Stéphane Bern, at the head of a mission for the preservation of heritage, launched a cry of alarm Wednesday in front of the senators to save
"number"
of religious buildings
"in a state of dereliction"
.
"I feel like I'm in a boat that's taking on water and scooping it up with a tablespoon!"
, he launched in front of the senators of the Committee of the culture who heard him on the state of this religious heritage.
"It is above all our culture and our history
," he added.
“Classified or not”
, the religious buildings which contain a number of
“paintings, statues, registers of the Middle Ages, books and objects of worship”
, represent
“30% of the files”
reviewed by the Mission.
The latter, entrusted in 2017 to Stéphane Bern by President Macron, collected
"200 million euros in five years"
, thanks to the "heritage lotto" launched a year later, he said.
“My vocation is not to substitute myself for the public force but to come to him voluntarily in support.
If all the requests come to me, it is because there is a deficiency in the state
,” he regretted.
The star host, passionate about the history of France and famous for his mainstream programs on the royal families, drew up a grim inventory, with
"a number of small country churches in a state of dereliction"
which
"are no longer maintained ”
for lack of practitioners and means, speaking of
“bell towers and whole sections of collapsed walls”
.
Read alsoIn 25 years, 35,000 buildings “saved” by the Heritage Foundation
The
“exponential cost”
that their restoration, constantly delayed, requires cannot be assumed by
“many small municipalities alone”
, he underlined, pleading for a better distribution of
“competences”
between municipalities, departments and regions and the establishment of a
"common fund"
of financing dedicated to the safeguarding of this heritage.
Read alsoStéphane Bern: “The government understands nothing about heritage”
This observation is valid for all religions, according to Stéphane Bern who cited a number of
"synagogues and buildings of the Reformed Church"
.
Safeguarding them requires a
“complete inventory”
of movable heritage and
“a directory of unprotected religious heritage”
, which does not exist, according to Stéphane Bern, who also wishes to
“open a discussion”
on the paying entrance to religious buildings.
Pierre Ouzoulias (PCF), author of a report in preparation on the subject, has quantified
"100,000 religious buildings in France, of which 40,000 are still used for worship"
but only
"15,000 are protected"
.
According to him,
“2,000 to 3,000 buildings are abandoned”.
