France has launched a groundbreaking program to educate future imams and Muslim chaplains about the country and its values. The goal: to put a French stamp on Islam, the second largest religion in France.

法国启动了一个具有开创性的项目，向未来的伊斯兰教长和穆斯林神职人员传授有关法国和法国价值观的知识。这个项目的目标是给伊斯兰教打上法国的印记。伊斯兰教是法国的第二大宗教。

The courses are being held in an unusual location - the Catholic Institute of Paris, an institution better known for training priests and Christian scholars than Muslim clerics. Established in collaboration with the French government and the Paris mosque, the program began in January with a largely male class of 25. It aims to give the students a broad understanding of France's legal, historical and social mores.

这些课程在一个不寻常的地方教授，这个地方就是巴黎天主教研究所。这个研究所以培养天主教神父和学者而闻名，而不是以培养穆斯林神职人员而闻名。法国政府和巴黎清真寺合作开办的这个项目在1月份开始，班上的25个学员大多为男性。课程的目的是让学生对法国的法律、历史和社会有一个大体上的了解。

What the year-long program does not do, says Interior Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet is offer theology training.

法国内政部发言人加西特说，这个为期一年的项目不会提供神学方面的培训。

Gachet says religious training for the future clerics is the role of Muslim institutes. But the government believes the courses on France will help shape a French Islam that is perfectly in touch with society.

他说，对未来神职人员在宗教上的培训是穆斯林研究所的事。但是政府认为，有关法国的课程将帮助建立一个同社会完全接轨的法国伊斯兰教。

The students at the Catholic Institute course are largely foreign born, with many coming from North and sub-Saharan Africa. The program's director, Olivier Bobineau, says they are eager to learn.

天主教研究所学习的学生大多数在外国出生，许多人来自北非和撒哈拉以南的非洲国家。这个项目的主管博比内乌说，这些学生求知欲很强。

Bobineau says he hopes the students end up with a better understanding of the relationship between politics and religion in France - and the values and rules that exist here.

博比内乌说，他希望学生们最终能对法国的政治和宗教之间的关系、以及法国现存的价值观和法规有更好的理解。

Experts say the courses fill a critical gap. Most of France's five to seven million Muslims - the largest Muslim community in Western Europe - were born here. By contrast, roughly 80 percent of the 1,200 imams preaching in French mosques and prayer houses were born overseas. Some cannot converse with their own faithful, much less understand French laws and social customs.

专家说，这些项目会填补一个重要的空白。法国的5百万到7百万穆斯林中的大多数都在法国出生。法国的穆斯林社区是西欧最大的。然而，在法国清真寺和祷告地点的1千2百名伊斯兰教长中有大约80%的人是在外国出生。一些神职人员连跟他们的信徒交流都做不到、更不要说理解法国法律和社会习俗了。

Sociologist Franck Fregosi specializes in Islam at the National Center for Scientific Research, a French think tank.

Fregosi says foreign-born imams are often unprepared for their jobs in France. He syas many Turkish clerics, for example, do not know anything about French history, some preachers cannot speak French.

法国的智库--国家科学研究中心研究伊斯兰教的社会学家弗里古斯说，外国出生的教长常常对他们在法国的工作没有准备。他说，比方说，一些土耳其的神职人员对法国历史一无所知，一些传道者不能说法语。

Djelloul Seddiki, the director of the Al Ghazali imam training program at the Paris mosque agrees.

巴黎清真寺的教长培训项目主管塞迪奇同意这种观点。

For example, Seddiki says, the mosque's Koranic program can teach students that a man can have up to four wives - in accordance with Muslim tradition. But polygamy is illegal in France.

他说，比方说，清真寺的古兰经课程教授学生，一个男人可以有多达4个妻子，这同穆斯林的传统一致，但是多妻制在法国是非法的。

The Catholic Institute's training has another goal: To ensure a moderate, tolerant Islam flourishes in France, which has been the target of Islamist terrorist attacks.

天主教研究所的培训还有另一个目标：确保法国的伊斯兰教温和、包容的发展。这已经成为伊斯兰恐怖分子袭击的目标。

For now, the students come only from the Paris mosque. Those affiliated with other French Muslim organizations, including the popular, more fundamentalist Union of Islamic Organizations of France, do not participate - reflecting larger, political divisions within France's Muslim community.

到现在为止，学生们都是来自巴黎清真寺。那些同其他法国穆斯林组织有关的组织都没有参加，比如著名的、原教旨主义色彩更浓的法国伊斯兰组织联盟也没有参加。这反映出在法国的穆斯林社会中有更大的政治分歧。

What is clear is that the clerics graduating from the program are desperately needed. Roughly half of all French mosques have no preachers. But the new graduates are not necessarily assured of jobs.

显而易见的是，从这个项目毕业的神职人员是很抢手的。法国大约一半的清真寺没有传教者。但是新的毕业生也不一定就能保证找到工作。

Djelloul Seddiki of the Paris mosque.

Seddiki says many Muslim communities in France simply cannot afford to pay the salaries of full-time imams. Some of those who do preach here, from Algeria or Turkey, are paid for by their governments. The rest preach part time and sometimes free of charge.

巴黎清真寺的塞迪奇说，法国许多穆斯林社区甚至付不起全职教长的工资。一些来自阿尔及利亚或土耳其的教长在这些清真寺传教，他们的工资由他们国家的政府支付，其他的传教人员不是兼职就是义务工作的。

France's Muslim community is trying to come up with its own means of financing its clerics. Seddiki, for one, believes this will happen - in time.

法国的穆斯林社区试图找到自己负担神职人员工资的途径。比方说，塞迪奇就相信，这最终会实现的。