Saturday boulevard du Ménilmontant, the some three hundred Catholic faithful gathered to honor the memory of Catholic martyrs of the Commune were booed and violently attacked. The gathering, which brought together five parishes in eastern Paris and several diocesan associations, was to extend over 4km to the parish of Notre-Dame des Otages, the very place where, 150 years ago, 49 “
hostages
”, among which ten religious, had been shot by the federates, militant and anticlerical atheists. "
The objective was purely religious, there was no political demand in our approach
", explains Monsignor Denis Jachiet, auxiliary bishop of Paris. Families, old people, young scouts and altar boys, a few strollers with babies, "
a simple family and good-natured procession
, ”reports Hubert de Germain, one of the organizers, to
Le Figaro.
The starting point had been set at the Square de la Roquette, place of the execution of Mgr Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, on May 24, 1871.
Read also: The diocese of Paris honors its martyrs of the Commune
As soon as the procession has started, the faithful begin to be whistled and cursed by passers-by. "
It was first of all people sitting on the terraces, walkers, nothing too bad,
" says the organizer. "
We are of good composition, we let it go
". But in front of the Père Lachaise cemetery, the tension mounts when the procession meets “
Communard demonstrators
”, armed with red flags, who try to cover the song of the faithful with threatening slogans: “
Everyone hates the Versaillais! Death to the fascists!
". Protesters whose rally was planned at the same place, a little earlier in the afternoon. "
An unfortunate conjecture
», Notes Monsignor Jachiet.
The atmosphere quickly becomes "
oppressive
", report several participants in
Figaro.
"
We would have thought we were 150 back, it's surreal,
" reports Hubert de Germain.
"
They wanted to do battle
"
While the procession continues, it is again interrupted a few hundred meters further, when a group of twenty hooded young people arrive in turn. “
They clearly wanted to do battle, they were antifas,
” reports Hubert de Germain. "
They tore the banners from our hands, knocked down the flag of French Remembrance which they trampled on, punched the parishioners
", reports the organizer. “
They threw us trash cans, bottles, even wire fences
,” said one of the demonstrators. Two sixty-year-olds fall to the ground, one devotee is seriously injured in the skull. He was hospitalized.
The few security agents provided by the diocese and the Order of Malta are quickly overwhelmed.
At the front of the procession, the only policeman sent by the prefecture calls for reinforcements and tries to intervene between the attackers and the faithful, armed with his tear gas canister.
"
There are never any problems during Catholic processions, which no doubt explains the low number planned by the prefecture,
" argues Alexandra Kojvak, parishioner in the neighborhood.
Read also: Beyond the myth, the real history of the Paris municipality
The faithful put an end to the procession and take refuge in the nearest church, Notre-Dame de la Croix. "We
waited while praying, until the police exfiltrated us
", says Hubert de Germain, who mentions children and mothers "
in shock
".
"
What happened is deplorable
", reacted Karine Dalle, communication manager of the diocese of Paris with Le
Figaro.
Aware of touching on a "
highly sensitive
" subject, and noting that the day's program had been relayed to far-left Facebook accounts and groups, the diocese had nevertheless chosen to strengthen the safety of the march. "
But we did not expect such a reaction, for a purely religious procession
", she believes
,
specifying that a complaint under X will be filed. Already a few days earlier, the basilica of Montmartre, perceived by some as an attack on the memory of the victims of the Commune, had been the subject of an intrusion by supporters of this page of history which still arouses passions.
