Theft, damage, desecration… Are our churches in danger?

MAY 10, 2025, 11:30 a.m. like every Saturday, Annie, sacristan of the Saint-Étienne church, in Narrosse (Landes), opens the doors of the building to prepare for mass. She then discovers the unthinkable: the tabernacle has been partly torn down, the ciborium and the hosts stolen. “You can’t imagine the shock,” she says. I was devastated. » An immense anger rises within her. During the reparation mass the next day, Annie had tears in her eyes in front of the vandalized tabernacle. “The priest told me that I had to show mercy but I can’t. Not for such an act. » The old lady plans to attend the trial of the three suspected people, on October 27, at the Dax criminal court – they were arrested on September 1. The police’s interrogations suggested a financial motive. The explanation seems short to him: “Even if we need money, we are not obliged to damage the church and attack Christ! I am 80 years old, I have never experienced this and I never imagined for a single moment that this could exist. » From now on, when she cleans the church, she double-closes the doors of the building.

Such stories are unfortunately not rare. In the region, 26 other churches have been burglarized since May, presumably by the same individuals. At the national level, the gendarmerie has recorded 820 thefts in Christian places of worship in 2024, an increase of 23.7% since 2022. Not a week goes by without the local press documenting attacks on religious sites.

On September 8 in Guingamp (Côtes-d’Armor), a fire damaged the statue of the Virgin in the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours basilica, in the middle of the Nativity Mass, for the third time in ten years. At Notre-Dame-du-Travail, in Paris, in July 2024, the hosts were tagged and violent inscriptions, such as “Jesus, burn”, defaced the walls.

Different realities

Are our churches in danger? Political figures fear it and have decided to sound the alarm. In a letter sent to the prefects, as August 15 approached, Bruno Retailleau, then Minister of the Interior, demanded from the police “extreme vigilance in a context of increase in anti-Christian acts”. From January to June 2025, the National Directorate of Territorial Intelligence (DNRT) counted 401 acts listed as “anti-Christian”. An increase of 13% compared to the same period of the previous year.

These figures, widely reported by the media, have caused serious concern. Last September, 85 senators from the Les Républicains (LR) group signed a column on Boulevard Voltaire, a blog claiming to be “conservative right”, calling on the government to better protect Christians. “If the Republic was able to create, against anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim acts, reporting platforms (…), support systems for victims, nothing similar exists for anti-Christian acts”, develops the text.

Senator Sylviane Noël (LR), who initiated this text, explains that she wanted to launch this appeal because of “political inaction and the fairly deafening silence” on the subject. She sees it as a “deconstruction of our civilization”. And calls for “a fight, particularly against far-left movements which are becoming radicalized. Some would like to weaken Christianity.”

Would Christians be particularly threatened? “There is no particular alert”, however, we assure from Beauvau, who explains the context of the sending of the letter of August 15. “As for every religious holiday, a telegram is sent to the prefects. While the threat of attack remains high, we ask them for increased vigilance.” If we take a closer look at the number of anti-Christian acts, despite the increase in recent months, the figures are stable, or even decreasing since 2015. “Over the long term, the trend is rather downward,” confirms Benoit de Sagazan, director of the Pilgrim Institute of Heritage, which has been documenting the subject for nearly twenty years.

Low complaint filings

It is nonetheless true that the figures undoubtedly remain below reality, due to the low number of complaints filed by the dioceses. In collaboration with the latter, the Ministry of the Interior has been carrying out an awareness-raising project for several years to better identify the acts committed. Training is also offered to parishes. On October 9 in Lyon (Rhône), as part of an awareness day among mayors and priests, Antoine Guérin, delegated prefect for defense and security, set out clear instructions: “There are reflexes to have. If there is damage, you must systematically file a complaint. » Security managers have also been appointed in the dioceses and are cooperating with the police. In Lyon, the initiative seems to be bearing fruit.

Places of asylum

Anti-Christian acts are also the consequence of a less perceptible reality: places of asylum, churches attract people suffering psychologically, some of whom can commit degradation without a clear anti-religious intention. Matthieu Poupart, a Catholic essayist, had plenty of time to observe these visitors from the entrance to the cathedral of Tours (Indre-et-Loire), where he was employed for two years. He notably remembers a homeless man urinating on the flagstones. “His face was devastated by the shame and physical suffering of having contained himself for a very long time. It was terrible.” Aware of his distress, the priest did not file a complaint. “I don’t want to question the message of the Gospel,” warns Antoine Guérin, “but when you welcome people with psychological difficulties, be careful! Fires have started like that.”

In 2021, Father Franklin Parmentier, parish priest of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), was also the victim of an imbalance, less than a year after the terrorist attack killing three people in the basilica. An undocumented migrant who entered the building spat on the ground then threatened him, subsequently receiving twelve months in prison. It was not so much the anti-Christian act as the author’s chaotic journey that marked the priest: “At the age of 28, he had been convicted twenty-four times, had spent eleven years in prison and was a homeless person. What was really on his mind? That really worked for me.”

Our most vulnerable churches

Without question, churches today are more vulnerable than synagogues and mosques. For two reasons. First, because of their number – 42,258 compared to 2,368 mosques and 500 synagogues. “Given their profusion, the quantity of malicious acts ultimately remains limited,” estimates Mgr Alain Planet, bishop emeritus, involved in this subject.

Then, because, under the law of 1905, around 40,000 churches are communal, and not private, as is the case with almost all mosques or synagogues. In application of this text, town halls must make buildings available to the faithful, which therefore remain open a good part of the time. But many municipalities no longer have the means to maintain them, let alone invest in their security.

We therefore understand why attacks on property are much more frequent among Christians. And also why flights are progressing. Antoine Guérin calls for vigilance: “Look at what is in your churches: are the objects of art sufficiently protected?” In a majority of cases, the answer is no. These sacred places “remain particularly vulnerable because they are not secure,” adds Benoît de Sagazan.

Inventory church assets

Fortunately, solutions exist. In September 2023, the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) launched general statements of religious heritage, a vast and unprecedented project intended to draw up a census of liturgical furniture. “These inventories are essential. They make it possible to identify stolen objects found on the market or among receivers,” notes Benoît de Sagazan. The judicial authorities recommend including photographs, in order to facilitate identification in the event of resale. They also encourage parishes to better protect their objects. “The police are at their disposal to evaluate the measures to be taken in order to secure the buildings,” specifies Antoine Guérin. This security can largely be taken care of by the prefectures, via the K program, set up after the 2015 attacks. It can finance video protection, anti-intrusion systems and security work. “But many municipalities ignore it,” laments Pierre Ouzoulias, communist senator, author of a report, in 2022, on the state of religious heritage. Since 2020, the Christian community has benefited from 3.3 million euros, according to the Ministry of the Interior, for only 217 projects. The potential is therefore largely underexploited.

The Open Churches association, the Pilgrim Heritage Institute, the CEF, the judicial authorities, all agree on the same observation: the more a church is closed, the more vulnerable it becomes. By remaining open, it deters thieves who have the impression that someone could enter at any time. Some parishes compete in ingenuity to sow signs of life: a visible broom and mop; dummy cameras… “The church must appear inhabited,” insists Benoît de Sagazan. It must be maintained and flowered. » On the Internet, you can find practical guides full of advice. Churches can also be open to associations or communities for shared uses, as illustrated in the series Églises à vivre, produced by The Lord’s Day and The Pilgrim. Awareness is there, and the movement has started. So that these thefts, damage or desecration come less and less often to bruise the hearts of the faithful.

1) The first name has been changed.

2) Source: Conference of Bishops of France.