The attackers threatened the participants of a Catholic procession with death in the name of the Koran and Allah, spat on the priest at the head of the procession and doused him with cold water in Nanterre, a city near the capital. The Minister of the Interior called what happened unacceptable, the prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the case, which is aggravated by the fact that the threats were made because of religious affiliation, reports the international news agency V4NA.
They were holding a procession in the town when a group of about thirty men threatened them in the name of the Koran and Allah to cut their throats.
The newspaper Le Figaro, which reports on what happened, knows that the atrocity took place on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception; the members of a group of about ten people first only insulted and then threatened the priests leading and accompanying the procession and the faithful.
The insult was first reported on Twitter by one of the students of the parish, but the post has since been deleted because of many attacks. However, Dean Jean-Marc Sertillange confirmed the news about the attack when asked by the press. According to him, the procession takes place every year on December 8th and marches from the Saint Joseph church to the Sainte Marie church in the Pablo Picasso district. This year, just like before, the prefecture gave permission for the one-kilometer procession.
However, this year's procession had just begun, when the participants began to be insulted at the first stop, barely after a few hundred meters. The aggressors called the participants of the Catholic march infidels and threatened to cut their throats in the name of the Koran. The priest at the head of the procession was spat on and doused with water, and the torch was wrenched from the hand of one of the participants and thrown towards the procession.
It is said that a statement was made that this is the land of Allah and not the home of Catholics.
The attackers ran away from the policemen who arrived at the news of the disturbance, and the procession continued, but they did not stop at a place to pray to reach the end as soon as possible.
A few days after what happened, the diocese of Nanterre issued a statement in which they briefly report on the incident, adding that they are considering filing a complaint.
Essayist Céline Pina also noticed what happened, who reminded on Facebook that Christians are being persecuted in the land of Islam, and then questioned whether it is acceptable for the same thing to happen in France. He also asked how long they would continue to deny the radicalizing activities that Islamism is targeting Muslim youth in the suburbs. Céline Pina also reported on a recent IFOP survey, the results of which show that, compared to other young believers, young Muslims have the most widespread radical perception of religion.
The prosecutor's office in Nanterre launched an investigation into the case. According to deputy state prosecutor Caroline Gontran, the attack is aggravated by the fact that it happened because of the religious affiliation of the participants in the procession.
Source, full article: V4NA/ Magyar Nemzet
Featured image: Hungarian Forum/illustration
