French Catholic Church Heavily Vandalised, Paintings and Statues Wrecked

St. Louis's church chapel.
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Chris Tomlinson

A French church in the commune of Champagne-au-Mont-d’Or in the suburbs of Lyon was vandalised this week, with paintings and statues smashed.

The church of Saint-Louis-Roi in Champagne-au-Mont-d’Or, a Roman Catholic church, was vandalised on Tuesday, according to local priest Father Martin Charcosset.

“The objects in the church – candles, books, vases, etc. – were thrown to the ground. The nativity scene in front of the altar was turned over and damaged. The Stations of the Cross and the paintings in the choir were essentially destroyed, as were two large crucifixes,” Father Charcosset said, broadcaster BFMTV reports.

“Three of the large stained glass windows of the choir were significantly damaged,” he added.

“Without prejudging the intentions of their perpetrator, these acts, because of their violence and their target, constitute what the Church calls a desecration: the desire to attack the sanctity of the place.”

The attack is just the latest against a Catholic church in France, coming after several attacks last year.

In July, a Muslim man entered a mass in a church in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Paris suburbs of Yvelines, attacking a parishioner.

“He called us hypocrites. Christians. He said he was being made to look like a buffoon. It was then that a man, quite tall, approached him and told him to leave. The other asked him if he wanted to fight. That’s when there was the headbutt. Others intervened to control it,” a witness said.

In November, a fire broke out at the cathedral of Saint-Pol-de-Léon in what was suspected to have been a deliberate act of arson, according to the Mayor of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Stéphane Cloarec.

Just weeks later in December, two churches in Bordeaux and Paris were attacked before Christmas Day.

The Church of the Trinity in Bordeaux was found with 17 “impacts” to the windows of the church, while the 17th-century Eglise Saint Roch was vandalised with far-left slogans.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

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