With the rise of French nationalism in sentiments not seen since the French Revolution with the “Yellow Vests” in combination with the increasing power of Islam as well as the known use of Islam as a political tool of manipulation, it will be important to pay attention to anti-Christian violence in that nation. There has already been an extent of anti-Christian violence in France that has targeted numerous churches, and this is continuing to rise. In another case, the Basilica of St. Denis, a church which was build by St. Genvieve in the fifth century before the fall of the Roman Empire and has been continually expanded since, had its organ seriously vandalized according to a report:
It is the organist who discovered, Sunday morning, the degradations. As he sat down in front of his massive instrument before mass, he found that the two doors of the buffet had been fractured. The engine was also damaged. “Degradations are major,” says Saadia Tamelikecht, conservator of the basilica.
The organ of the basilica is unique. Designed by the organ builder Cavaillé-Coll between 1834 and 1841, it is listed as a historic monument for its instrumental and neo-Gothic sideboard. It is one of the first romantic organs.
An intruder would have been trapped inside
To explain these degradations, the conservative evokes the hypothesis of an intruder who entered the organ and was stuck in this gigantic machine. “To get out, he damaged the engine and broke the doors.”These are not the only damages found in the cathedral. This Tuesday, it was discovered that two stained glass windows had been broken. These are two elements of the South Rose, which is currently being restored. Two locks were also forced.
Traces of blood found
The perpetrator of the acts of vandalism would have benefited from the works and would have climbed by a terrace of the basilica. He would have broken the stained glass to breach a gap of one meter high and he would have landed at the level of the triforium, a corridor.The operation proved perilous as the lift went off during the break-in. Traces of blood were found among the sprayed glasses.
The broken windows date back to the 19th century. They are part of these reworked pieces by Debret and Viollet le Duc following the destruction of the Revolution.
The investigation was entrusted to the police station of Saint-Denis. (source, source)