Why do I need to know remettre l’église au milieu du village?

Because even though France is a secular state, this French expression still holds meaning, but that meaning may depend on the nationality of the person you are speaking with.

What does it mean?

Remettre l’église au milieu du village – roughly pronounced reh-meh-truh leh-gleez oh meel-yuh doo vee-laj  – is an old French expression.

Literally, it translates as ‘to return (or to keep) the church to the centre of the village’.

The expression has several distinct meanings, depending on which Francophone country you are visiting. They all have the common experience of the church being at the centre of the village, but beyond that their interpretations differ.

Therefore, to understand what the person is trying to say, you’ll need to use some context clues, including their nationality.

Occasionally, the word remettre (to return or put back) is replaced by garder (to keep) instead.

The most common usage in France is to mean ‘to set the record straight’. 

Alternatively, you might hear the Swiss interpretation, which is also used in France, and is the rough equivalent of ‘dot your I’s and cross your T’s’ in English, or to be as precise and detail oriented as possible. 

If someone says j’ai mis l’église au milieu du village when discussing the instructions they just gave, then they’re basically saying there is no excuse for a misunderstanding, as the details should have been clear.

If you visit Alsace, in eastern France, then you might hear someone use it with the meaning ‘to respect tradition’, while Belgians use it to refer to ‘keeping a cool head’ or ‘maintaining order’. 

For example, after political chaos, a Belgian commentator might say on va remettre l’église au milieu du village – meaning they intend to pacify the situation.

Use it like this

Il veut remettre l’église au milieu du village et participe donc à un talk-show pour expliquer la véritable histoire. – He wants to set the record straight, so he agreed to do a talk show to tell the true story.

J’ai veillé à garder l’église au milieu du village lors de la rédaction de la lettre. Elle est extrêmement détaillée, il n’y a donc aucune raison qu’elle se méprenne. – I was careful to dot my I’s and cross my T’s while writing the letter. It is extremely detailed, so there is no reason she should misunderstand.

Il n’y aura pas de dessert avant le dîner ! Ici, nous gardons l’église au centre du village ! – We will not have dessert before dinner! We respect traditions here!