A group of 86 senators from the French Republic has issued a public warning about the alarming growth of attacks against Christians in the country and has asked the government for concrete measures to curb this wave of violence. The statement, published on the platform Boulevard Voltaire, emphasizes that the situation “can no longer be ignored” and demands that the protection of the faithful and places of worship be guaranteed.
A wave of attacks against churches and Christian symbols
According to figures collected by the National Catholic Register, between January and May 2025, at least 322 anti-Christian acts occurred in France, a 13% increase compared to the same period the previous year. These include vandalism against temples, desecration of cemeteries, intentional fires, and thefts of liturgical objects. In 2024 alone, this type of theft amounted to more than 820 cases, compared to 633 in 2022.
The senators recall recent examples, such as the 27 churches vandalized in a few weeks in the Landes region or the desecration of a cross in Nice. “No week goes by without the regional press or social networks reporting new attacks,” lamented the signatories, emphasizing that these aggressions deeply wound France’s cultural and historical memory.
Christians, without a specific protection mechanism
The statement also denounces an imbalance in the State’s response: while there are support mechanisms for victims of antisemitism or Islamophobia, the same does not apply to Christians, who constitute the country’s majority religious community. “This generates in many the feeling of being abandoned,” note the senators.
France is one of the European countries with the most cases of religious vandalism, and official statistics recognize Christianity as the most attacked religion in terms of symbolic violence.
Religious freedom and social cohesion at stake
The signatories of the statement insist that the republican motto of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” must be applied without exceptions. If religious freedom is not guaranteed to all, they warn, social cohesion is eroded and national identity is undermined, historically built on Christian roots.
A response from Macron
The warning from the French senators highlights a problem that until now had been minimized in public debate: the growing harassment of Christians in Western Europe. Emmanuel Macron’s government is now called upon to demonstrate whether it is willing to apply the same firmness against anti-Christian hatred as shown against other forms of intolerance.