Young People Attack Priest and Utter Anti-Christian insults
On June 12th 2023, a "group of young people" attacked Joseph Eid, the rector of the Notre-Dame-du-Liban parish. Shortly after 8 pm a dozen young people allegedly entered the presbytery to retrieve a soccer ball, and were scolded by the priest. The situation seems to have escalated and the priest was violently thrown to the ground, then grabbed by the back of the neck before being helped by witnesses. The assailants then fled, hurling anti-Christian insults.
After the incident was known, the President of the Rhône Council of Mosques (CMR), Kamel Kabtane, and two spokesmen for the Rhône Theological Council of Imams (CTIR), Azzedine Gazi and Mohammed Minta, expressed their "indignation and anger" at the attack. They said: "In addition, anti-Christian insults were allegedly uttered by these young people with an appalling lack of awareness and irresponsibility. These unacceptable practices and unworthy behaviour towards Men of Faith are contrary to the values of Islam and the teachings of the Koran, which call for respect and protection of the 'People of the Book', meaning Jews and Christians". A delegation from CMR and CTIR also visited the priest.
Source: Le Figaro, Twitter, Aleteia France, CNews.fr
Symbolic Illustration by Romain Dancre on Unsplash