News

Religious rights group deplores ‘anti-Christian hostility’ in France

February 19, 2019

Nations with a Christian heritage are not immune to the persecution and harassment of Christians. Note that “in the first 10 days of February” alone, there were in France incidents of “arson and vandalism against a Catholic cathedral in Lavaur, and attacks on three parish churches in France’s western Vendee region, during which sacred figures were profaned and windows smashed.” As this is going on, the government is slow to act, as we have seen in so many other incidents of Christian persecution around the world: “While the government recognises Christians and Christian sites are being targeted, they don’t seem high on the agenda when it comes to the political will to provide protection.”

Governments around the world need to be aware of the persecution of Christians, and resolute in their determination to end it. Please make this a focus of your prayer as we move toward the Great Fast.

“Religious rights group deplores ‘anti-Christian hostility’ in France,” The Catholic Universe, February 18, 2019:

A Church-backed religious rights organisation has warned of growing “anti-Christian hostility” in France, identifying a spate of assaults on churches and Christian monuments.

“France is of particular concern now – while anti-Christian attacks are better documented here than in other European countries, the media pays little attention to them,” said Ellen Fantini, executive director of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, which is linked to the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe.

“While the government recognises Christians and Christian sites are being targeted, they don’t seem high on the agenda when it comes to the political will to provide protection,” Fantini said.

In a 14th February report, the observatory said it had documented numerous incidents in the first 10 days of February, including arson and vandalism against a Catholic cathedral in Lavaur, and attacks on three parish churches in France’s western Vendee region, during which sacred figures were profaned and windows smashed.

The report said St Nicolas de Houilles Church in Yvelines had been desecrated three times, destroying statues of Jesus and Mary, while a tabernacle had been thrown to the ground at the nearby church of St Nicolas de Maisons-Lafitte….