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Thanks to the Ferry Act of 1882, Thursday was established as the day when the students of the newly secular public schools could receive religious instruction. Shifted to Wednesday in 1972, this midweek break in school attendance was threatened in the 1970s by the demands of some parents to eliminate Saturday morning classes. However, in the name of religious instruction, bishops opposed the transfer of classes from Saturday morning to Wednesday morning. In the context of the Pope’s call for a “new evangelization”, this issue was a major source of tension in the 1980s. Moreover, it illustrates the difficulties religious authorities face with regard to the growing secularisation of society.