French Community Ordered to Remove Cross from Statue of John Paul II
On October 25th the French State Council, the highest administrative court in France, ordered the removal of the cross atop the statue of Pope John Paul II in the community of Ploërmel because the symbol violates French secularism laws.
“Since the cross is a religious sign or emblem within the meaning of Article 28 of the Law of 9 December 1905 and its installation by the municipality does not fall into any of the exceptions provided by this article, its presence in a public location is contrary to this law,” argued the French court.
In 2015, the Rennes tribunal had ordered the removal of the entire statue but upon appeal, the Conseil d’Etat allowed the statue to remain, provided that the cross on top was removed.
The city of Ploërmel now has six months to eliminate the cross, and must pay a fee to the National Federation of Free Thought (Fédération nationale de la libre-pensée FNLP), the organization that has demanded the statue's removal since 2015.
The statue of Saint John Paul II (1920-2005) is work of the Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli and was placed on the square of the community in Brittany since 2006 after it was approved by the municipality.
