Sainte Rita Church In Paris Keeps Hanging On

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As I stood in the broiling hot sun, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, I noticed only the pigeons had to freedom to still call Sainte Rita’s church their home. I wonder what they were thinking snugly perched in the pretty rose window looking down on all the faithful kneeling and praying in the street.image

There must have been around 350  of us attending yesterday’s mass in the street in front of the bordered up church that once welcomed animals with their owners in her pews.  There were still several doggies  seen in the crowd, unperturbed and well behaved as usual.

I wanted to write a followup about Sainte Rita’s sad saga that last week made world wide headlines again. After the clergy and parishioners refused orders to evacuate the interior of the church , the police ended up  dragging off the priest, altar boys and some parishioners who peacefully prostrated themselves on the floor.

Seeing these very humiliating images so soon after terrorists murdered  a priest in a small town in Normandy, many Christians here were provoked with anger and indignation.image

Scrawled in red paint across the metal border that kept the communicates away from the door, was a stark reminder of  this reality.  “En France on tue les pretres et rase les églises” ( In France they kill priests and tear down churches) seemed to sum up these recent events.

As soon as I turned the corner from the metro Sevres Lecourbe walking towards the church, I encountered multiple police wagons, parked along the main avenue with some officers decked out in riot gear.

That sight in itself was pretty unsettling, as certainly they weren’t planning on hauling off the celebrants as before?  Were they expecting the faithful to tear down the barricade and riot against the police?

Instead of congregating what looked like more than 60 or so policemen, mostly waiting in their wagons, I thought they would much better serve the public by stationing a few at each church throughout the city for protection!image

I have attended several outdoor masses, but never before one in the street, in front of a church waiting for the wrecking ball.  This one was in Latin, in the old Tridentine rite, which being a post Vatican II convert, I wasn’t able to follow much nor mouth any of the prayers in Latin.

In addition to the police there were some orange badges security men who looked nervous and were seemingly surveying the crowd more than the police.image

The last time I attended Sainte Rita was when the Gallicans, occupied it.  They followed a very old French Catholic mass also in Latin, popular during the reign of the Bourbon French kings that fell out of favor with the Vatican.

In the past, I would occasionally attend because I could take my  beloved little dachshund, who like the

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other dogs held in the loving arms of their family members or laying at their feet were  perfectly silent.

My previous post was written in 2012, with the link below.

cherrychapman.com/2012/11/05/urgent-saint-rit…lcome-needs-help/

As much as I love babies and toddlers, between them and our fur babies, I have found animals are much more silent in masses, as if they all know that they are the presence of the sacred.

Considering that companion animals are much beloved creatures of God, I find it sad that there aren’t more churches like Sainte Rita that welcomes them.

I do not know if it was the animal’s presence, the parishioners, or Sainte Rita, or perhaps all three, but the energy at Sainte Rita’s was very sweet and serene every time I was there.

The bill of sale from the owners, Association des Chapelles Catholiques et Apostoliques  to a real estate developer took place well over a year ago, but the Gallicans who had been renting the church continued to fight to keep the church open in hopes that either they could raise enough money to buy it or be gifted by a philanthropic person.

Neither materialized, so eventually the clergy  very reluctantly left and Sainte Rita stayed empty for several months.

Around October of last year, a Catholic priest from the Bon Pasteur institute, a traditionalist Roman Catholic  seminary offered his time to offer mass once a week to the Parishioners.

This brought new hope that somehow Sainte Rita could be salvaged.  The mayor of the 15 th arrondissement  had always been supportive, but the very leftist socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidago never was.image

It was she who signed the eviction order despite multiple protests from the arrondissement and many constituents, not only from the quartier but throughout Paris!

I can only presume that she too  ordered all those paddy wagons, thinking that they would be needed to drag off violent shrieking parishioners.

Sadly, this very pretty little church was deemed lacking in historical and architectural merits to keep it from being destroyed, though that is quite disputable.

It was built in 1901 and was considered neo-Gothic in design.  The owners of this church were a British religious organization, who left in 1987 and started renting to the Gallican Catholic community.

I wonder how long he persistence of this small but devoted community can last?  Will they continue to hold masses in the street, even when the wrecking ball starts to  demolish the church?

At the end of yesterday’s mass the priest announced that there would be another mass and procession on August the 15th, Assumption Day, which is a Marian feast day and national holiday in France.

My fervent hope is that they can come up with enough money to buy it from the real estate developers, who want to build apartments and a parking lot, if they are even willing to sell.

The other possible scenario is finding another place of worship, but that would entail a miracle of sorts too.

The Gallicans tried to find another suitable place  anywhere in the city, but that never materialised either.

France’s rich traditional Christian history has suffered greatly due to past dwindling support for churches throughout the country, where many have been converted to hotels, private residences and restaurants.

For years France has allowed an influx of money from Gulf countries to fund building mosques, which just recently was put on hold following the murder of the priest.

With increasing fears of Islamization eroding the cultural backbone of France, I have noticed an increase fervency of Christians, who now feel threatened and  are called to preserving and reviving the rich French Judeo Christian heritage.

I hope this overdue backlash will increase and continue, as France is waking up to the stark reality that their country is in a dangerous and pivotal position of losing its identity and cultural backbone.

Bravo to the brave and devoted faithful and friends of Sainte Rita for battling the cause!  Unless a miracle happens, they may very well lose a building, but not their faith!

Saint Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of impossible causes,  for which this church had a special devotional shrine will hopefully intervene to save this pretty church at the last minute, which is now!

 

2 thoughts on “Sainte Rita Church In Paris Keeps Hanging On”

    1. Thank you dear Pam! I was hoping to get a chance to see you in Paris this summer, but perhaps you will decode at a later date. Hugs

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