The church of Notre Dame de Travail, located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, was vandalized on the night of July 14th to 15th.
Anti-Catholic inscriptions as well as other offensive remarks were painted on the walls of the church.
A knife was stuck in the throat of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, according to media reports.
The website Valeurs actuelles clarifies that there was a “break-in” and damage to the interior of the church. Fr. Vincent de Mello told the Journal du Dimanche that “the person who opens the church in the mornings alerted us: the parish priest immediately went to the scene, and I joined him later in the day.”
He adds that, “He called the police, and the church was closed for 24 hours, the time needed to collect samples and conduct the investigation. The events unfolded during the night from Sunday to Monday. The person had ample time to act during the night, given that we do not have surveillance cameras, we have no idea when it started.”
According to Valeurs actuelles, “The perpetrator or perpetrators entered through the emergency exit and wrote in black felt-tip pen on several supports of the building: ‘submit yourselves to Allah infidels prayer 5 times a day’, ‘Bastard Jesus only one god Allah’, ‘this big Babylon destroyed satan the church’, ‘the church here we are burn the first part’.”
The litany of blasphemies and insults—as well as gross spelling mistakes—continues: “‘The last profet Mohammed’, ‘the cut-off head to those who stick out / I will make war on you Christian world’, ‘we Muslim, we cannot accept this [offensive term] of religion / mary this is your destiny’, ‘go to hell satan burns’.”
The same media outlet reports that, according to a police source, “Cabinet doors were also broken, the reception area was rummaged through, a small cash box was forced open and papers were burned.”
A knife was stuck in the throat of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. The organ was “smashed,” according to Le Figaro, “the sound system was also damaged: all the wireless microphone relays were torn out.”
Finally, the culprit or culprits attempted to set fire to the building.
Fr. de Mello told CNews , “That this really looks like the work of an unhinged person who has anti-religious, anti-Christian intentions.”
The Church of Notre Dame de Travail
According to Wikipedia, the church was built “for the many workers living in the 14th arrondissement who were responsible for setting up the Paris Universal Exposition at the beginning of the 20th century, it pays homage to the working class and to the meaning of the word ‘travail’ [‘work’]. Fr. [Jean-Baptiste Roger] Soulange-Bodin [(1861-1925)] began the project and the collection of funds for church’s construction in 1897.”
“[F]inished in April 1902 by the architect Jules-Godefroy Astruc (1862-1955), it is remarkable by the use of an innovative metal frame and a framework of exposed beams. Its bell was brought back from Sevastopol following the capture of the city (1855) during the Crimean War (1853-1856).”
Le Figaro recalls that nearly a thousand anti-Christian acts were recorded in 2023, of which “90% were attacks on property, such as cemeteries and churches,” indicated the statistical offices of the Place Beauvau in early 2024.