From 1901 to 1914, roughly 10.000 French religious fled to Belgium
in order to avoid the antireligious laws. A third of these were men, and some of
them bound to conscription and military service in France. Even if they were in
exile, many of them – the novices – did serve in the army as conscripts and had to
go back to their country. Their superiors feared to lose these young men submitted
to the barracks life and its promiscuity. Moreover, two religious institutes (the
Jesuits and the Lasallians) kept on receiving officers. These officers came to
support them, they attended ceremonies or they decorated veterans of the Franco-
Prussian war. Some of them were nationalists, like Émile Driant, or admired by
the nationalists as general Chanoine. In fact, these two institutes were patriots,
especially the Jesuits, and linked to the army and its sphere of influence. Yet,
the beginning of World War One concerned all the religious, men and women.
Their buildings became field hospitals, were commandeered by the Germans, their
schools had to close. The majority tried to came back to France, not only because
of self-preservation, but also to serve as chaplains or nurses, and more than one
died while doing so