A Catholic church in southern France was vandalised over Pentecost weekend, the latest in a persistent pattern of attacks on places of worship and Christian symbols across the country.
On Monday, May 25, the church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens in Mérens, in the Lot-et-Garonne department, was found damaged after intruders broke in. Statues were broken, liturgical objects were scattered on the floor, pots of flowers were overturned and at least one stained-glass window was smashed. The church remains an active place of worship used for sacraments and parish life.
In a separate incident in Comps, in the Gard department, a metal cross placed on a rocky outcrop overlooking the village was challenged by Anti-Racist and Anti-Fascist Citizen Action in Beaucaire, which referred the matter to the French Human Rights League, claiming the installation violated secular principles.
Tribune Chrétienne, the French Catholic outlet that first reported the incidents, said such attacks occur with alarming regularity. Churches across France have repeatedly suffered vandalism, including decapitated statues of the Virgin Mary, destroyed crucifixes, forced tabernacles and occasional arson. The report asked: “How many more churches will have to be desecrated before the nation becomes fully aware of the gravity of these acts?”
The Observatory of Religious Heritage has previously warned that one church disappears in France every two weeks because of fire, sale or demolition. Its president, Édouard de Lamaze, has said that two-thirds of church fires are of criminal origin. While such figures relate to religious heritage more broadly, most of the affected sites are Catholic. France has around 45,000 Catholic churches and chapels, many of them historic monuments.
French criminal intelligence data recorded 877 attacks on Catholic places of worship in 2018 alone, with reported vandalism incidents rising sharply over the previous decade. Around 5,000 religious buildings are now considered at risk of disappearing. Municipalities, which own most religious buildings under the 1905 law separating Church and state, often lack the resources for proper maintenance and protection.
The incidents in Mérens and Comps come amid continuing debate in France over secularism, or laïcité, the place of religion in the public square and the preservation of Christian heritage. Catholic leaders and heritage campaigners have repeatedly called for greater respect for places of worship and stronger protection for France’s historic churches.
The frequency of such attacks has prompted growing concern among French Catholics that the country’s historic Christian identity is being progressively eroded in both public and sacred spaces.
