Men Entered Convent Demanding Nuns Convert to Islam

Case information
Incident date
Country
France
Place
Verdun
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Threats
  • Insult or Incitement
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Other (text field)
Place of Incident
  • Christian Building
Bias Indicators
  • Comments/Written Statements/Gestures/Graffiti
  • Time/Place/Location
  • Victim/Witness Perception
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated

On November 10th, two men rang the doorbell of the Carmelite convent of Verdum and asked to "discuss religion" and to tell them how Islam corrects the distortions of Christianity. During Vespers, the men prayed aloud in Arabic and told the nuns if they did not convert to Islam, they would "go to hell."

Although there was no physical violence, the nuns were "very troubled" by the incident. Upon leaving the convent, the men wrote "Allahu Akbar" in the guestbook.

The two men were arrested the next day and charged with aggravated voluntary violence for the psychological impact the incident had on the women.

Sources