lazare was the younger brother of the founder of thermodynamics Sadi Carnot and second son of the revolutionary politician Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot, who also served in the government of Napoleon. He was born at Saint-Omer,...
  
   28 June 1848 - 5 July 1848
• Achille Tenaille de Vaulabelle 5 July 1848 - 13 October 1848
• Alexandre Pierre Freslon 13 October 1848 - 20 December 1848
• Alfred Frédéric, comte de Falloux 20 December 1848 - 31 October 1849
• Marie Louis Pierre Félix Esquirou de Parieu 31 October 1849 - 24 January 1851
• Charles Giraud 24 January 1851 - 10 April 1851
• Marie Jean Pierre Pie Frédéric Dombidau de Crouseilhes 10 April 1851 - 26 October 1851
• Charles Giraud 26 October 1851 - 3 December 1851
• Hippolyte Fortoul 3 December 1851 - 7 June 1856
• Gustave Rouland 13 August 1856 - 23 June 1863
• Pierre Jules Baroche 23 June 1863 - 17 July 1869
• Jean-Baptiste Duvergier 17 July 1869 - 2 January 1870
• Émile Ollivier
  Émile Ollivier
  Olivier Émile Ollivier was a French statesman. Although a republican, he served as a cabinet minister under Emperor Napoleon III and led the process of turning his regime into a "liberal Empire".-Early life and career:Émile Ollivier was born in Marseille...
  
   2 January 1870 - 10 August 1870
• Michel Grandperret  10 August 1870 - 4 September 1870
• Jules Simon
  Jules Simon
  Jules François Simon was a French statesman and philosopher, and one of the leader of the Opportunist Republicans faction.-Biography:Simon was born at Lorient. His father was a linen-draper from Lorraine, who renounced Protestantism before his second marriage with a Catholic Breton. Jules Simon...
  
   5 September 1870 - 17 May 1873
• Oscar Bardi de Fourtou 18 May 1873 - 25 May 1873
• Anselme Batbie 25 May 1873 - 26 November 1873
• Oscar Bardi de Fourtou 26 November 1873 - 22 May 1874
• Arthur de Cumont 22 May 1874 - 10 March 1875
• Henri Wallon
  Henri Wallon
  Henri-Alexandre Wallon was a French historian and statesman whose decisive contribution to the creation of the Third Republic led him to be called the "Father of the Republic"...
  
   10 March 1875 - 9 March 1876
• Louis Martel 12 December 1876 - 17 May 1877
• Joseph Brunet
  Joseph Brunet
  Joseph Brunet was a politician and businessman. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Member of the Liberal Party in the 1902 election to represent the riding of St. James. His election was declared void on December 22, 1902...
  
   17 May 1877 - 23 November 1877
• Hervé Faye
  Hervé Faye
  Hervé Auguste Étienne Albans Faye was a French astronomer, born at Saint-Benoît-du-Sault and educated at the Ecole Polytechnique, which he left in 1834, before completing his course, to accept a position in the Paris Observatory to which he had been appointed on the recommendation of M. Arago.He...
  
   23 November 1877 - 13 December 1877
• Agénor Bardoux
  Agénor Bardoux
  Agénor Bardoux was a French statesman and republican, son of Jacques Bardoux and wife Thérèse Pignet Agénor Bardoux (Bourges, Cher, 15 January 1829–Paris, 23 November 1897) was a French statesman and republican, son of Jacques Bardoux (Moulins, 3 February 1795 - Clermont-Ferrand, 8 January...
  
   13 December 1877 - 4 February 1879
• Émile de Marcère 4 February 1879 - 4 March 1879
• Charles Lepère 4 March 1879 - 17 May 1880
• Ernest Constans 17 May 1880 - 14 November 1881
• Paul Bert
  Paul Bert
  Paul Bert was a French zoologist, physiologist and politician. He is sometimes given the sobriquet "Father of Aviation Medicine".-Life:Bert was born at Auxerre...
  
   14 November 1881 - 30 January 1882
• Gustave Humbert 30 January 1882 - 7 August 1882
• Paul Devès 7 August 1882 - 13 September 1882
• Armand Fallières
  Armand Fallières
  Clément Armand Fallières was a French politician, president of the French republic from 1906 to 1913.He was born at Mézin in the département of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of the peace...
  
   13 September 1882 - 21 February 1883
• René Waldeck-Rousseau
  René Waldeck-Rousseau
  this gy was coolPierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau was a French Republican statesman.-Early life:Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique...
  
   21 February 1883 - 27 February 1883
• Félix Martin-Feuillée 27 February 1883 - 6 April 1885
• René Goblet
  René Goblet
  René Goblet was a French politician, Prime Minister of France for a period in 1886–1887.He was born at Aire-sur-la-Lys, Pas-de-Calais and was trained in law. Under the Second Empire, he helped found a Liberal journal, Le Progrès de la Somme, and in July 1871 he was sent by the département of the...
  
   6 April 1885 - 30 May 1887
• Eugène Spuller
  Eugène Spuller
  Eugène Spuller was a French politician and writer.He was born at Seurre , his father being a German who had married and settled in France. After studying law at Dijon, he went to Paris, where he was called to the bar, and became close to Léon Gambetta, collaborating with him in 1868 in the...
  
   30 May 1887 - 12 December 1887
• Léopold Faye  12 December 1887 - 3 April 1888
• Jean-Baptiste Ferrouillat 3 April 1888 - 5 February 1889
• Edmond Guyot-Dessaigne 5 February 1889 - 22 February 1889
• François Thévenet 22 February 1889 - 17 March 1890
• Armand Fallières
  Armand Fallières
  Clément Armand Fallières was a French politician, president of the French republic from 1906 to 1913.He was born at Mézin in the département of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of the peace...
  
   17 March 1890 - 27 February 1892
• Louis Ricard 27 February 1892 - 6 December 1892
• Charles Dupuy
  Charles Dupuy
  Charles Alexandre Dupuy was a French statesman, three times prime minister.-Biography:He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a...
  
   6 December 1892 - 4 April 1893
• Raymond Poincaré
  Raymond Poincaré
  Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
  
   4 April 1893 - 3 December 1893
• Eugène Spuller
  Eugène Spuller
  Eugène Spuller was a French politician and writer.He was born at Seurre , his father being a German who had married and settled in France. After studying law at Dijon, he went to Paris, where he was called to the bar, and became close to Léon Gambetta, collaborating with him in 1868 in the...
  
   3 December 1893 - 30 May 1894
• Charles Dupuy
  Charles Dupuy
  Charles Alexandre Dupuy was a French statesman, three times prime minister.-Biography:He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a...
  
   30 May 1894 - 26 January 1895
• Raymond Poincaré
  Raymond Poincaré
  Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
  
   26 January 1895 - 1 November 1895
• Émile Combes
  Émile Combes
  Émile Combes was a French statesman who led the Bloc des gauches's cabinet from June 1902 – January 1905.-Biography:Émile Combes was born in Roquecourbe, Tarn. He studied for the priesthood, but abandoned the idea before ordination. His anti-clericalism would later lead him into becoming a...
  
   1 November 1895 - 29 April 1896
• Alfred Rambaud 29 April 1896 - 26 September 1896
• Jean-Baptiste Darlan 26 September 1896 - 1 December 1897
• Victor Milliard 2 December 1897 - 28 June 1898
• Ferdinand Sarrien
  Ferdinand Sarrien
  Jean Marie Ferdinand Sarrien was a French politician of the Third Republic. He was born in Bourbon-Lancy, Saône-et-Loire and died in Paris. He headed a cabinet supported by the Bloc des gauches parliamentary majority....
  
   28 June 1898 - 1 November 1898
• Charles Dupuy
  Charles Dupuy
  Charles Alexandre Dupuy was a French statesman, three times prime minister.-Biography:He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a...
  
   1 November 1898 - 22 June 1899
• René Waldeck-Rousseau
  René Waldeck-Rousseau
  this gy was coolPierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau was a French Republican statesman.-Early life:Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique...
  
   22 June 1899 - 7 June 1902
• Émile Combes
  Émile Combes
  Émile Combes was a French statesman who led the Bloc des gauches's cabinet from June 1902 – January 1905.-Biography:Émile Combes was born in Roquecourbe, Tarn. He studied for the priesthood, but abandoned the idea before ordination. His anti-clericalism would later lead him into becoming a...
  
   7 June 1902 - 24 January 1905
• Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin
  Bienvenu Martin
  Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu Martin was a French Radical leader and cabinet officer. He was born at Saint-Bris-le-Vineux , and was educated in the law. He held an underprefecture, entered the Council of State, and in 1894 became director under the Minister of the Colonies...
  
   24 January 1905 - 14 March 1906
• Aristide Briand
  Aristide Briand
  Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...
  
   14 March 1906 - 2 March 1911
• Ernest Monis
  Ernest Monis
  Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis was a French politician of the Third Republic, deputy of Gironde from 1885 to 1889 and then senator of the same department from 1891 to 1920...
  
   2 March 1911 - 27 June 1911
• Joseph Caillaux
  Joseph Caillaux
  Joseph-Marie–Auguste Caillaux was a major French politician of the Third Republic. The leader of the Radicals, he favored a policy of conciliation with Germany during his premiership from 1911 to 1912, which led to the maintenance of the peace during the Second Moroccan Crisis of 1911...
  
  27 June 1911 - 14 January 1912