The Reims prosecutor's office on Wednesday April 7 opened a criminal investigation for "
non-compliance with barrier gestures during a pandemic period
" after two traditionalist Easter masses organized by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and bringing together nearly 200 faithful in the Sainte Jeanne d'Arc church in Reims.
To read also: An investigation opened after a mass without respecting the sanitary instructions in Paris
Prosecutor Matthieu Bourrette told AFP that he was relying on "
general directives on penal policy sent by the Minister of Justice on April 3
" to open this investigation, "in
particular for non-compliance with wearing a mask
".
The investigation was entrusted to the Reims police station.
The prosecutor's decision follows the publication of an article in
the Union
newspaper
relaying the anger of a mayor from the Ardennes.
The elected official had discovered on Facebook the images of two masses celebrated in Latin on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 April in a church in Reims, without masks, without barrier gestures or social distancing.
"
This is not true
", disputed the canon of Reims of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICRSP), requested by AFP.
If Jean Maïdanatz admits "
removing his mask when he speaks
", he nevertheless affirms that "
the majority of the faithful, 90 on Saturdays and a hundred on Sundays, have respected barrier gestures and distances
".
“
Masks and hydroalcoholic gel are distributed.
But I do not have the means to force the faithful to the masks
”, he underlined.
Asked by AFP, the Archbishop of Reims, Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, did not wish to react to the opening of this criminal investigation.
"
He lets justice do its job,
" explained Sixtine Rousselot, communications officer at the archdiocese.
"
He reminds on this occasion the need to respect the wearing of a mask from 11 years old
" as well as the rule "
of two seats of difference between the faithful in the churches
", she insisted.