the degraded church of the Sacred Heart, the parish lodges a complaint

The Church of the Sacred Heart, in downtown Bordeaux, was the target of damage on the night of Sunday March 12 to Monday March 13. The walls of the facade and the entrance door were tagged, while a trash fire was lit at the foot of the steps of the forecourt. The firefighters, however, intervened quickly to extinguish the beginning of the fire which did not reach the building, according to a press release published by the diocese on Monday.

On the walls of the building, one or more strangers have tagged slogans like “Devil, take me with you” or “Burn everything for free”. The parish filed a complaint against X for degradation of property in the process, Sunday “late evening”, according to the same press release.

The prefecture of New Aquitaine, for its part, announced the opening of an investigation, describing the inscriptions as “hate tags” and “acts of vandalism”.

The Church of the Sacred Heart of #Bordeaux was targeted last night with hate tags and acts of vandalism. Prefect Étienne GUYOT denounces these intolerable acts. An investigation has been opened so that the perpetrators can be identified and brought to justice.

– Prefect of New Aquitaine and Gironde (@PrefAquitaine33) March 13, 2023

The diocese assured to share “the emotion of the faithful Catholics and the inhabitants shocked by this act”. Contacted by La Croix, he did not wish to provide further details.

Last January, several attempts to set fire to churches were prevented in the capital. A man was taken into custody at the end of the month.

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