A place of worship looted and vandalized by delinquents. The Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois church in Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis) was targeted by thugs, who committed numerous thefts and multiple damages during the night of Sunday 9 to Monday 10 January.
It is one of the most sacred objects in the church: the Tabernacle, which contains the hosts for Mass, was broken up by burglars. They also stole several vases and the public address system in the sacristy. The damage was discovered Monday morning by the priests.
“What shocked me was when I saw the sacristy door because it is a door which is still very secure but hey, they had the necessary equipment to do that … I wasn’t expecting that at all, I could imagine everything except a burglary in a church, ”testified Serge Nzuzi, parish priest of Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis) on CNEWS.
This discovery also shocked the faithful of this place. “I was completely flabbergasted. I can not understand that there are people who do that … “, explained a first, before a second regular of this church confides his astonishment to the microphone of CNEWS:” We could not think that it could happen in such a building ”.
“To forgive is not to abandon justice”
On Wednesday evening, they came in droves to attend a mass of reparation necessary to purify the church after these acts of desecration. “Touching a church is touching what is most sacred to us,” said the priest in charge of the event, before advocating forgiveness while demanding that the perpetrators be condemned. “To forgive is not to abandon justice, in other words, those who have done harm, those who have done damage, must be repaired”, concluded Pascal Delanoix, bishop of the diocese of Saint-Denis, on CNEWS.
Two complaints were filed by the diocese for this church and that of Bondy, also vandalized. Investigations have been opened and the Minister of the Interior is expected on site this Thursday morning. The latter had given his “support to Catholics” on the evening of Wednesday on Twitter, before announcing the opening of two investigations for the thefts and degradations committed in this church and that of Bondy.