Armed policemen enter a church in Paris to interrupt a Mass
Like many of his colleagues in France, Father Philippe de Maistre, pastor of the parish of Saint-André-de-l'Europe in Paris broadcasts his Sunday Mass on social media for his parishioners who are deprived of public Masses since the beginning of the confinement. But last Sunday the priest experienced, to his surprise, that police officers burst into his church and ordered him to stop Mass.
“We were seven people: myself, an acolyte, a cantor, an organist, and three parishioners who were there to read and respond. In the middle of the Mass, three armed police officers entered the church,” commented Father Philippe de Maistre.
“The legal authority in a church is the priest! Except for the firefighters, the police cannot enter until they are called by the parish priest,” he added.
Father de Maistre also alerted the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Michel Aupetit, who firmly condemned the incident on Wednesday on Notre-Dame Radio.
“The police entered the church with weapons, but there is a formal ban on police taking arms into a church. There were no terrorists! We must keep a cool head and stop this circus. Otherwise, we will speak and (…) bark very loudly,” he assured.
Source: christianophobie.fr
