What’s behind the church vandalism in France?
The ransacking of a Catholic basilica in western France just days after Easter is part of a worrying trend of attacks against religious edifices in the country
How many places of worship are robbed or damaged each year in France?
"It is difficult to give a truly exhaustive figure because a certain number of these acts are not always declared or counted," says Isabelle Florenne, spokesperson for the Democratic Movement (MoDem)
Florenne was still a member of parliament in March 2022 when she and Ludovic Mendès of the En Marche! Party unveiled a report on "anti-religious acts" in France.
According to this report, 857 anti-Christian acts were recorded in the country in 2021. In 92% of the cases, these acts concerned attacks on property, with in particular 752 attacks on places of worship and Christian cemeteries.
"These figures should of course be compared with the more than 46,000 Christian places of worship. Nevertheless, a total of two attacks per day on places of worship and cemeteries has been reached," the report underlined.
Attacks on Jewish and Muslim property
Other communities are not spared. In 2021, there were 284 attacks on Jewish community property, targeting synagogues (90% of attacks) and cemeteries (10%). During the same year, intelligence recorded 107 attacks on mosques and Muslim cultural centers, and two on Muslim cemeteries. A total of six arsons were recorded against mosques.
All of these figures are from the Service Central du Renseignement Territorial (SCRT), which was set up in 2014 to take over some of the assignments previously entrusted to the Renseignement Généraux (RG). To identify anti-religious acts, this service relies on feedback from the police and gendarmerie. But the SCRT is also in regular dialogue with representatives of religious groups.
"In particular, the service has long experience of working with the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ), which is structured to report anti-Semitic attacks as accurately as possible. A similar exchange exists with the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) for anti-Catholic acts (even if the reports seem less systematic). It does not exist at present with the Muslim faith," the report by the two MPs stated.
The penal code stipulates that the destruction, degradation or deterioration of a building used for worship is punishable by seven years of imprisonment and a fine of €100,000. But everything depends of course on the seriousness of the act.
Judges do not hesitate to impose prison sentences. A man who set fire to the Nantes Cathedral, destroying its 17th century pipe organ, was sentenced last month to four years in jail. In January 2022 another man was given a three-and-a-half-year prison term for setting fire to four churches in the Pas-de-Calais region.
When the acts are less serious, the sentences are usually accompanied by a suspended sentence or community service. Educational measures can also be ordered when the perpetrators are minors, which happens quite often.
The other case, which is quite frequent, concerns the perpetration of acts by mentally unstable individuals. Last month, a man was arrested after damaging three churches in Paris. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital and then escaped to break statues in a church in Val-de-Marne before being arrested again and put in a place of care.