The video of France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes made the rounds on social networks. We see a nun intercepting a running man and tackling him to the ground. No, it was not a remake of Sunday evening’s match, but a new demonstration between opponents and defenders of the construction of a gigantic church [trois fois plus importante que la basilique de Fourvière à Lyon]in Saint-Pierre-de-Colombier, in Ardèche.
Monday morning, environmental activists from the Les Amis de la Bourges collective arrived at the construction site and came across several nuns, arriving during the night, who had formed a human chain around a backhoe loader to protect the work. According to local television, the altercations between the two groups were very violent and lasted almost an hour.
A standoff that has lasted for years
This church project, carried out by the religious community of the Missionary Family of Notre-Dame, consists of building, in the heart of the Monts d’Ardèche regional natural park, an imposing church capable of accommodating 3,500 places as well as parking for buses and a footbridge. For information, in a report published in 2021, Mivilidues had classified the Catholic congregation among the “subjects of concern”. Environmental defenders believe that this construction would lead “to the destruction of protected species and their habitat”.
For four years since the start of the work, demonstrations have multiplied. As France 3 recalls, in June 2020, a zone to defend (ZAD) was set up on the site. Following strong mobilization against the project, the State stopped the construction site in October 2020. The work was restarted at the end of last year. A meeting is planned for Thursday with the different parties of the project by the prefecture.