Launched in January 2008 with a largely male class of 25, courses training Muslim chaplains in France have taken place at the Catholic Institute of Paris. Alongside religious training, the program aims to teach France’s legal, historical and social mores to the largely foreign-born student body. According to Interior Ministry spokesperson Gerard Gauchet, the year-long program is not theological-focused. It aims to reflect the largely born-in-France Muslim population; roughly 80 percent of the country’s 1200 imams were born overseas.
