A notable exception is Alsace-Lorraine, which at the time of the separation was part of Germany, and where the pre-1905 status, including the Concordat, is still in force. This was negotiated in 1918 when Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France at the end of the first World War, and approved by both France and the Holy See with the Briand-Ceretti Agreement. As a consequence, and although France is one of the countries in the world where State and Church are most separated, the French Head of State is paradoxically the only temporal power in the world still nominating Catholic bishops, namely the Bishop of Metz and the Archbishop of Strasbourg. They are approved by the Pope and in practice selected by him, but formally nominated by the French President following diplomatic exchanges with the Holy See through the nunciature.