If the parents were Breton speaking, the children were too. In their responses to the bishop’s survey, the rectors observed that “At home and at play, most of the time, they only speak Breton”. In Ploujean close to Morlaix, 51 out of 122 children followed French catechism classes, even though they “hardly ever heard French spoken, except at school, and not at all or very little at home and round and about.”
The teachers called upon by the assistant state representative in Morlaix were not unanimous in their statement, but generally considered that children could learn their catechism in French, “since everyone, both boys and girls, regularly follow the lessons from a very early age.” The teacher at Pleyber-Christ was convinced that catechism “can be taught exclusively in French to all children who go to state-run schools”.
Both the Church and public authority’s surveys agreed on the basics however. The clergy estimated that a little over 30% of children were receiving catechism classes in French and confirmed that the majority were able to follow. The public authority’s survey recognised that 20% of children still needed to be taught these classes in Breton. Half of the children could just as easily follow catechism classes in either language. Deciding which language these classes should be held in was therefore a real question of linguistic policy. The Church continued to prioritise Breton. Émile Combes was adamant that the language spoken at school should also be the language used for catechism.
Translated by Tilly O'Neill