Pierre-Édouard Stérin’s Cultural Battle: How a French Tycoon Invests Culture and Education to Change Politics

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In May 2025, at the Institut du Bon Pasteur, a traditionalist^[1] Catholic institution, conservative and libertarian billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin identified “priority areas” to invest “energy, time, and money”:

(1) having more babies of European origin; (2) ensuring that these babies are baptized and evangelizing globally … (3) Education. We need a strong France. We therefore need well-educated youth at all levels to lead and develop the country and make it a powerful nation … (4) Culture and heritage: we need a strong France, but also a France with deep roots.^[2]

By adopting its codes, vocabulary, and natalist, evangelical, and racialist agenda, the French entrepreneur has publicly aligned himself with a Catholic far-right identitarian current that, although still a minority, has gained significant traction in France since the early 2010s.^[3] This movement portrays Islam as a religion of conquest and depicts Muslims as internal enemy threatening a French identity defined as both white and Christian.^[4] Their identity-related anxieties have also been fueled by debates surrounding feminist and LGBTIQ demands for equality, as well as by the Vatican-led anti-gender transnational campaign launched since 1995 to counter what it describes as attempts “to denaturalize the gendered and sexual order.”^[5]

Catholic social mobilizations defending traditional family values and intimacy have thus fostered a movement seeking to gradually reassert Catholic identity as a form of political identity. Since the 1990s, these Catholic social movements, closely connected to right-wing and far-right networks, champions of a nationalist family ethos and opposed to changes perceived as threatening to the social and sexual order, have led a continuous offensive against concept of gender, sex education in school, and progressive reforms regarding family and bioethics laws, often relying on Vatican support.^[6] They have adopted both the conceptual and rhetorical tools developed by the Catholic hierarchy in its ideological conflict against “gender theory”^[7] as well as revived racist imagery, notably through the great replacement conspiracy theory.

While education has historically been a contentious issue between the French Republic and the Catholic Church since the late 19th century, the far right has increasingly targeted education and culture as privileged domains for its metapolitical struggle. As Stérin declared in an op-ed published in Le Figaro in July 2024: “In France, there is a very effective left-wing brainwashing industry, and it is against this that we want to fight with Pericles.”^[8] Inspired by the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025,^[9] revealed to the public through an investigation carried out by the newspaper L’Humanité, the Pericles Project for “Patriots, Roots, Resistance, Identity, Christians, Liberals, Europeans, Sovereigntists” seeks to confront what it calls the country “main problems” by facilitating far-right and right-wing unity, ending the longstanding “cordon sanitaire” policy. Mobilizing far-right markers, its agenda is to combat “socialism, wokeism, Islamism, [and] immigration,” with the explicit goal of enabling the far right’s electoral victory in 2027 through large-scale investments in legal action, elected officials training, culture and education.^[10]

France is currently seeing an increase of educational and cultural projects aimed at promoting traditionalist Catholic and far-right ideas. Pierre-Édouard Stérin stands out as one of the main actors in this cultural battle, and this article’s objective is to analyze the nature of his projects, the vectors and the networks he mobilizes. By examining both public online and social media content and associated institution websites, I aim to identify the rhetorical strategies employed by Catholic far-right actors in their metapolitical contest in educational and cultural spheres.

Promoting “Integral Education”: A Metapolitical Project, Traditional Catholic Networks

The Growth of Private Education Outside the State System

The Stérin project is part of a broader French trend characterized by the growing enrollment of children in independent schools, while the public education system has experienced steady budget reductions over several decades.^[11] The reactionary and discourse of decline about public education has created a political and ideological space that allows certain entrepreneurs of ideas to promote their own schools outside the national education system.

According to the sociologist Pierre Merle, the number of pupils enrolled in private elementary schools operating outside the state system (although still representing a small minority of private education overall) increased by 194% between 2011 and 2022.^[12] In middle schools, enrollment rose by 98% during the same period. Merle identifies this as a “new reality in education” whose rapid growth deserves close attention.^[13] This development can be explained in part by favorable policy measures, notably those introduced by the government of François Fillon (Prime Minister from 2007 to 2012).^[14] Independent schools are required to comply with the national “common core” curriculum and to observe health and safety regulations, but they otherwise retain full autonomy regarding pedagogy, content, and scheduling. These institutions can nevertheless benefit from indirect public support, particularly through tax-exempt donations.

The expansion of this educational sector has taken place under the auspices of the Fondation pour l’École, an organization that “preferentially funds traditionalist Catholic institutions” and encourages the development of single-sex education.^[15] Established in 2008 with the stated aim of “reviving the school system” through the promotion of independent schools,^[16] the foundation was granted public-utility status by the Fillon government. This designation enables it to offer a 66% tax deduction on private donations. The foundation is closely connected to Catholic networks with links to far-right movements. Since 2022, it has been chaired by Michel Valadier, a member of Renaissance catholique, an organization devoted to the defense of Catholic tradition and to stop the “de-Christianization of French society.”^[17] In April 2024, Valadier called for a “restoration of authority” in schools in an op-ed published in the right-wing daily Le Figaro.^[18] Valadier also co-founded, in 1992, the Saint-Dominique private single-sex school group in Le Pecq, near Paris, which he directed for many years.^[19] The school was later headed by François-Xavier Clément, a leading advocate of “integral education” in France (see below), highlighting the tight interconnections among these Catholic educational networks. All of these figures are also members of Rasso,^[20] an association of former Scouts of Europe, a scouting movement known for its proximity to far-right Catholic circles and its partnership with organizations such as Ichtus^[21] and the magazine Famille Chrétienne.^[22]

Stérin and “Integral Education” Networks: From Catholic Doctrine to Far-Right Pedagogy

In this context of rising demand for private education outside the state system and given that its declared purpose is “to promote Christ” and to ensure “the defense and promotion of France,”^[23] Stérin, who has been close to the charismatic and traditionalist Emmanuel Community,^[24] has been investing in education at all levels, guided by a central principle, a guiding word: “integral education” (éducation intégrale).

The concept of “integral education” originated in the second half of the 19th century within libertarian and socialist movements, before being integrated into the Catholic intellectual tradition through the work of the French theologian Jacques Maritain, who presented it as a set of Christian principles for education in a series of lectures at Yale University.^[25] The term was subsequently taken up by the Second Vatican Council, though without precise definition. In 1977, the Congregation for Catholic Education provided an official interpretation, describing as a process that seeks to achieve a synthesis between life, faith, and culture, within an educational community^[26].

This conception of education explicitly incorporates the spiritual and religious dimensions of the human person. In 2015, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, summarized it at UNESCO, as “a process that places cognitive, psychological, pragmatic, manual, affective, and spiritual development on the same level.”^[27] Integral education thus aims to create an organic relationship between personal fulfillment and the promotion of the common good, grounded in the traditional Catholic hierarchy between Thomas Aquinas’ view of natural law—of divine origin—and positive law.^[28] In this perspective, natural reason guided by Christian revelation reveals what the common good is, and it must take primacy over any competing concept of personal rights. Within this framework, parents and teachers are viewed as part of a single Catholic educational community. The model therefore rejects any separation between family education and Catholic school, implying that religious education should be integrated into the classroom. Such an approach directly contradicts the secular principles of French Republican education.

In France, in the early 2020s, this concept of “integral education” has been promoted by François-Xavier Clément, a controversial figure of Catholic education. Clément, who had directed Saint-Jean de Passy, a major Parisian Catholic institution, from 2015 to 2020, was dismissed after accusations of moral harassment – charges ultimately dismissed by the courts. Despite this, he received support from French far-right media, including TV Libertés, co-founded by Martial Bild, a former leader of the National Front.^[29] Closely associated to Stérin, François-Xavier Clément is the founder of the Saint-Joseph network which explicitly promotes “integral education.”^[30] He also established Alte Academia, a teacher training institute founded in 2024, and contributes to the Ichtus association. Clément also sits on the board of the Académies Saint-Louis, founded in November 2023 and financed by Stérin (see below).^[31]

The connection between Stérin and François-Xavier Clément is explicit: Stérin wrote the preface to Clément’s book La voie de l’éducation intégrale (the path to integral education), in 2021.^[32] In this work, Clément denounces the legacy of the 1968 social movements on education, along with the influence of feminism and gender studies (reduced to the figure of the philosopher Judith Butler)^[33] as the origins of a “gender ideology rooted in radical feminism” that has “found its way into our children’s schoolbooks.”^[34] This rhetoric reproduces Vatican arguments,^[35] which frames gender as a feminist concept incompatible with the naturalistic and essentialized belief in sexual order. Beyond its anti-feminist dimension, typical of Catholic and far-right antigender narrative,^[36] Clément’s argument alludes to a major controversy that emerged in France following the 2010 introduction of the theme “Masculine/Feminine” into biology school curricula, addressing biological sex, gender identity, and gender roles. The reform triggered opposition from Catholic activists and conservative MPs, though without altering educational content.^[37]

Aligned with the Vatican’s post-1990s rhetoric^[38] and Catholic far-right groups, Clément incorporates the “3Ns”—nature, normality, nation^[39]—mobilized in the fights against gender as core principles of his educational philosophy. This framework reflects a “nationalist familism” that defines “the (heterosexual) family as the cornerstone of social order and the defense of ‘Christian roots’ as the foundation of Western civilization.”^[40] Children are thus defined as “the sons or daughters of a father and a mother,” the family as the “basic cell of society,” in an organic society.^[41]

The Saint-Joseph network’s “Charter for Integral Education” mirrors this traditionalist preoccupation with gender and sexuality. It recommends “not exposing children to immorality” —a phrase encompassing “incitement to debauchery, corruption of minors,^[42] and ideological interference.” Such formulations are particularly troubling given the Church’s ongoing sexual abuse scandals, both in France and globally.^[43] Consistent with the naturalistic approach promoted by Vatican theoreticians, Clément reaffirms the “natural order” of sexual identities, advocates gender segregation in education, and highlights “authentic friendships” as a means of preventing the “suffering associated with gender dysphoria.”^[44] Clément is indeed a fervent opponent to what he refers to as “gender confusion and ideologies of change that are invading our children’s education.”^[45] In line with his alleged “apolitical” rhetoric, which dismisses his political opponents as having a delegitimizing “ideology,” François-Xavier Clément uses transphobic arguments, the latest manifestation of the anti-gender campaign and moral panic led by Catholic networks. In line with traditional Church doctrine, sexuality is only considered for its emotional and reproductive purpose.^[46] By claiming to reject “ideology” in “the art of education,” Clément employs a depoliticizing strategy, dismissing adversaries as ideological while reasserting his own political project as neutral and natural.

School, the “First Battleground for Ideological Struggle”

In this context, Stérin outlines his political project for education in France in the preface to Clément’s book. He challenges and rejects the French public education system, portraying schools as the “first battleground for ideological struggle, with generations sacrificed on the altar of egalitarianism and the struggle against the transmission of heritage.”^[47] Here, Stérin adopts a familiar trope of far-right discourse, in which egalitarianism is seen as both the symptom and the cause of societal decadence. Consequently, he presents education school as the “first battlefield for those who wish to invest in society.”^[48]

In line with the demands of the écoles libres movement^[49]—openly opposed to the republican principles of public education—Stérin defends the right to “choose a school and its teaching staff.” He calls for the development of Christian schools committed to “integral education,” intended to shape—in a rhetoric typical of the far right—“upright men.” His discourse echoes the anti-decadent narrative common among far-right groups: “As a patriot, I realize how much France needs people who will stand up to restore it and, dare I say, save it.”^[50]

Rejecting accusations of elitism, Stérin instead promotes a discourse of “excellence” that would not be the privilege of a wealthy minority—thanks to a system of private donations that benefit from partial tax exemptions. His rhetoric of excellence thus contrasts with what he presents as the “failures” of public education due, according to him, to its “egalitarianism.” Consistent with the principles of “integral education,” he underscores the importance of “complementarity and coherence between what is taught at home and what is taught at school.”^[51] Stérin’s concerns also reflect the core preoccupations of Catholic far-right educational thought and its opposition to the French principle of laïcité: a conception of history teaching consistent with far-right values, the promotion of authority and order, racial hierarchies and the centrality of faith. He thus asks:

How can we give children a taste for history that is no longer taught? How can we instill respect for authority when teachers’ authority is being undermined? How can we expect our children to be polite when they spend their days in a school jungle? How can we try to talk to them about the mystery of faith in the evening when it is denied during the day? … we need institutions that provide integral education.^[52]

The Stérin project targets all levels of the French school and aims to create a “free school” incubator:^[53] a primary education network in French rural areas through the project Excellence Ruralités, secondary schools through the Académies Saint-Louis, and university education.

“Excellence Ruralités”: Conquering Rural Territories Neglected by the National Education System and Won Over by the RN

Since 2017, Stérin has been a major financial backer of the Excellence Ruralités project (initially called Espérance Ruralités), which he funds through his Fond du Bien Commun (Common Good Fund)^[54] and under the umbrella of the Fondation pour l’École. The Common Good Fund is a Catholic philanthropic association, whose mission is to support projects in four areas: integral education, family, human and spiritual growth, and culture and heritage (“offering everyone the opportunity to learn more about French culture”).^[55] For its Catholic audience, the notion of the common good functions as both a moral keyword and a form of political legitimation. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, political action is legitimate only insofar as it serves the common good, understood as “the harmony between Church and State.”^[56] This helps explain the widespread use of the term within traditionalist Catholic circles.

Partly funded by the Common Good Fund, Excellence Ruralités is also supported by the Fondation pour l’École.^[57] The project’s economic model (created in 2017 by Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac,^[58] who describes himself on his X account as a “social entrepreneur”^[59] and frequently appears on the far-right channel CNews;^[60] and Hervé Catala,^[61] a banker and fierce opponent of public education) relies primarily on donations. Benefactors receive substantial tax deductions via the Fondation pour l’École framework, while families contribute only about 10% of tuition fees. According to Mediapart, the head of Excellence Ruralités’ development, Paul-François Croisille, also sits on the board of the Nuits du Bien Commun (Nights of the Common Good), a fundraising network for Catholic charities.^[62]

The “Excellence Ruralités” initiative aims to establish private, non-contracted elementary schools as a response to what it calls an “educational emergency”^[63] in rural territories affected by demographic decline and school closures. The project capitalizes on structural weaknesses in the French national education system, undermined by decades of neoliberal reforms, and targets socially and geographically marginalized areas that are also key strongholds for far-right parties. Its schools promise a “peaceful” environment and smaller class sizes, something that the national education system cannot guarantee.^[64]

Although its charter claims that the schools are “apolitical and nondenominational,”^[65] both the vocabulary and the imagery used on its website reveal an ideological orientation aimed at a traditionalist Catholic and far-right audience. The “five pillars”^[66] of its pedagogy convey an imagined rootedness typical of identitarian rhetoric: the goal is to “train free, well-rooted,^[67] and responsible adults” through a “pedagogy based on classical anthropology, inherited from Greek and Christian cultures.” Students are also expected to engage in “service to the common good”^[68]—a term central to Stérin’s discourse and to Catholic teaching. The emphasis on forming an “organic educational community,” love for “the country and its regions,” and the “transmission of heritage” reflects a far-right nationalist worldview in which education serves to reproduce traditional hierarchies and moral order.

The Excellence Ruralités charter explicitly draws inspiration from the Catholic doctrine of integral education^[69] and aligns with far-right educational ideas.^[70] Behind the rhetoric of pedagogical innovation^[71] lies the promotion of highly traditional moral values. Following the integral education model, teachers are presented as enseignants-éducateurs—“teacher-educators”—while parents and teachers together form an “organic community” responsible for children’s moral and civic formation. Students are to be educated in “freedom,” understood as the ability to act in accordance with the common good. The charter also emphasizes keywords such as “roots,” “heritage,” and “love of country,” revealing an identitarian conception of history teaching as a patriotic narrative celebrating French continuity and cultural tradition.^[72] The project’s donors confirm its deep ties to traditionalist Catholic networks. In addition to Stérin and the anti-abortion foundation Stella Domini,^[73] supporters include the Fondation Stanislas pour l’Éducation, affiliated with the conservative Collège Stanislas in Paris.^[74] The foundation publicly states that it sponsors the education of five students at Cours Clovis, one of the Excellence Ruralités schools, which currently enrolls around seventy children.^[75]

As of October 2025, three Excellence Ruralités schools were operating: Cours Clovis in La Fère (northern France), Cours Aliénor d’Aquitaine in Esse (Charente), and Cours Vauban in Étang-sur-Arroux (Morvan region, central France). Cours Aliénor d’Aquitaine is headed by Philippe Sauer, former director of Cours Charlier—a traditionalist, single-sex private school in Nantes affiliated with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP).^[76] In a 2017 letter to parents, Sauer lamented that “society is becoming increasingly feminized, even over-feminized,” echoing the far-right discourse on the “crisis of masculinity.”^[77] He wrote that “men must become women and modern women want to turn men into women,” and justified single-sex education as a way for boys to “develop and integrate their masculinity, because the world needs leaders, strong men, men capable of ideals.”^[78] Although he now heads a coeducational school, his conception of gender remains essentialist, consistent with Vatican doctrine and far-right “gender ideology”.

The three Excellence Ruralités schools are all located in districts represented by members of Parliament from the National Rally (RN). Beyond tax exemptions, Cours Clovis received the donation of a castle, the Château de La Fère, from the local municipality for the symbolic sum of €1,^[79] while the Cours Aliénor d’Aquitaine occupies former municipal school buildings closed in 2016. The network also enjoys favorable media coverage from far-right media outlets.^[80] In April 2025, the local branch of Éric Zemmour’s far-right party Reconquête expressed its support for the opening of Cours Vauban, claiming it would “give rural youth another chance.”^[81] Implicitly, this rhetoric contrasts rural (implicitly white and Catholic) youth with urban, working-class, and often racialized populations presumed to benefit from public investment, revealing the racial subtext of the initiative. On May 7, 2026, the newspaper Le Monde revealed the contents of two inspection reports from the Ministry of National Education, highlighting in particular “significant deficiencies” in the teaching provided at these institutions.^[82] Behind a narrative of “social action” and “educational justice,” the real objective of Excellence Ruralités is to offer far-right Catholic education to children in impoverished and depopulated regions, where public education is in crisis. Its claim to be “apolitical and non-denominational” thus functions as a classic metapolitical strategy of the far right—promoting ideologically charged projects under the guise of neutrality and civic virtue.

The Saint-Louis Academies, a Traditionalist “Boarding School of Excellence”

In addition to Excellence Ruralités, Stérin’s Fond du Bien Commun (Common Good Fund) also supports the Académies Saint-Louis.^[83] According to the French newspaper L’Humanité, the initiative was launched and is managed by individuals within Stérin’s close professional and ideological circle: Juliette Marcilhacy, head of educational programs at the Fond du Bien Commun; Stanislas de Lesseps, his real estate investment manager; and Vincent Trébuchet, whom Stérin tasked with establishing a network of Catholic secondary schools and who, in 2024, was elected as a deputy of the Union des droites pour la République (UDR) for the Ardèche department.^[84]

The very name “Saint Louis” situates the academies under the symbolic patronage of Louis IX (Saint Louis), the crusader king who died in Tunis in 1270 during the Eighth Crusade. A canonical figure of French Catholic monarchism, Saint Louis has long been idealized by the far right as the embodiment of Christian virtue, moral order, and defense of Christian civilization. In 2024, the Catholic nationalist politician Philippe de Villiers, one of the main figures of the French Catholic right, published a hagiographic biography of this “very Christian king,” further contributing to his appropriation as an identitarian and political symbol.^[85]

The first Académie Saint-Louis boarding school, a single-sex secondary school, opened in September 2025 in Chalès, in the Sologne region—a conservative area in central France historically associated with elite landowners and the French business establishment.^[86] The school occupies the Chalès estate, located a few kilometers from Salbris, whose mayor, Alexandre Avril (deputy leader of Éric Ciotti’s party, the UDR), is both a political ally and protégé of Stérin.^[87] The estate, owned by the Œuvre des Orphelins des Douanes (Charity for Customs Orphans, ODOD), a secular charity that hosted children’s summer camps since 1948, was sold in 2023 for approximately €7.2 million to a real estate company in which Stérin holds a 90% stake.^[88] At the start of the 2025 school year, the Académie Saint-Louis enrolled 65 middle-school students, with plans to expand to 600 male students over several years. Tuition fees range from €4,500 to €14,500 per year. The curriculum includes standard morning classes, followed by supervised study sessions, and evening activities in the arts and sports—such as tennis, rowing, and theater. Access to the Salbris community’s facilities (gym, soccer field, swimming pool) is facilitated by the mayor’s personal support, further illustrating local political patronage.^[89]

On the Académies Saint-Louis website, the school’s Catholic identity is explicitly stated. It aligns itself with the figure of André Charlier (1895–1971),^[90] a Benedictine monk and literature teacher influenced by Charles Maurras’ ideology, who taught at the École des Roches^[91] and promoted a nationalist and traditional vision of education rooted in Christian tradition, Greco-Latin culture, and moral rigor. In 1980, far-right Catholic activist Bernard Antony, who represented traditionalist Catholicism within the National Front, founded the Henri-et-André Charlier Center,^[92] a hub for traditionalist Catholic intellectuals. By referencing Charlier, the Académies Saint-Louis thus inscribe themselves within a long-standing lineage of nationalist and traditionalist Catholic networks.

The teaching staff illustrates the dense network of far-right Catholic circles. The head of the boarding school, Grégoire d’Ornellas, an engineer by training, previously served as a mathematics teacher and deputy director in an Excellence Ruralités school for seven years.^[93] He is the brother of Charlotte d’Ornellas, a journalist associated with identitarian and far-right Catholic media outlets such as Boulevard Voltaire, Présent, and TV Libertés, and currently a key figure in Vincent Bolloré’s conservative media empire (CNews, JDD, Valeurs actuelles, Europe 1). She describes herself as a “reinformation” journalist and sits on the board of SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, an organization claiming to be apolitical but founded by far-right activists from “La Manif pour Tous,” and known for its proximity to the Assad regime and Lebanese Phalangist circles.^[94] The school’s dean, Jean-Baptiste Paul, formerly worked with Espérance Banlieues, a network of non-contract schools supported by the Fondation pour l’École that is currently under investigation for violence and under close supervision by the French Ministry of Education.^[95] Another staff member, Marie-des-Neiges de Guillotel, serves as admissions coordinator and is a former board member of the Fédération des Parents d’Élèves des Écoles Indépendantes (Federation of Parents of Students of Independent Schools), an organization closely linked to the Fondation pour l’École. More recently, as Mediapart reported in a February 2026 article, Guy-Antoine Castex, a physical education teacher at Académie Saint-Louis, was appointed to a position within the mayoral office of Salbris under the authority of Alexandre Avril. Notably, Avril is currently teaching Latin at the same institution, thereby confirming the close ties between the municipality of Salbris and the private institution.^[96]

The opening of this secondary school nonetheless provoked resistance: on July 11, 2025, an open letter was sent to local authorities urging them to prevent the school’s opening, warning against the “risk of brainwashing” and describing the institution as a “political academy serving an ideology.”^[97] In response, Le Figaro published an opinion piece defending the project, signed by several local officials—including Salbris mayor Alexandre Avril, Nouan-le-Fuzelier mayor Patrick Lunet (where the academy is located), and Roger Chudeau,^[98] a National Rally MP and former education adviser to François Fillon.^[99] After a three-month review process, local authorities—including the prefect, the public prosecutor, and the regional education authority—granted official authorization for the academy’s opening in July 2025.^[100]

The Chalès Estate, an Economic Model Serving the Traditionalist Far Right

The Chalès estate serves not only as a boarding school but also as a revenue-generating cultural and event venue.^[101] In July 2025, Salbris Mayor Alexandre Avril promoted a public barbecue held at the estate to celebrate its reopening after extensive renovations—an event framed as a “community gathering”^[102] but effectively functioning as a promotional campaign to legitimize the academy and advertise the estate’s amenities (weddings, fishing, horseback riding). An editorial in Le Figaro described the event, which reportedly attracted 1,500 participants, as “proof that this place is alive, dynamic, and welcoming.”^[103]

Later that summer, from August 20–24, 2025, the estate hosted its first “family and faith camp,” organized by the association Transmissio, founded in January 2025 by Xavier Le Saint, academic director of Saint-Jean de Passy, a prestigious Parisian Catholic middle-school, which provides several of its executives to the Saint-Louis Academies. The event’s stated goal was to transform the estate into a “Christian vacation home.”^[104] Around 500 participants attended, under the patronage of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté^[105] (connected to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) and Renaissance Catholique, two of France’s most influential traditionalist movements.

The camp program combined religious instruction, liturgy, and leisure: masses, catechesis, and confessions alternated with recreational activities, culminating in a torchlight procession. Clergy from the most traditionalist Catholic communities, such as the Institute of the Good Shepherd, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), and the FSSP,^[106] celebrated services. Among the guest speakers were several prominent figures of the Catholic far right: Jean-Pierre Maugendre, president of Renaissance Catholique;^[107] Ludovine de La Rochère, founder of “La Manif pour Tous” and head of the Syndicat de la Famille; Thibaud Collin, pro-life philosopher and teacher at Stanislas high school; and François-Xavier Clément, the promoter of integral education.^[108] The influencer-priest Matthieu Raffray, a key figure in identitarian Catholic circles,^[109] preached to the children.^[110]

The event’s gendered organization—such as the instruction that “mothers would be relieved of all logistical responsibilities to fully enjoy time with their husbands and children”—illustrates the persistence of traditionalist gender norms and the promotion of patriarchal family models at the heart of this educational and cultural project.^[111]

University and Cultural Action: Entryism in Academia and Cultural Projects

The Fond du Bien Commun’s activities extend beyond primary and secondary education to encompass higher education and the broader cultural sphere. These initiatives reveal a strategy of ideological entryism aimed at shaping both intellectual production and the cultural field through the creation and financing of institutions aligned with Catholic traditionalism and nationalist values.

Stérin has also invested in student and university networks. Notably, he provides financial support to HEC Débats, one of the main student associations at the prestigious HEC Paris business school. Officially described as “apolitical,”^[112] the association became embroiled in controversy following the invitation and participation of National Rally (RN) President Jordan Bardella in November 2023. In response, its main historical sponsor ceased donations, creating a financial vacuum. According to Mediapart, the association’s president—reportedly close to far-right political figure Marion Maréchal—approached Otium Capital, the investment fund co-founded by Stérin and François Durvye, a close adviser to Marine Le Pen. An agreement was finalized in April 2024 and took effect in September of the same year. Since then, a formal partnership has been established between Otium Capital and HEC Débats, with the fund offering internships and mentorship opportunities to students.^[113]

Between 2023 and 2025, Stérin also became one of the main sponsors of the Université Catholique de l’Ouest (UCO), which enrolls approximately 13,000 students annually. This support was channeled through the John Henry Newman Fund (Fonds John Henry Newman), founded in 2022 to “promote the development of university research,” named after an English Catholic theologian.^[114] The fund’s founding members included Alban du Rostu, head of the Fond du Bien Commun; and Dominique Vermersch, former dean of UCO (2012–2022) and leader of the Emmanuel Community, an organization to which Stérin is personally connected. By 2024, the John Henry Newman Fund had raised €13 million.^[115] However, the disclosure of these links through an investigative report by Disclose led to the public severing of ties between UCO, the Newman Fund, and the Fond du Bien Commun.^[116]

In parallel, Stérin has expressed his intention to invest in preparatory classes (classes préparatoires) for France’s elite grandes écoles. In a LinkedIn post from May 2025, he announced his search for a “new ambitious educational project: creating a preparatory school.”^[117] Echoing the same rhetoric found in his other educational initiatives—emphasizing “excellence,” “merit,” and “pedagogical innovation”—this project aims to complete a continuum of Catholic traditionalist education covering the entire French academic system, from primary school to university.

Simultaneously, Stérin is extending his cultural offensive through investments in historical entertainment and nationalist cultural production. Via Otium Capital, he funds the Viking City project in Rouen^[118]—an immersive historical park—and, through the Fond du Bien Commun, he finances several festivals^[119] and performances directly inspired by Philippe de Villiers’ Puy du Fou theme park. One such production, “Murmures de la Cité” (“Whispers of the City”), held in July 2025 in Moulins (Allier, central France), received both public subsidies and private funding. Officially presented as “apolitical and non-denominational,”^[120] the show is led by far-right activist Guillaume Senet, whose stated aim is to depict France as “an eternal nation, guided by Providence, surviving turmoil and continually renewing itself.” The show’s website explicitly promotes a historical narrative consistent with far-right revisionism: “France is portrayed as an eternal country, guided by Providence, surviving torments, reinventing itself, and looking toward an even brighter future, carried by the energy and determination of its people.”^[121] Its vision of history emphasizes great Catholic figures and a counter-revolutionary image. The show’s website offers training in fencing as well as in performing arts such as dance, sewing, theater, acrobatics, and juggling, and promises “learning rooted in Auvergne culture” as part of the “Académie Murmures de la Cité” program. Senet (also known under the pseudonym Guillaume Poliste and a regular contributor to TV Liberté)^[122] heads the organization Sophia Polis, whose motto is “Community and Christianity, Knowledge and Building.”^[123] The association references Pope Pius X, a key figure of Catholic traditionalism, and includes fascist authors such as Robert Brasillach and Maurice Bardèche among its “recommended readings.”^[124] Sophia Polis maintains close ties to Academia Christiana, a far-right Catholic training school,^[125] and organizes an annual summer camp. In 2025, guest speakers included Bruno Gollnisch (longtime National Front figure), historian Bernard Lugan, Abbé Scrive (who celebrated a memorial Mass for Marshal Pétain in 2018), Jean-Yves Le Gallou (founder of the racialist Iliade Institute), and Paul-Marie Coûteaux^[126] (a political figure affiliated with several far-right parties).^[127]

Through his associate Florent Ly-Machabert, described as a “free-market conservative economist”^[128] and known for his equestrian management of Murmures de la Cité, Stérin’s network also connects to Cours Zita, a “free and alternative elementary school” named after Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary (whose canonization is advocated by certain traditionalist Catholics). The school, scheduled to open in September 2025 in Moulins, is co-directed by Ly-Machabert and his wife, Sally-Marie Ly-Machabert. It describes itself as part of a “comprehensive cultural approach aimed at promoting and preserving regional and religious heritage” and at “inspiring a deep sense of belonging, security, and pride in your children.”^[129] Cours Zita operates under the legal structure of the Bourbonnais Family Association, headquartered at Château des Noix in Cressanges—the same address as Sophia Polis. This overlap confirms the structural and ideological ties between Cours Zita, Sophia Polis, and the broader traditionalist Catholic network associated with Stérin. Despite its claims to be “apolitical and non-denominational,” the school is clearly embedded in a far-right religious milieu.

Conclusion

These initiatives demonstrate how Pierre-Édouard Stérin continues and amplifies the Catholic traditionalist offensive against the French national education system initiated in the 1990s around the “gender theory” controversy. His educational and cultural projects exemplify the identity-based tensions within contemporary French Catholicism, highlighting the growing influence of “identity Catholicism” and its moral struggle against secularism and egalitarianism. More broadly, Stérin’s metapolitical offensive represents the French expression of a transnational far-right strategy aimed at normalizing and disseminating racist, sexist, and anti-egalitarian ideas. This cultural agenda must also be understood as part of a wider political project to reinforce the Rassemblement National’s local presence ahead of the 2026 municipal elections and the 2027 presidential election.

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^[1] Traditionalist Catholics oppose the liturgy promulgated by Vatican II but, unlike the Integralists, they remain loyal to Rome. The Institute of the Good Shepherd (IBP) is a traditionalist Catholic priestly society founded in 2006 by ex-Society of Saint Pius X priests. It celebrates the Tridentine Mass while recognizing the authority of the Pope and the Holy See.

^[2] Stérin’s speech at the annual conference of the Good Shepherd Institute, May 28, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK6BpYvcl4U. He participates in a panel made up of Mathieu Raffray, an identitarian priest (see below), and Gabrielle Cluzel, a journalist who work for the far-right media outlets CNews and Boulevard Voltaire. Abbé Mathieu Raffray is also a regular guest of Academia Christiana sessions, an identity-based and Traditionalist Catholic group formed in 2013. See for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efdRukxaHfI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzjzlA1yha8; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAoads7zmtE.

^[3] Philippe Portier, “Situation du catholicisme français,” Religiologiques, no. 37 (Fall 2018): 71–94. https://www.religiologiques.uqam.ca/no37/37_071-094_Portier.pdf; Josselin Tricou, “Le catholicisme d’identité contre la mixité,” in Antiféminismes et masculinismes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, ed. Christine Bard, Mélissa Blais, and Francis Dupuis-Déri (Paris: PUF, 2025), 322.

^[4] Blandine Chelini-Pont, “La réaction politique à la visibilité de l’islam et la ‘tentation’ du populisme,” in À la droite du Père: Les catholiques et les droites de 1945 à nos jours, ed. Florian Michel and Yann Raison du Cleuziou (Paris: Seuil, 2022).

^[5] Sara Garbagnoli, “De quoi le ‘gender’ des campagnes ‘antigenre’ est-il le nom?” in Antiféminismes et masculinismes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, ed. Christine Bard, Mélissa Blais, and Francis Dupuis-Déri (Paris: PUF, 2025).

^[6] Yann Raison du Cleuziou, Une contre-révolution catholique: Aux origines de la Manif pour tous (Paris: Seuil, 2019).

^[7] On “gender ideology”: Sara Garbagnoli and Massimo Prearo, La croisade “antigenre”: Du Vatican aux Manifs pour tous (Paris: Textuel, 2017); Sara Garbagnoli, “Against the Heresy of Immanence: Vatican’s ‘gender’ as a New Rhetorical Device against the Denaturalization of the Sexual Order,” Religion & Gender 6, no. 2 (2016): 187–204,

https://doi.org/10.18352/rg.10156; David Paternotte and Roman Kuhar, eds., Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing against Equality (London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), David Paternotte, Sophie Van der Dussen, and Valérie Piette, eds., Sextant, no. 31 (2015), “Habemus gender! Déconstruction d’une riposte religieuse,” https://doi.org/10.4000/sextant.2960.

^[8] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, “Face aux injonctions des déconstructeurs, ne plus courber l’échine,” Le Figaro, July 17, 2025, https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/pierre-edouard-sterin-face-aux-injonctions-des-deconstructeurs-ne-plus-courber-l-echine-20240717.

^[9] One of Stérin’s close relatives, Alexandre Pesey, founder of the Institute for Political Training (IFP), has close ties to the Heritage Foundation. See Observatoire des multinationales, “Le réseau Atlas, la France et l’extrême droitisation des esprits,” May 22, 2024, https://multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/le-reseau-atlas-la-france-et-l-extreme-droitisation-des-esprits/.

^[10] Thomas Lemahieu, “Projet Périclès: Le document qui dit tout du plan de Pierre-Édouard Stérin pour installer le RN au pouvoir,” L’Humanité, July 19, 2024. The documents obtained by L’Humanité newspaper mention €150 million.

^[11] Since the Debré Act of December 1959, primary and secondary schools have been divided into three categories: public schools, which constitute by far the majority; private schools under contract with the state; and independent schools operating outside the state system.

^[12] In 2023, private schools enrolled 2.13 million students in primary and secondary education. Approximately 1 in 15 pupils in private education (3.9%) are enrolled in a private school not under contract with the French national education system. On statistics, see: Pierre Merle, L’enseignement privé (Paris: Repères, La Découverte, 2025).

^[13] Pierre Merle, “Une typologie des établissements privés hors contrat,” La Pensée 2, no. 422 (2025): 133–146, 134. https://doi.org/10.3917/lp.422.0133.

^[14] Merle, “Une typologie des établissements privés hors contrat.”

^[15] Merle, L’enseignement privé, 100; Tricou, “Le catholicisme d’identité contre la mixité,” 320.

^[16] The Fondation pour l’école was established by Anne Coffinier (a former member of “La Manif pour tous”), Jean-Marie Schmitz (who founded in 1981, Ichtus, the Cultural and technical institute of social utility, heir of Jean Ousset’s Cité catholique) and Éric Doutrebente who describes himself on LinkedIn as “financial advisor” and is known for his connections to Radio Courtoisie. Doutrebente is also a regular contributor to Valeurs Actuelles magazine and collaborates with TVLibertés.

^[17] “L’association,” Renaissance Catholique, accessed May 25, 2025, https://renaissancecatholique.fr/lassociation/.

^[18] Michel Valadier, “Pour un vrai ‘sursaut d’autorité’ à l’école, renforçons les prérogatives des chefs d’établissement,” Le Figaro, April 23, 2024, https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/michel-valadier-pour-un-vrai-sursaut-d-autorite-a-l-ecole-renforcons-les-prerogatives-des-chefs-d-etablissement-20240423. 

^[19] This school is related to the the traditionalist Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

^[20] “Lerasso,” accessed August 13, 2025,  https://www.lerasso.com/.

^[21] Founded in 1981, Ichtus is the successor to Cité Catholique, an organization established in 1946 by the Maurrassian thinker Jean Ousset. Before the Second Vatican Council, it stood as the principal traditionalist Catholic organization in France. During the Algerian War of Independence, several of its members actively participated in the struggle to maintain French Algeria. On Jean Ousset and Ichtus, see Mathilde Barraband and Jean-Yves Camus, “Le combat culturel des traditionalistes catholiques,” Contextes 26 (2020).

^[22] Famille Chrétienne (Christian Family) belongs to what scholar Philippe Portier calls “pole of identity.” See Philippe Portier, “Situation du catholicisme français,” Religiologiques, no. 37 (2018): 71–94, https://www.religiologiques.uqam.ca/no37/37_071-094_Portier.pdf.

^[23] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, speech at the annual conference of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, May 28, 2025, video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK6BpYvcl4U.

^[24] Héloïse de Neuville, “Pierre-Édouard Stérin et ses grands projets religieux contrariés,” La Croix, June 11, 2025, https://www.la-croix.com/religion/enquete-pierre-edouard-sterin-et-ses-grands-projets-catholiques-contraries-20250611.

^[25] For French readers acquainted with the history of the far right, the term inevitably evokes “integral nationalism,” the political theory of Charles Maurras, the historical leader of Action française.

[26] François Moog, “La notion d’éducation intégrale, pivot anthropologique de l’éducation catholique,” Transversalités, no. 141 (2017), 35–51, https://doi.org/10.3917/trans.141.0035; Dominique Greiner, “ ‘Éducation intégrale’ de François Moog: La tradition chrétienne comme resource educative,” La Croix, November 4, 2020, https://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Education-integrale-Francois-Moog-tradition-chretienne-comme-ressource-educative-2020-11-04-1201122919.

^[27] Cardinal Pietro Parolin, “L’église catholique et l’éducation,” intervention at UNESCO headquarters, June 3, 2015, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/parolin/2015/documents/rc_seg-st_20150603_parolin-unesco_fr.html.

^[28] See Philippe Portier, “Norme démocratique et loi naturelle dans le catholicisme contemporain,” Sociétés, droit et religion 1, no. 6 (2016): 39–54, Cairn.info.

^[29] See François-Xavier Clément, “Le directeur limogé de St-Jean de Passy s’explique! – Le Zoom – François-Xavier Clément,” TVL, April 6, 2021, video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSHJ7Dc42A.

^[30] “Saint-Joseph Éducation,” accessed May 14, 2025, https://www.saintjoseph-education.fr; “Qu’est-ce que l’éducation intégrale?” Saint-Joseph Éducation, accessed May 14, 2025, Saint-Joseph Éducation – Éducation intégrale. He is also Marcel Clément’s nephew, editor in chief of the traditionalist Catholic magazine (and website) L’Homme nouveau from 1962 to 1998.

^[31] According to their LinkedIn page, “the ambition of the Académies Saint-Louis is to establish thematic boarding schools of excellence throughout France, which restore the importance of sports and the arts and offer human and spiritual training for an integral education: body, soul, and spirit.” Académies Saint-Louis, “#EducationIntegrale#InternatsDExcellence”, LinkedIn post, December 2, 2024, accessed November 25, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/académies-saint-louis_educationintegrale-internatsdexcellence-activity-7269674301287534592-8FRm/?originalSubdomain=fr.

^[32] François-Xavier Clément, La voie de l’éducation intégrale: En famille et à l’école, des enfants heureux, libres et responsables (Paris: Artège, 2021).

^[33] Sara Garbagnoli notes that Judith Butler is one of the names systematically cited in Vatican texts. See Sara Garbagnoli, “De quoi le ‘gender’ des campagnes ‘antigenre’ est-il le nom?” in Antiféminismes et masculinismes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, ed. Christine Bard, Mélissa Blais, and Francis Dupuis-Déri, (Paris: PUF, 2025), 305.

[34] Clément, La voie de l’éducation intégrale.

^[35] Pontifical Council for the Family, Lexicon: Termini ambigui e discussi su famiglia, vita e questioni etiche (Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane, 2003); Pontifical Council for the Family, Gender: La controverse (Paris: Pierre Téqui, 2001).

^[36] See Christine Bard, Mélissa Blais, and Francis Dupuis-Déri, eds., Antiféminismes et masculinismes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui (Paris: PUF, 2025).

^[37] Céline Béraud, “Les catholiques contre le genre: L’épisode des manuels de SVT,” in Normes religieuses et genre: Mutations, résistances et reconfiguration (XIXe–XXIe siècle), ed. Florence Rochefort and Maria Eleonora Sanna (Paris: Armand Colin, 2013), 109–122, https://doi.org/10.3917/arco.roch.2013.01.0109.

^[38] Portier, “Norme démocratique et loi naturelle,” 39–54.

^[39] Roman Kuhar and David Paternotte, eds., Campagnes antigenres en Europe: Des mobilisations contre l’égalité, 319.

^[40] Sara Garbagnoli and Massimo Prearo, “Conclusion,” in La croisade “anti-genre”: Du Vatican aux manifs pour tous (Paris: Éditions Textuel, 2018), 113–117, https://doi.org/10.3917/txt.garba.2017.01.0113.

[41] Clément, La voie de l’éducation intégrale.

^[42] In French penal code, “incitement to debauchery” and “corruption of minors” are legal offenses.

^[43] In France, an independent commission was tasked with writing a report on sexual abuse in the church. Its final report was made public on October 5, 2021. See Commission indépendante sur les abus sexuels dans l’Église (CIASE), Rapport final (Paris: CIASE, October 5, 2021), accessed May 14, 2025, https://www.ciase.fr/rapport-final/.

[44]  Saint-Joseph Éducation, Charte de l’éducation intégrale, June 5, 2022, https://www.saintjoseph-education.fr/_files/ugd/c976d1_64d962a988604e27bd4750c1394f1a0d.pdf.

^[45] “Colloque: Le droit naturel, une ressource pour notre temps – bilan vidéo,” Juristes pour l’enfance, February 21, 2024, accessed May 11, 2025, https://www.juristespourlenfance.com/2024/02/21/colloque-le-droit-naturel-une-ressource-pour-notre-temps-bilan-video/. Founded in 2008, Juristes pour l’enfance is a pro-life association closely associated with La Manif pour tous and the far right. It has notably engaged in legal actions opposing medically assisted reproduction (MAR) and surrogacy, and campaigns against the legal recognition of transgender persons under the pretext of defending children’s rights.

^[46] Saint-Joseph Éducation, Charte de l’éducation intégrale, June 5, 2022, https://www.saintjoseph-education.fr/_files/ugd/c976d1_64d962a988604e27bd4750c1394f1a0d.pdf.

[47] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, “Préface,” in La voie de l’éducation intégrale.

^[48] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, “Préface.”

^[49] In 1984, the Savary bill, proposed by the Minister of National Education, aimed to create a “large, secular, and unified public education service.” Merle, L’enseignement privé, 37. Interpreted by its detractors as a challenge to private education, this proposal sparked massive protests, leading to the withdrawal of the bill. 

[50] Stérin, “Préface,” https://www.liseuse-hachette.fr/?ean=9791033611066.

[51] Stérin, “Préface,” https://www.liseuse-hachette.fr/?ean=9791033611066.

^[52] Stérin, “Préface,” https://www.liseuse-hachette.fr/?ean=9791033611066.

^[53] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, “Je recherche un entrepreneur,” LinkedIn post, accessed May 25, 2025, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierreedouardsterin_je-recherche-un-entrepreneur-activity-7283036912288710657-a4DA/?originalSubdomain=fr.

^[54] On the Excellence Ruralités website, the Common Good Foundation is presented as a “partner.” In a 2022 interview with the Catholic newspaper Pèlerin magazine, Stérin explains that his foundation “supports” Excellence Ruralités. François-Xavier Maigre, Valérie Lion, “Pierre-Édouard Stérin: ‘Agir pour le bien commun,’ ” Le Pèlerin, February 16, 2022, accessed October 25, https://www.lepelerin.com/religions-et-spiritualites/nos-rencontres/pierre-edouard-sterin-nbspagir-pour-le-bien-communnbsp-6359.

^[55] Fonds du Bien Commun, “Mission,” accessed May 25, 2025, https://fondsdubiencommun.com/#mission.

^[56] Philippe Portier and Irène Théry, “Du mariage civil au ‘mariage pour tous’: Sécularisation du droit et mobilisations catholiques,” Sociologie 6, no. 1 (2015), http://journals.openedition.org/sociologie/2528.

^[57] Fondation pour l’École, Fondation pour l’École, accessed May 10, 2025, https://www.fondationpourlecole.org.

^[58] Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, Excellence Ruralités: Des écoles pour la France périphérique (Paris: Éditions Première partie, 2022). He also collaborates with the network close to the “Manif pour tous,” “Les Eveilleurs,” partly funded by Stérin. “Grande soirée des Éveilleurs: Le programme se précise,” Le Salon Beige, September 18, 2023, https://lesalonbeige.fr/grande-soiree-des-eveilleurs-le-programme-se-precise/; “Essai de restitution de l’organigramme du groupe Stérin,” Observatoire des multinationales, February 5, 2026,  https://multinationales.org/IMG/pdf/organigramme_ste_rin.pdf.

^[59] Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, X (formerly Twitter) account, accessed May 27, 2025, https://x.com/jbnouailhac.

^[60] Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, “L’école a une mission à jouer, CNEWS, Dailymotion, May 22 2024, accessed May 25, 2025, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8w875q; Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, “Sur le manque de sommeil des collégiens dû à l’utilisation du smartphone,” CNEWS, Dailymotion, February 13, 2025, accessed May 27, 2025, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9dlxe6; CNEWS, “Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, cofondateur des écoles Excellence Ruralités, sur l’interdiction du téléphone portable avant 15 ans,” X (formerly Twitter), February 6, 2025, https://x.com/CNEWS/status/1887399281641882051.

^[61] “Mission,” Excellence Ruralités, accessed May 15, 2025, https://www.excellenceruralites.org/mission.

^[62] Névil Gagnepain, Victoire Radenne, “Excellence Ruralités, l’enseignement traditionaliste qui fleurit là où l’école publique est en souffrance,” Mediapart, April 15, 2025, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/150425/excellence-ruralites-l-enseignement-traditionaliste-qui-fleurit-la-ou-l-ecole-publique-est-en-souffrance?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

^[63] “Mission,” Excellence Ruralités.

[64] Excellence Ruralités, “Charte des écoles Excellence Ruralités,” accessed May 13, 2025, https://esperanceruralites.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/charte-ecoles-excellence-ruralites.pdf.

^[65] Excellence Ruralités, “Charte des écoles Excellence Ruralités,” accessed May 13, 2025, https://esperanceruralites.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/charte-ecoles-excellence-ruralites.pdf.

^[66] The reference to the five pillars of Islam is clear here.

^[67] This term is particularly used in far-right circles, whether Catholic or not.

^[68] Excellence Ruralités, “Les 5 piliers pédagogiques,” accessed May 13, 2025, https://www.excellenceruralites.org/pedagogie/5-piliers-pedagogiques.

^[69] Excellence Ruralités, Charte des écoles Excellence Ruralités.

^[70] On far-right education, see for example Ismaïl Ferhat, “For Things to Remain the Same, Everything Must Change? Studying National Front’s and National Rally’s Platforms on Education,” Journal of Contemporary European Studies 33, no. 1 (2025): 45–60, https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2269378.

^[71] Unlike what is said on the website, the syllabic method of learning to read is not an educational innovation.

^[72] Excellence Ruralités, “Charte des écoles Excellence Ruralités”.

^[73] Stella Domini is also related to the far-right association SOS Chrétiens d’Orient and Emmanuel éducation, an offshoot of the charismatic and traditionalist Emmanuel community. “Espérance ruralité,” Stella Domini, accessed May 15, 2025, https://stelladomini.org/esperance-ruralite/.

^[74] “Nos partenaires,” Excellence Ruralités, accessed May 15, 2025, https://www.excellenceruralites.org/nous-soutenir/nos-partenaires.

^[75] “Cours Clovis: Un collège innovant pour les jeunes de la ‘France périphérique,” Fondation Stanislas pour l’Éducation, accessed May 13, 202, https://www.fondationstanislas.org/cours-clovis-un-college-innovant-pour-les-jeunes-de-la-france-peripherique/.

^[76] “La lettre du Cours Charlier,” November 2021, https://courscharlier.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/La-Lettre-du-CC-Nov21-V3page.pdf; “Le Cours Charlier à Nantes,” Fraternité Sacerdotale Saint-Pierre (FSSP Nantes), accessed May 18, 2025, https://fsspnantes.fr/service/le-cours-charlier-a-nantes/.

^[77] Francis Dupuis-Déri, La crise de la masculinité: Autopsie d’un mythe tenace (Paris: Points, 2022).

^[78] Cours Charlier, “Prendre le temps,” La lettre du Cours Charlier, November 2017, PDF document, https://courscharlier.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/lettre-ccNov17.pdf.

^[79] Excellence Ruralités, “Le Cours Clovis est enfin propriétaire du château de la Fère,” Excellence Ruralités, April 23, 2020, https://www.excellenceruralites.org/le-cours-clovis-est-enfin-proprietaire-du-chateau-de-la-fere/.

^[80] See Vincent Jolly, “Jean-Baptiste Nouailhac, celui qui veut remettre l’école au centre du village,” Le Figaro, March 11, 2022, https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/jean-baptiste-nouailhac-celui-qui-veut-remettre-l-ecole-au-centre-du-village-20220311 ; Antoine You, “Excellence Ruralités, une école pour les enfants de la France périphérique,” Valeurs actuelles, February 10, 2022, https://www.valeursactuelles.com/clubvaleurs/societe/excellence-ruralites-laffaire-dune-fierte; Geoffroy Antoine, “À La Fère, une école d’excellence relève le défi du décrochage scolaire en zone rurale,” Le Journal du Dimanche, June 24, 2025, https://www.lejdd.fr/Societe/a-la-fere-une-ecole-dexcellence-releve-le-defi-du-decrochage-scolaire-en-zone-rurale-159497; Marc Baudriller, “Excellence Ruralités: Une deuxième école au service des élèves de nos campagnes,” Boulevard Voltaire, July 3, 2022, https://www.bvoltaire.fr/excellence-ruralites-une-deuxieme-ecole-au-service-des-eleves-de-nos-campagnes/.

^[81] Reconquête Saône-et-Loire, “Cours Vauban à Étang-sur-Arroux: Le vrai visage de l’intolérance militante,” April 7, 2025, https://fede71.parti-reconquete.fr/communique-de-presse/cours-vauban-a-etang-sur-arroux-le-vrai-visage-de-l-intolerance-militante.

[82] Camille Bordenet and Sylvie Lecherbonnier, “Le réseau d’écoles Excellence Ruralités, lié à la galaxie réactionnaire de Pierre-Édouard Stérin, dans le viseur de l’État,” Le Monde, May 7, 2026, https://www.lemonde.fr/education/article/2026/05/07/le-reseau-d-ecoles-excellence-ruralites-liees-a-la-galaxie-reactionnaire-de-pierre-edouard-sterin-dans-le-viseur-de-l-etat_6686520_1473685.html.

^[83] “Académies Saint-Louis,” Fonds du Bien Commun, accessed May 15, 2025, https://fondsdubiencommun.com/projet/academies-saint-louis/.

^[84] Lionel Venturini, “En Sologne, avec l’Académie Saint-Louis, Pierre-Édouard Stérin pose la première pierre de sa fabrique d’une élite ultra-réac,” L’Humanité, March 6, 2025, https://www.humanite.fr/politique/ecole-catholique/en-sologne-comment-pierre-edouard-sterin-entend-faconner-une-nouvelle-elite-avec-son-futur-internat-ultra-reac.

^[85] Philippe de Villiers, Le roman de Saint Louis (Paris: Litos, 2024).

^[86] Martin Bouygues and Michel Seydoux, a cinema producer, have second homes in this region.

^[87] See Pierre-Édouard Stérin and Alexandre Avril’s LinkedIn profiles. Formed from a split in the LR party, Éric Ciotti’s party is calling for a “union of the rights” with far-right parties. Prisca Borrel, “Pour installer son pensionnat d’excellence, le milliardaire Stérin choisit le fief d’une figure montante de l’extrême droite,” Mediapart, April 4, 2025, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/040425/pour-installer-son-pensionnat-d-excellence-le-milliardaire-sterin-choisit-le-fief-d-une-figure-montante-de.

^[88] Venturini, “En Sologne, avec l’Académie Saint-Louis, Pierre-Édouard Stérin pose la première pierre de sa fabrique d’une élite ultra-réac.”

[89] Venturini, “En Sologne, avec l’Académie Saint-Louis, Pierre-Édouard Stérin pose la première pierre de sa fabrique d’une élite ultra-réac.”

^[90] Académies Saint-Louis, “Projet pastoral,” accessed June 25, 2025, https://academies-saintlouis.fr/projet-pastoral.

^[91] On the École des Roches, see Nathalie Duval, L’École des Roches (Paris: Belin, 2009).

^[92] On André Charlier, see Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Le Temps des moines: Clôture et hospitalité (Paris: PUF, 2017), 574.

^[93] Académies Saint-Louis, “Rencontre avec Grégoire d’Ornellas: Un éducateur au service de l’internat de Chalès,” Académies Saint-Louis, accessed October 10, 2025, https://academies-saintlouis.fr/rencontre-avec-gregoire-dornellas-un-educateur-au-service-de-linternat-de-chales/.

^[94] Since 2020, this association is under investigation for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Syria.

^[95] Faïza Zerouala, “Espérance banlieues: La belle histoire se fissure,” Mediapart, July 28, 2019, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/280719/esperance-banlieues-la-belle-histoire-se-fissure; Faïza Zerouala, “Espérance banlieues: Une enquête pour ‘violences’ vise ce réseau d’écoles hors contrat,” Mediapart, May 4, 2023, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/040523/esperance-banlieues-une-enquete-pour-violences-vise-ce-reseau-d-ecoles-hors-contrat.

^[96] Alexandre Berteau, “En Sologne, le maire Alexandre Avril fait de son village un eldorado pour l’extrême droite identitaire,” Mediapart, February 12, 2026, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/politique/120226/en-sologne-le-maire-alexandre-avril-fait-de-son-village-un-eldorado-pour-l-extreme-droite-identitaire.

^[97] Fédération Syndicale Unitaire 41 (FSU 41), “Académie Saint-Louis de Chalès: Lettre ouverte,” accessed September 12, 2025, https://fsu41.fsu.fr/academie-saint-louis-de-chales-lettre-ouverte/; La Croix, “160 personnalités s’opposent à l’ouverture de l’Académie Saint-Louis parrainée par Stérin,” July 11, 2025, accessed August 12, 2025, https://www.la-croix.com/religion/160-personnalites-s-opposent-a-louverture-de-lacademie-saint-louis-parrainee-par-sterin-2025071.

^[98] Roger Chudeau is also an Honorary Inspector General of National Education. He is a member of Les Horaces, a group of senior civil servants, politicians, academics, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals who provide expertise and strategic advice to Marine Le Pen. In an opinion piece published in Causeur magazine in January 2025, Chudeau outlined the Horaces’ vision for national education: to “restore the efficiency of schools” through the “complete revision of programs, curriculums, and examinations,” to “reassert authority,” and to “establish educational freedom and responsibility as a principle of governance.” Roger Chudeau, “Éducation nationale, reconstruire pour assurer l’avenir,” Causeur, January 13, 2025, https://www.causeur.fr/education-nationale-reconstruire-pour-assurer-lavenir-tribune-chudeau-299596.

^[99] Editorial Board, Le Figaro, “L’Académie Saint-Louis de Chalès, une chance pour nos enfants et notre territoire,” July 18, 2025, https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/l-academie-saint-louis-de-chales-une-chance-pour-nos-enfants-et-notre-territoire-20250716.

^[100] “L’ouverture d’un internat catholique parrainé par le milliardaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin autorisée par les autorités, malgré les critiques,” Le Monde, July 18, 2025, https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/07/18/l-ouverture-d-un-internat-catholique-parraine-par-le-milliardaire-pierre-edouard-sterin-autorisee-par-les-autorites-malgre-les-critiques_6622081_3224.html.

^[101] “Home Page,” Domaine de Chalès, accessed June 15, 2025, https://domainedechales.com.

^[102] Alexandre Avril (@alexandreavril.off), “Reel,” Instagram, June 29, 2025, https://www.instagram.com/alexandreavril.off/reel/DLen5dpMYym.

^[103] Editorial Board, Le Figaro, “L’Académie Saint-Louis de Chalès, une chance pour nos enfants et notre territoire.”

^[104] Transmissio, “Homepage,” Transmissio, accessed August 12, 2025, https://transmissio.org/.

^[105] Since 1994, the association Notre-Dame de Chrétienté has organized the Chartres pilgrimage, a three-day march from Paris to Chartres held each year over the Pentecost weekend. The event brings together several thousand participants representing the most traditionalist tendencies of the Catholic Church. Originally founded in 1983 by the Centre Charlier, the pilgrimage has, since 1994, been under the responsibility of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté.

^[106] Transmissio, “Transmissio 2025,” https://transmissio.org/index.php/transmissio-2025/.

^[107] Renaissance Catholique, “Homepage,” Renaissance Catholique, accessed August 17, 2025, https://renaissancecatholique.fr/. In 2004, he published a book with a preface signed by Bruno Gollnisch, former National Front head. Jean-Pierre Maugendre, Contre les valeurs de la gauche bobo, la civilisation française (Paris: La Civilisation française, 2004), preface by Bruno Gollnisch. Renaissance catholique is related to various far-right Catholic organizations: Academia Christiana, a Catholic training institute close to the identitarian movement; SOS chrétiens d’orient, and SOS calvaires, an “apolitical” association close to far-right groups, partly financed by Stérin’s Common Good Foundation that promotes the installation of Calvaries throughout France.

^[108] “Transmissio 2025”, https://transmissio.org/index.php/transmissio-2025/.

^[109] Héloïse de Neuville, Matthieu Lasserre, “Qui est l’abbé tradi Matthieu Raffray, le prêtre préféré des jeunes identitaires,” La Croix, May 16, 2024, https://www.la-croix.com/religion/qui-est-l-abbe-tradi-matthieu-raffray-le-pretre-prefere-des-jeunes-identitaires-20240516.

^[110] See his Instagram account: Matthieu Raffray (@abbé_matthieu_raffray), “Instagram Account,” Instagram, accessed August 17, 2025, https://www.instagram.com/abbe_matthieu_raffray/.

^[111] “Transmissio 2025”, https://transmissio.org/index.php/transmissio-2025/.

[112] Youmni Kezzouf and David Perrotin, “C’est de l’entrisme sournois: Comment Pierre-Édouard Stérin tisse la toile de l’extrême droite à HEC,” Mediapart, November 12, 2024, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/121124/c-est-de-l-entrisme-sournois-comment-pierre-edouard-sterin-tisse-la-toile-de-l-extreme-droite-hec.

^[113] Camille Bordenet and Sylvie Lecherbonnier, “À HEC, à l’ESSEC et à l’ESCP, comment l’extrême droite a courtisé les futures élites économiques,” Le Monde, June 25, 2024, https://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2024/06/25/a-hec-a-l-essec-et-a-l-escp-comment-l-extreme-droite-a-courtise-les-futures-elites-economiques_6243487_4401467.html; Youmni Kezzouf and David Perrotin, “C’est de l’entrisme sournois: Comment Pierre-Édouard Stérin tisse la toile de l’extrême droite à HEC,” Mediapart, November 12, 2024, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/121124/c-est-de-l-entrisme-sournois-comment-pierre-edouard-sterin-tisse-la-toile-de-l-extreme-droite-hec.

^[114] Fonds John Henry Newman, Statuts du Fonds John Henry Newman, DocumentCloud, 2022, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26089087-statuts-du-fonds-john-henry-newman-2022/.

^[115] Fonds John Henry Newman, “Comptes annuels 2024,” DocumentCloud, 2024, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26089086-fonds-john-henry-newman-comptes-annuels-2024/.

^[116] Ariane Lavrilleux, Julien Collinet, Antoine Champagne, “L’extrême droite et son mécène Pierre-Édouard Stérin s’infiltrent à l’Université catholique de l’Ouest,” Disclose, September 12, 2025, https://disclose.ngo/fr/article/lextreme-droite-et-son-mecene-pierre-edouard-sterin-sinfiltrent-a-luniversite-catholique-de-louest.

^[117] Pierre-Édouard Stérin, “Je recherche un entrepreneur pour un nouveau projet ambitieux”, Linkedin post, May 5, 2025 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierreedouardsterin_je-recherche-un-entrepreneur-pour-un-nouveau-activity-7325067464684232705-RLx2/?originalSubdomain=fr.

^[118] Roxana Azimi, “Les Cités de l’histoire, nouvel outil d’influence des entrepreneurs ultraconservateurs,” Le Monde, January 24, 2025, https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/01/24/les-cites-de-l-histoire-nouvel-outil-d-influence-des-entrepreneurs-ultraconservateurs_6513153_3246.html; Observatoire des multinationales, “Le système Stérin,” Multinationales.org, 2025, https://multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/extreme-tech/le-systeme-sterin.

^[119] He supported, for example, Salbris’ city historical festival called Salera, presented as an “ancient festival” that highlights the “Gallic roots” of the Sologne region. The mayor of Salbris is Alexandre Avril, a close relative of Stérin.

^[120] Louis Bachelet, “On peut défendre l’histoire de France sans céder à l’intimidation, affirme Guillaume Senet, président de Murmures de la Cité,” Valeurs actuelles, September 3, 2025, https://www.valeursactuelles.com/clubvaleurs/culture/on-peut-defendre-lhistoire-de-france-sans-ceder-a-lintimidation-affirme-guillaume-senet-president-de-murmures-de-la-cite.

^[121] Murmures de la Cité, “Murmures de la Cité,” accessed June 25, 2025, https://www.murmures-de-la-cite.fr.

^[122] TVLibertés, “Nous construisons des communautés enracinées – Guillaume Poliste – Le Zoom,” YouTube, July 6, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xT3dxewEwI.

^[123] “Home page,” Sophia Polis, accessed June 26, 2025, https://www.sophia-polis.fr.

^[124] “Lecture du mois,” Sophia Polis, accessed June 28, 2025, https://www.sophia-polis.fr/lecture-du-mois.

[125] Ellen Rivera, “Academia Christiana: A Marriage of the Catholic and the Extreme Right,” IERES Occasional Papers, no. 18, The George Washington University, Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, February 2024.

^[126] Paul-Marie Coûteaux was close to Philippe de Villiers, head of SIEL, a member of National Front, and supported Éric Zemmour 2022 campaign. He is still a supporter of the “union of the rights” and hosts a show on TV Libertés called Les Conversations.

^[127] Sophia Polis, “Université d’été,” accessed July 25, 2025, https://www.sophia-polis.fr/université-dété.

^[128] https://www.cours-zita.fr, accessed 25 June 2025 (link deleted).

^[129] Nicolas Cheviron, “À Moulins, dans l’Allier, Pierre-Édouard Stérin finance un mini-Puy du Fou,” Mediapart, May 22, 2025, https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/220525/moulins-dans-l-allier-pierre-edouard-sterin-finance-un-mini-puy-du-fou.