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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world/europe/30schools.html
French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools
[New York Times] Katrin Bennhold - At the St. Mauront Catholic School in Marseille, 80% of the students are Muslim. France has only four Muslim schools and 8,847 Roman Catholic schools. Muslim and Catholic educators estimate that Muslim students make up more than 10% of the two million students in Catholic schools. France is now home to around five million Muslims, Western Europe's largest such community. Imam Soheib Bencheikh, a former grand mufti in Marseille, is founder of its Higher Institute of Islamic Studies. His oldest daughter attends Catholic school. "It's ironic," he said, "but today the Catholic Church is more tolerant of - and knowledgeable about - Islam than the French state."