Cities run by greens spend on everything except churches – video

Cities run by greens spend on everything except churches – video

Green Party city leaders aren't exactly known for being frugal when it comes to providing retirement homes for members of the LGBTQ community. They are also generous supporters of pro-migrant NGOs and have not shied away from making changes to school canteens' menus. French cities run by the Green Party spend nothing on Christian churches, focusing on mosques instead.

WORLD POLITICS MARCH 5. 2023 14:30

There is a big problem with churches in France. As V4NA reported, thousands of churches across the country could be destroyed within a few years because there is no money to save them. As 90 per cent of churches are owned by municipalities rather than churches, the leadership of small municipalities cannot afford regular maintenance of the buildings, so their condition is getting worse every year. 131 right-wing and centrist politicians have therefore sent an open letter to Emmanuel Macron, asking the president to do something to save the churches, which represent the soul of France.

It is not known whether the head of state has since taken any steps to save the churches, but in early February the church in the western town of Mayenne was demolished, because the municipality did not have the money to maintain it.

The church, built in 1872, was in such a poor state that it became an accident hazard, and the city council decided to demolish it, according to the local Ouest-France newspaper.

“There is no money for churches in France, but there is always money to set up new centres for migrants,” right-wing politician Damien Rieu wrote on Twitter.

The aforementioned church is not the only one making headlines these days. Cracks are now visible on the walls of Lyon’s iconic basilica called Notre-Dame de Fourviere. The repairs would cost around 5 million euros, but the the Green Party-led city council has declined to provide any funding, Le Parisien pointed out. As the building is in urgent need of renovation, the Fondation Fourviere, named after the cathedral, launched a fundraising campaign at the beginning of the year. The tiny cracks allow water to seep in, which freezes in the cold winter months and could crush the walls of the church. The sooner action is taken, the safer the building will be and the less it will cost, Magaly Chatain, the head of the foundation, said. So far thefoundation has raised 640,000 euros, but it’s only a fraction of what’s needed. The city’s Green Party administration has shown no intention to fund the project, saying they have already donated enough to the building, which happens to be Lyon’s number one tourist attraction, Le Parisien writes.

The city refuses to fund the renovation, because the Fourviere basilica is in private hands and the municipality is already managing a significant religious heritage of more than 20 churches, Deputy Mayor Sylvain Godinot explained to the press. The municipality has already given 1 million euros for the basilica’s renovation in 2019, and it is not in a position to provide exceptional support every three years, the deputy mayor pointed out. So the situation is clear: the Lyon administration is not contributing a single cent to saving the cathedral.

However, it’s not just Christian buildings that are under threat in French cities run by the Green Party and the Left. In the centre of Nantes, led by socialist Johanna Rolland, Benedictine nuns feel so unsafe that they have decided to move elsewhere. They’ve recently suffered a number of atrocities, including being spat on. On some occasions, they had to be defended by parish priests and worshippers, one of the nuns, Marie-Anne, told reporters.

Even more shocking is the fact that the incident happened in broad daylight, in the city centre. Had they not participated in a self-defence course earlier, they could have been subjected to serious physical attacks, the nun said, adding that the aggressors were not deterred even by the presence of the police, they continued to insult the victims even after the officers arrived.

In the face of deteriorating public security, the opposition is urging the Nantes City Council to use more means to restore public safety. Laurence Garnier, an MP of the Republicans for the Loire-Atlantique region, believes that there are not as many surveillance devices as there should be, and blames the inaction of the leftist city government for the deterioration of public safety, CNews reports.

All this is rather sad, especially in light of the fact that the French cities run by the Green Party and the Left are indeed generous with other projects.

For example Lyon, led by Green Party representative Gregory Doucet, is shtting up a retirement home for LGBTQ people with municipal support, V4NA reported earlier. The „house of diversity,” this unique institution in France, will welcome LGBTQ people aged over 55, so they wouldn’t have to live out their final years alone. It is not known exactly what amount of funding the city government will give to the project, but according to information published on the Lyon Demain website, the budget for the House of Diversity project in Belfort Street is no less than 3 million euros.

This is not the only project where a decision by Lyon’s leadership has proved divisive. Previously, they also interfered with the school canteens’ menus, causing a general outrage. In the city considered one of the bastions of gastronomy, meat was first taken off the school canteens’ menus and, although it was re-introduced once a week after online education and spring break, the iconic cordon bleu is banned.

Bordeaux Mayor Pierre Hurmic, also from the Green Party, is known as a generous person, but instead of churches, he prefers spending on migrants and the NGOs that rescue them. Mr Hurmic, who keeps emphasizing how deeply he cares about immigrants, was among several leftist mayors who sent a seven-point open letter to Emmanuel Macron a few weeks ago, asking him to help solve the housing situation of the homeless, especially migrants. In the fifth and sixth points of the letter, the mayors are calling for ways to accelerate and simplify procedures that are necessary for migrants to obtain a residence permit. The leftist city leaders also want the state to open new reception centres across France to prevent tent camps emerging in public spaces of large cities.

Mayor Hurmic, known as an avid supporter of pro-migrant NGOs, has recently opened an exhibition in Bordeaux, where visitors can peruse a collection of photos presenting the work of SOS Mediterranee, free of charge. The city of Bordeaux makes an annual contribution of 10,000 euros to the NGO, while the department sends SOS Méditerranee a further 50,000 euros, Le Figaro highlights.

The fact that the condition of many Christian churches continues to deteriorate, or they simply get demolished due to a lack of funds, while new mosques are being built in growing numbers divides French public opinion. When it emerged that the Eyyub Sultan, Europe’s largest mosque was being built in Strasbourg with a large municipal subsidy of 2.5 million euros, even though both the French government and the opposition were against the generous funding, the issue has triggered a general outcry. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin made it clear that the government would not accept any foreign intervention in France, adding that it was unacceptable for the Strasbourg administration to support the construction of a mosque run by an organisation that totally rejects the Catholic faith and does not condemn political Islam.

WORLD POLITICS

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churches to be destroyed, france, leftist and green mayors, lgbt community, mosque, no money, support to migrants