Church of Saint Rita (Paris)

It was built in 1900 in the Neo - Gothic style on the initiative of the Catholic Apostolic Church by architects Paul Gravereaux ( Fr. Paul Gravereaux ) and Theodore Judlen ( Fr. Théodore Judlin ), then it was provided to the Gallican community and since October 2015 traditional Catholics have been serving here under the guidance of priest Guillaume de Tanuarna ( French: Guillaume de Tanoüarn ).

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  The interior of the church of St. Rita.

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  Shrines of the Church of St. Rita.

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  The vaults of the church of St. Rita.

• Wax statue of Saint Rita in a forged metal crab
• Reliquaries with a particle of the Cross of the Lord , with the relics of the Apostle Peter and St. Genevieve
• Pileolus and handwritten letter of Pope Pius X.

In 2000 and 2010, the authorities made a decision on the cessation of services and the destruction of the church with the sale of land, the entrance to the building was closed with concrete blocks. The investor-customer, who acquired the right to build, intends to sell a 7-storey building with 19 apartments and 19 parking spaces on the site of the destroyed church.

Since October 5, 2015 - the day of the official demolition of the building - believers who did not want to leave the building were in blockade. On January 6, 2016, a court order was issued on their forced eviction. On May 27, 2016, the Administrative Tribunal ordered the Prefect of Police to enforce it, however, on June 6, 2016, a court decision to suspend enters into force following an appeal by one of the participants in resistance to the destruction of the temple.

On August 3, 2016, a church with defenders barricaded in it was stormed by armed security forces. Evacuation of the congregation was recorded on video and broadcast in real time on Twitter. The record shows how abbot Jean-Francois Plachu was dragged along the floor ^[1] , the priest was taken out of the altar, not allowing the Eucharist to be completed ^[2] .

Several members of the National Front and Republicans condemned the closure, evacuation of believers, and the destruction of the temple.

The destruction of the temple caused a deep resonance in society and in the media.

Since 2002, 31 churches were demolished in France, in 2012 , for example, another 200 churches in France, three of which are in Paris, were waiting for their sale and destruction, in 2013 six churches were destroyed ^[3] .

• Le Figaro En plein Paris, l'église Sainte-Rita résiste à la démolition (French)
• Évacuation de l'église Sainte-Rita: des élus de droite dénoncent une intervention violente (fr.)
• France Info Paris: Les CRS expulsent par la force les fidèles de l'église Sainte Rita (French)
• Paris Match L'église Sainte-Rita évacuée à Paris, la droite indignée (French)
• L'Express Evacuation de l'église Sainte-Rita, squattée par des militants catholiques (French)
• L'extrême droite et la droite s'émeuvent de l'évacuation de l'église Sainte-Rita à Paris (French)
• Sainte-Rita: comment l'église des animaux est tombée aux mains de l'extrême droite (fr.)
• The hammer of secularism: why are Catholic churches demolished one after another in France