Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis to close down all the Catholic churches in the country, forced the Holy See to accept an agreement of the type known as a modus vivendi, a term that literally means "a way of living". This particular agreement was unofficially described as instead a "modus non moriendi" ("a way of not dying"). By it, all but 5 of the country's more than 70 churches were handed over to the state, including what had been the cathedral of the archdiocese, while the state, for its part, promised that the buildings would be put only to use of public interest consonant with
The Meaning of the City this point. The city has grown to the size foretold by Ellul and Charbonneau, who were witnessing the urbanization of the world, the universalization of technique, and the standardization of all civilizations. Indeed, in 2008, the world's urban population surpassed its rural population. Where Charbonneau applied the symbol of Babylon, Ellul focuses on Ninevah. The big city is a mass which cannot survive without sacrificing liberty. "This, then, is what separates the two men: against the catastrophism of Charbonneau, Ellul presents a Christian hope, which leads from the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem foretold in Revelations.". The Meaning