The French leader Marine Le Pen denounced on her X account a new attack against a Catholic temple in Brittany, sharing an image of a burned statue inside the church. “Barely a month after the criminal fire that affected the Notre-Dame-des-Champs church in Paris, a new act of vandalism profanes a church in Brittany”, wrote the president of National Rally.
Le Pen described these attacks as “unacceptable” and criticized the inaction of public authorities in protecting places of worship, as well as the silence of left-wing and far-left leaders regarding what she defined as an “exponential violence directed against Catholics”.
The fire at Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris
Le Pen’s reference alludes to the fire that occurred in mid-July at the Notre-Dame-des-Champs church, in Paris’s VI district. The fire was considered criminal in origin and severely damaged part of the temple. The incident raised alarms about the security of places of worship in the French capital.
This attack adds to a series of vandalistic acts against Catholic temples in France, a country that has recorded a worrying increase in profanations, fires, and assaults on religious symbols for years.
A wave of profanations silenced
Official statistics show that hundreds of acts of vandalism against Catholic churches occur in France every year, ranging from graffiti to intentional fires. The Catholic News Agency (ACN) reported in early September that in 2024, 820 robberies took place in churches, chapels, and basilicas across France. However, these aggressions rarely receive prominent media coverage, in contrast to other episodes of religious violence.
Le Pen has brought to the forefront an important axis for political discourse, pointing out what she considers a selective persecution against Catholics and a complicity by omission from the authorities, who are unable to guarantee security in the temples and now also for people —we recall the recent murder of Charlie Kirk in the United States and the massacre of about 70 Christians in the Congo—.
Faith under attack in Europe
In Spain, this phenomenon is also experienced; the so-called «black August» left 7 temples profaned and/or vandalized in one month. This attack in Brittany reminds us that Catholics in Europe not only face secularization and the loss of cultural influence, but also growing violence against their places of worship.
Marine Le Pen’s denunciation highlights a problem that transcends borders: the indifference of public authorities and progressive parties toward a reality that wounds the faith and religious freedom of millions of believers.