Why French Monasteries are theoretically illegal From Father Michael Bozell: As a matter of fact, there's a law. Strictly speaking, monasteries like this are not allowed in France. There was a law passed against the Catholic Church exactly 100 years ago. It was a period in which there was a certain amount of persecution, and Solesmes and monasteries like this, they were all closed down.  Solesmes spent 20 years in England, and everybody eventually came back, and the government, the state let them back in and said, "Okay. We're not going to prosecute anymore," but the law was never changed.