There are about 90,000 church buildings in France, of which about 17,000 are under government protection for their historic or architectural value, giving France the greatest density of religious buildings of any European country. About 10 percent of the protected churches are in perilous condition, she says, because of a lack of government financing for their preservation, as are a far larger percentage of the remaining churches.
In other countries, notably England and Italy, disused houses of worship have been converted into homes, stores or museums. But the situation in France is made more complicated by the fact that all the country’s churches and cathedrals are the property of local governments. It seems an awful waste to allow such buildings to go to rack and ruin when they could perfectly well be used for another purpose. A mosque, for example.
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