Communist mayor offers church for sale on ebay

Controversy over God's house in France escalates

Furniture, cars, a Ferris wheel. Everything possible is auctioned on ebay. Why not have a church? A French mayor has placed a house of God in the online shop, because it is in his are there are three churches but no priest anymore.

In the southern French department of Pyrenees Ariege the dispute escalates over the future of one of the three Catholic churches and chapels in the area of Massat. The communist mayor has now put the parish church up for sale on ebay, as French newspapers reported. This followed several municipal decisions seeking to desecrate the chapel and change its function into a cultural centre.

Dispute with the diocese
The competent diocese has rejected this requirement. Also, the prefect of the department rejected the proposal. The municipality argues that in Massat there are three churches, including the second largest in the department, but no more priests. The cost for the upkeep of churches takes up more than one fifth of the municipal budget. The diocese, on the other hand, has warned against a dam being burst if the church is converted. All the experts of the diocese are of the opinion that it should be kept in use.

Cathcon: the French municipality owns French churches, not the Church herself. Often it has been the communist mayors who have been most sympathetic to traditional Catholics. The "mainstream" church would prefer a disco or night club rather than a Latin Mass.



Comments

Kindred Spirit said…
"L'etat, c'est moi", indeed. The legacy of the French Revolution continues...but the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will come! Ex fide fortis.