Priest Assaulted during Mass

Country: France

Date of incident: May 11, 2018


On May 11th, a man entered l’église de la Source à Saint Denis on the French island of Réunion during the celebration of the Mass, walked straight to the altar, and slapped Father Pascal Mussard. Many parishioners rushed to intervene. Police arrived soon after and handcuffed the man. After it was discovered that the perpetrator was "imbalanced" and had fled from a hospital hours earlier, the priest declined to file a complaint.

Sources: Freedom - Réunion News and La Réunion - Niooz