Two churches in the cities of Bordeaux and Paris were attacked this week, with the latter seeing the vandals write far-left anarchist slogans on the doors.
On Tuesday, the Church of the Trinity in Bordeaux was found with at least 17 “impacts” found in the windows of the church, with six steel balls found near the windows which managed to impact but not break the glass.
Father Samuel Volta, vicar general of the diocese for Bordeaux commented on the attack telling the newspaper Le Figaro, “In the current context, we were initially very scared and thought of the worst when we heard the news. Finally, it looks more like terrible ‘stupidity’.”
Father Volta added that “living together is a bit of a daily challenge,” in the neighbourhood where the church is located but said the parish is peaceful and the local Catholic community has not had any prior hostilities.
In Paris, another church was attacked in the heart of the city near the famous Louvre museum. Vandals spray-painted slogans on the doors of the 17th century Eglise Saint Roch, tagging the church with anarchist symbols, with one slogan stating “Nazis, Frenchs, Pro-Deutch, Fuck Off.”
Ariel Weil, the mayor of central Paris, commented on the church attack connecting it to a rally held by sovereigntist former National Rally (RN) politician Florian Phillipot saying, “A few days before Christmas, scandalous inscriptions on the Eglise Saint-Roch, no doubt on the sidelines of the demonstration by Philippot’s supporters this weekend.”
“Complaint was filed at the police station and cleaning started by the city’s cleanliness teams. Thanks to the officers,” he added.
The attacks are just the latest anti-Christian attacks to take place in France this Christmas season and come after a nativity scene in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, a suburb of Strasbourg,was set on fire in an alleged arson attack last week by two unknown perpetrators.
Just days later in Lormont, a town located in the suburbs of the city of Bordeaux, a man was arrested after cutting down a local Christmas tree installed by the town hall while yelling the phrase “Allahu Akbar” as he committed the act.