In the summer of 1905, the Catholic cassock, and whether to ban wearing it in the streets, sparked a passionate debate in France. For Charles Chabert, a leftwing MP, the black ankle-length soutane was not just an affront to modernity but a reminder of the threat the monarchist Catholic Church posed to the secular republic that he, and his colleagues, sought to consolidate with a bill enforcing a strict separation of state and religion.
1905年夏天,圍繞天主教長袍,以及是否應該禁止在街上穿著教袍,法國曾展開一場激烈辯論。左翼議員夏爾•沙貝兒(Charles Chabert)認爲,長及腳踝的黑色教袍不僅是對現代性的侮辱,還提醒人們:君主制主義的天主教會對崇尚世俗的共和國構成威脅。爲了鞏固世俗共和體制,他和同事們正推動一項法案,強制執行嚴格的政教分離。