Vandalism and Desecration Of Hospital Chapel In La Rochelle

Case information
Incident date
Country
France
Place
La Rochelle
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Arson
  • Desecration
  • Vandalism (all)
  • Vandalism of Chapel
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Other (text field)
Place of Incident
  • Chapel
Bias Indicators
  • Lack of Other Motive
  • Significance of Property/Structure/Location to religious community
  • Victim/Witness Perception
Reported to Police
  • Yes
Response of Local Authorities
  • Investigated
Image credit: la-croix.com

On March 22, the chapel of the Saint-Louis Hospital in La Rochelle got severely vandalised and desecrated. "When I knelt down at the altar to begin my prayer, I noticed that something was wrong," explained the chaplain. He noticed that the altar cloths were stained with a yellow liquid and that in front of one of the side chapels an imposing plaster statue of Christ was "pulverised". Matches and a cigarette butts that were found at the scene indicate that the perpetrators tried to set fire to the chapel. The police is investigating.

Sources