France really needs our prayers!
Two French churches recently experienced brutal attacks.
France’s Oloron Cathedral, also known as St. Mary’s Church, was rammed into with a car and robbed around 2 am Monday, resulting in approximately 60,000 euros (about $66,000) of damage. This is the first-ever attack on the cathedral since its building in the 12th century.
The masked perpetrators allegedly broke down the cathedral’s doors with a Peugeot 106 and a tree trunk strapped to the car’s hood, stealing multiple objects dating back to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
Some of the robbed items include a gold monstrance, crown, chalice, nativity scene, and priestly vestments. Stolen priestly vestments include 16th-century gifts from King Francis I.
The photos below depict damages and some of the stolen items:
Bayonne and Oloron Bishop Marc Aillet called the offense a “sacrilegious robbery since they are objects of worship, some of which are still used today in certain great circumstances.”
The Oloron cathedral theft is just one attack on a Catholic Church in France this week.
Another attack recently occurred in France’s chapel of the Hermitage Saint-Florent in Oberhaslach. Unknown suspects beheaded a St. Bernadette statue. Parish priest Fr. Marc D’Hooge said a parishioner discovered the decapitated statue on Sunday afternoon.
He explained that the perpetrator may have tried using the statue “to break the door of the sacristy.”
Here’s a photo of the beheaded statue below:
Previous ChurchPOP reports indicated many other church attacks occurring in France, with attacks happening up to three times per day.
Please pray for our persecuted Church! St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
[See also: Vandals Desecrate 12 French Catholic Churches: “Reflection of a Sick Civilization”]
[See also: Church Desecrated with Feces in Horrific Vandal Attack, Bishop Leads Purification]