Twenty years after the death of Pope John Paul II, the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, prompted the same commemorative gesture from the French state and reignited the same controversy over laïcité, France's conception of secularism. Like in 2005, Prime Minister François Bayrou's government requested flags to be lowered on public buildings on Saturday, the day of the pontiff's funeral. In 2005, Bayrou had said of his predecessor Jean-Pierre Raffarin's decision that "it does not correspond to the distinction between spiritual convictions and political or national choices." The centrist, then a rebellious ally to Raffarin's government, had said, "I certainly would not have made such a decision."

Twenty years later, the decision "was made by the Elysée [the presidency], in agreement with the prime minister," according to the prime minister's office. During his trip to the Indian Ocean earlier in the week, President Emmanuel Macron continuously sent messages to the Catholic community following the news of Francis's death. On Thursday, in Madagascar, he visited Father Pedro, a close associate of the pope who created a community near Antananarivo.

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