“
We are disgusted, a place of worship is sacred.
Those who did that have no respect for anything.
Our society is going very badly
”, laments a woman accompanied by her daughter on leaving the Saint-Pierre church in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis).
After Saint-Denis last week, where three statues of the basilica were degraded, acts of vandalism against Catholic buildings are increasing in recent days in the department.
To read also "On the Koran I will cut your throat": in Nanterre, Catholics in procession victims of threats
This time, the churches of Saint-Pierre de Bondy and Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Romainville were targeted, on the night of Sunday 9 to Monday 10 January.
Thefts but also acts of desecration were noted.
The diocese of Saint-Denis-en-France has filed two complaints with the police.
In Bondy, a stained-glass window was broken while the trunk of the church was sawn with a grinder to steal the money. For its part, the tabernacle (the cabinet that houses the hosts consecrated during Mass, Editor's note) was desecrated, fractured and emptied of its contents. The sacristy door was also broken and a liturgical object, a sacred vessel, was stolen. In Romainville, a stained-glass window was smashed, several trunks were torn off, the tabernacle was emptied and the sacristy was sacked to steal sacred objects. In both churches, the body of Christ was also taken away.
“They have broken up the most revered place, which is the tabernacle. This is the most serious attack that can be done to a local church ”
, deplores the
Figaro
Father Jocelyn Petitfils, vicar and priest in Bondy.
Photos provided to
Le Figaro
show the damage in Bondy and Romainville.
The tabernacle of Saint-Pierre de Bondy church was fractured.
Diocese of Saint-Denis-en-France
The trunk of Saint-Pierre de Bondy church was sawn with a grinder.
Diocese of Saint-Denis-en-France
The sacristy of the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois church in Romainville just after the flights.
Diocese of Saint-Denis-en-France
"Is it stealing to steal or to attack a religion?"
In front of the church of Saint-Pierre de Bondy, Wednesday morning, believers oscillated between consternation and concern. “
It doesn't surprise me. Today we no longer try to work, we steal and we take
, ”says a faithful while walking away with her caddy. A little further on, Alexandra, 43, wonders: “
I would like to know who did that and what the person's religious origins are. Is it stealing to steal or is it to attack a religion? We wonder
”.
A regular at the church, she does not go four ways. “
This kind of act means that we want to suppress Christians. It starts like this and it ends differently, like the Christians of the East in Muslim countries. It's scary
, ”said this septuagenarian. Before specifying: "
It was long before Bondy, I saw the city change
". Inside the church, Elisabeth, 66, is busy with her broom. She has cleaned the building every Wednesday since 1978. “
The church is very beautiful and completely redone. And the stained-glass window was so beautiful ... It's horrible
, ”she laments. She also sings the refrain of "
it was better before
". "
It sucks here and it gets worse and worse.
People are afraid: they pray and go out quickly, they no longer dare to stay too long
, ”she notes.
Are the desecrations of Bondy and Romainville linked?
Have any perpetrators been identified?
Contacted, the Bobigny public prosecutor's office has not yet responded to our requests.