Rise in attacks on French churches reflects ignorance of religion 

Rise in attacks on French churches reflects ignorance of religion 

Sometimes it’s a cross of human excrement smeared on a church wall with stolen Communion hosts stuck at the four corners. 

Other times a statue of the Virgin Mary lies shattered on the floor. Now and then a fire breaks out in a house of prayer. 

Roman Catholic churches have increasingly come under attack in France, a country so long identified with Christianity that it used to be called “the eldest daughter of the church.”

A recent fire at St. Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris, has shed light on a trend that has become commonplace in many smaller towns. 

Among attacks on churches in February a cross of human excrement was found in the southern city of Nimes, a statue of Mary was smashed in a Paris suburb and a statue of Jesus decapitated in an Atlantic seaside resort with the very Christian name of Saint Gilles Croix de Vie (St. Giles, Cross of Life).

The attacks on Catholic churches reflect the complex role France’s once dominant faith plays in a society that has changed so much that ignorance of religion — not only Christianity but others as well — is widespread.

Attacks on other religious sites, especially Jewish and Muslim properties, have also risen, but are far fewer than those on Catholic churches because of their minority status. 

Protestants, who make up only 2 percent of the population, have seen few attacks on their churches, possibly because they lack many symbols distinct to Catholicism. (RNS)