France faces series of church desecrations since the beginning of the year
The year 2022 began in France with a series of profanations in the churches. Across the country, both in large cities and in small rural towns, there have been a series of attacks on churches and acts of vandalism, even infamous sites of national heritage, such as the Royal Basilica of St. Dionysius. The vandals not only demolished places of worship, but also stole the Blessed Sacrament in two places.
In such a situation, however, some see signs of some revival in care for the Catholic heritage. “Nevertheless, despite the increasing aggression, the French are increasingly attached to the religious heritage of their homeland. The impulse for them was the fire in the Notre-Dame Cathedral – writes Krzysztof Bronk in the pages of the Vatican News portal.
In the diocese of Saint-Denis, the aforementioned desecration took place in the basilica, where French kings were buried from the 6th to the 19th centuries. The incident occurred on the 5th of January, when the aggressor entered the temple and managed to knock down three figures and break glass in display cases before being pacified by a parish volunteer and law enforcement.
On the night of January 9-10, there was a desecration in Bondy and Romainville. In both cases the tabernacle was devastated and consecrated communicants were stolen. After the profanation of the Lord’s Body, Bishop Pascal Delannoy ordered the celebration of the expiatory Masses.
The same excess occurred in the suburbs of Paris and several rural parishes. Krzysztof Bronk writes about it: “Despite the progressive secularization, the church still remains the focal point of many villages and towns. Some associate their identity with it, others focus their aggression on it.”
Source: dorzeczy.pl
