As you probably know, one interesting twist in France is that the State owns all the churches and decides who operates them. Therefore (and has happened already at least once) if a diocesan parish declines and a traditionalist group “moves in” the state may transfer the chapel to the traditionalist group. A great example of “sometimes the right thing happens for the wrong reason”.
“A great example of “sometimes the right thing happens for the wrong reason”.
It’s interesting. There are 3 countries in which there’s a strong Latin Mass subculture: the U.S., the U.K. and France. What does Catholicism in these 3 countries have in common? Well, it’s not “the establishment religion.”
Historically, protestantism was the dominant religion in the U.S. and U.K., while secularism has mostly prevailed France in since 1789. So, there’s a very healthy streak in the Catholicism in these countries that is contrarian and independent-minded in ways that don’t exit in “Catholic countries/regions” like Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Bavaria, etc.