Last Thursday, the Administrative Court of Bordeaux, after several months of legal battle, confirmed the sentence of the administrative court of Poitiers for the removal of the image of Our Lady, installed in public space.
Newsroom (17/01/2023 12:19 PM, Gaudium Press) In March 2022, the removal of the image of Our Lady from public space had been legally demanded by the Association Libre Pensée 17, in the name of secularism and the law 1905. This request provoked strong reactions, such as a petition gathering nearly 30,000 signatures. And the mayor chose to appeal the sentence.
However, this Thursday, January 12, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux confirmed the decision taken at first instance by the Court of Poitiers last March, ordering the removal of the image.
The Court of Bordeaux recognizes that “the municipality had no intention of expressing a religious preference by introducing it in this location, in 2020, after the traffic accident that damaged the original. However, it also notes that the image of the Virgin Mary is an important figure in the Christian religion, in particular the Catholic one, and that the image itself has a religious character”. An observation that goes against the provisions of the 1905 law on the separation of church and state.
The court now gives the city six months to enforce that decision.
However, the mayor of the town in question, La Flotte-en-Ré, Jean-Paul Héraudeau, confirms his intention to appeal this decision of the administrative court in order to save the image of the Virgin. “We will contact our lawyer and look into all of this. The land is jointly owned by the municipality and private owners. Where to locate public space and private space? That could leave us with an open door.”
This image of Our Lady was built in a private garden, after the Second World War, at the request of a family in gratitude for the father and son returning alive from the war. In the 1980s, it was moved a few meters to the public space due to the creation of a new intersection, at the entrance to the village. On May 17, 2020, there was a traffic accident, and the car ended up damaging the image. For this reason, it was decided to rebuild it identically before reinstalling it in the same location.
Compiled by Raunaq Luis Fernandes
