The regular robberies at Catholic churches in France have taken on a new twist with the theft of a fourth-century saint’s skull from a reliquary in a venerable parish on the Atlantic coast.
The skull of Saint Vivent, who evangelised what is now the resort town of Les Sables d’Olonne, and some bones were stolen from the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption on 18 December.
“We can imagine motives linked to spiritualism or occult practices, which is chilling,” parish priest Fr Antoine Nouwavi said. Apparently the thief took the skull after the parish quarterly magazine featured the relics recently.
Profanations of rural churches are common in France, where parishes’ tight budgets and dwindling congregations mean few can afford the electronic security needed to protect the often empty buildings.
As a result, thieves regularly steal valuable liturgical or artistic heritage for sale, and anti-Catholics scatter consecrated hosts on the floor or scrawl curses on the walls.
“Our churches have become very popular places, but not always for the right reasons,” Fr Nouwavi told Aleteia news agency. “There are many people who no longer believe what we believe and who no longer respect what is important to us.”
Les Sables d’Olonne mayor Nicolas Chénéchaud rejected suggestions the church, the town’s oldest dating back to about the year 1000, should not remain open so often if it cannot afford adequate security.
“It is not our peaceful churches that should be closed, but these barbarians who should be locked up,” he said. A nearby church was robbed in October by two thieves, who stole about €300 and broke a statue.
Saint Vivent fled his ancient Syrian homeland by ship and landed on the west coast of France. His relics long stayed in the Jura region, where they were taken in the ninth century when Vikings raided the coast.
The skull and a few bones came back to Les Sables d’Olonne in 1937 and were exposed in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.
In a recent report on anti-Christian acts, the European Centre for Law and Justice said France led Europe in 2024 with 770 cases registered, more than twice as many as the runner-up country, Germany.