On Saturday, July 26th, pro-Palestinian activists disrupted Mass at La Madeleine, one of the largest churches in Paris, by bursting in during Mass to chant their slogans.
Five people entered the building while Mass was being celebrated. They shouted “Long live Palestine!” while waving Palestinian keffiyehs. The words “Gaza” and “genocide” rang out in the church, along with the question, “What is the Church doing about this?” They read aloud a text calling for an end to attacks on Palestinian civilians and for respect for international humanitarian law.
Several worshippers, disturbed in their prayers, asked them to leave. Among them were two police officers, who contained the troublemakers and called for reinforcements. The police arrived on the scene and evacuated them. During questioning on the steps of the church, the protesters explained that they had planned similar actions during Sunday morning Masses in other Parisian churches. However, no further attacks were reported.
The priest of La Madeleine, Msgr. Patrick Chauvet, former rector of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, decided to file a complaint. “This is a real blasphemy in the middle of the distribution of the Eucharist. They seemed to be mocking this central moment for Christians,” he told the press, obviously shocked.
The priest tried to engage in discussion with the protesters but was met with a wall of resistance. “I asked them to show some respect for the place and for Holy Communion. For us Christians, this is the most important thing. It is a treasure. They were desecrating that treasure. But the response was chilling: ‘That’s the way it is. The genocide in Gaza is more important,’” he told journalists from Tribune chrétienne. “No, genocide is not more important than the Eucharist,” he replied in his defence.
He believes that the act was carefully organised, that everything was intentional, and that it was therefore genuine blasphemy, as the protesters chose to intervene at the precise moment of communion.
This desecration comes after another Paris church, Notre-Dame des Champs, was targeted by arson attacks on two separate occasions within a couple of days. A suspect already involved in similar cases has been arrested.
