Priests, parish priests and faithful huddled together, without a mask, a priest who gives the host directly into the mouths of communicants: the images of a video posted on YouTube, broadcast by our newspaper, are final.
Saturday April 3, a four-hour Easter mass, celebrated in the Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile church in Paris (9th), was held without any respect for sanitary rules.
In the church, believers, many of them visibly elderly, stand next to each other, regardless of the physical distance of two meters.
The parish of Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile "ensures that there were 280 people for a capacity of 600 people".
According to our information, the prosecution has opened a preliminary investigation for endangering the life of others.
The investigations were entrusted to the Department of Proximity Security of the Paris agglomeration (DSPAP).
VIDEO.
Priests and faithful without masks, no distancing ... A mass without sanitary rules celebrated in Paris
“I hallucinated a little while attending this mass,” says Étienne, 31, who entered the “packed” church for a baptism.
There were very few people wearing the mask, even the priests did not.
At no time were the barrier gestures respected ”.
"This is obviously absolutely unacceptable", declared on France Info, Marlène Schiappa, the Minister for Citizenship.
An “unequivocal” condemnation
"We are amazed at the obvious non-compliance with the essential instructions for distancing, wearing a mask, and we dissociate ourselves from any behavior that does not respect a difficult health situation", reacted the director of communication of the diocese Karine Dalle.
“Unfortunately, the videos are final,” she continues.
We see a significant number of people without masks and without social distancing.
We unequivocally condemn it.
Fortunately, the vast majority of parishes in Paris have been complying with the numerous health instructions for several months ”.
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"The Archbishop of Paris asked the priests to be irreproachable" as regards the respect of the sanitary instructions.
The mask is therefore compulsory from the age of eleven.
Two seats must be left empty between each person or family entity.
In addition, there must be a row or a bench of gap between each row, recalls the director of communication.
She assures us that the subject will “obviously be discussed internally” with those in charge.