Gérald Darmanin announced on Sunday that he would present “in the coming weeks” to the Council of Ministers the dissolution of Academia Christiana, a movement of far-right traditionalist Catholics. “We will present their dissolution to the Council of Ministers in the coming weeks,” declared the Minister of the Interior in an interview with the online media Brut.
“Under the pretext of an alleged threat weighing on the French”, this group “recurrently legitimizes physical violence and the use of weapons”, specified a source close to the matter. To do this, “it uses warlike vocabulary and explicitly encourages its militants to arm themselves and go on a ‘crusade'”, added this source. “On the other hand, and consistent with this threat that threatens France, Academia Christiana presents ‘self-defense’ as necessary,” she said.
A procedure that the movement will contest
Founded in 2013 by young people close to the identity movement, Academia Christiana presents itself as an “integral” training institute, both “spiritual, moral, intellectual and sporting”. This organization is chaired by Victor Aubert, professor of French and philosophy at the Institut Croix des Vents in Sées (Orne), a private educational establishment outside of a contract run by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint-Pierre, a traditionalist institute recognized by Rome.
“By wanting to dissolve us, the government is once again attacking Catholics, whom it considers to be second-class citizens,” Academia Christiana reacted on its internet, accusing the executive of seeking to “prohibit any thought or reflection outside of secularist and consumerist ideology.”
“At a time when stabbings are flying morning, noon and evening, the priority of the Republic is to dissolve a training institute whose executives are all honest fathers and mothers,” lamented the organization, who plans to “contest this absurd procedure” before the Council of State.
“At least three other ultra-right groups” in the viewfinder
After the announcement of its upcoming dissolution, Academia Christiana received a lot of support from the far right on social networks, particularly from the movement close to Eric Zemmour.
“The rule of law for Darmanin means not being able to expel jihadists, not shooting criminals who threaten the police, not dissolving the Young Guard (“antifa” movement, Editor’s note), letting the Muslim Brotherhood prosper , but being able to dissolve peaceful associations by snapping your fingers,” the founder of Reconquête! blasted on X.
The Minister of the Interior specified in his interview with Brut that “at least three other ultra-right groups” were in the sights of the intelligence services, without giving details.