The presidency of the French Bishops’ Conference condemned violence during France’s Oct. 17 protests and called for demonstrators’ legitimate demands to be heard as injuries and damage disrupted communities and businesses.
The conference’s leadership said attacks and looting took place alongside planned, authorized demonstrations. It expressed solidarity with injured people, including police officers, and with merchants affected by vandalism. It also urged an end to the violence.
In Marseille, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the conference’s president and the city’s archbishop, said in an Oct. 18 statement that churches had been broken into and a police station ransacked. He called for peace.
Lyon Archbishop Olivier de Germay said the violence had gone beyond the bounds of a demonstration. He said the prefecture requested a delay to an interfaith peace march planned with Muslim, Jewish and other Christian communities. The diocese did not announce a new date.
The damage has also brought a practical burden for shop owners. The City of Paris opened an aid unit for merchants to help them record losses, handle administrative and insurance claims, and reopen their businesses.
The bishops raised questions about the causes of the unrest without identifying an established cause. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he would meet political parties on election security and public order this week as France approaches its 2027 presidential election.
