‘It’s an act of pure and gratuitous malice. We don’t understand, we just don’t understand,’ said a parishioner from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët on Sunday, October 19, standing in front of the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which had been smashed to pieces on the ground. And as if it were a sign, only one hand remained standing, ‘with the index finger pointing to the sky,’ observed Father Benoît Lemieux, stunned. The statue of Jesus, which had been restored, was approximately 1.70 metres tall and weighed nearly 40 kg. Its base was mounted high on a pedestal supported by two pillars.
It was on Friday October 17 that Father Lemieux, who had come to close the church of Saint-Hilaire around 7 p.m., noticed the damage. “I was coming from the Rex cinema, because I wanted to schedule the film Sacré-Cœur for next week (first screening on Thursday October 23 at 2:30 p.m.). That’s when I discovered the carnage. The statue of the Sacred Heart was completely destroyed. At first, I thought it was just vandalism, but it’s actually desecration,‘ he said. It is indeed a clear violation of respect for the sacred. And above all, it is the only statue destroyed that day in this church, which has several, ’as if it had been targeted.” Benoît Lemieux assumes that it must have been tipped onto its right side before breaking on the floor.
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