French Town Hall leader claims court verdict is political and an attack on Provence culture
French Town Hall leader claims court verdict is political and an attack on Provence culture
BEAUCAIRE, France – — The mayor of a French town is being fined EUR 5,000 ($6067) a day until they take down the town hall’s nativity scene, he claimed that local culture is under attack and is clearly politically motivated.
Despite Christmas being over for almost a month now, the local nativity scene in the French town of Beaucaire is due to be dismantled at the beginning of February.
According to the reports, town mayor, Julien Sanchez says that this is when locals celebrate ‘Chandeleur’ (Candlemas).
Candlemas is a traditional day when the French toss crepes in France. It is also a day Christian holy day commemorating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple
It is also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Feast of the Holy Encounter.
An appeal court in the south-eastern city of Marseille ruled that the town hall of Beaucaire in the French department of Gard had to pay EUR 5,000 (USD 6067) per day until the nativity scene is dismantled because it was deemed to be in breach of the country’s notoriously strict secularism laws (‘laicite’) that separate church and state.
French State does not favor any one religion and guarantees their peaceful co-existence in respect of the laws and principles of the Republic.
However, the mayor said that the nativity scene is not a religious installation but rather a cultural one. He explained that it is traditional in Provence to adorn nativity scenes with Santons (small figurines that are produced by hand and often represent local businesses and cultural practices).
They were first created by an artist called Lagnel in Marseille during the French Revolution when, as anticlerical fervor exploded, churches were shut down and their often very big nativity scenes were banned.
“This is an attack against local culture. In Beaucaire, we are in Provence, and this nativity scene is a Provençale nativity scene” said Sanchez. “It is a symbol of local culture because it is made up of Santons which are used to depict everyday life in the region, with all the old, traditional jobs and the locals are attached to it.”
He explained that the nativity scene is visited and photographed by thousands of people every year, from all walks of faith.
Beaucaire was founded in the 7th century BC and was known as a city on the famous Via Domitia, the first Roman road which was built to link Italy and Spain.
“The Middle Ages saw a slowdown in the expansion of the city. Beaucaire did not escape the troubles during this dark period. It underwent invasions of Burgundians, Visigoths, and Saracens,” as written by Graham Robb in his book ‘The Discovery of France’. “It was at that time that the first ramparts were built and the castle was expanded. The city took the name Beaucaire (which means “beautiful stone”, probably in reference to its many buildings, to its quarries, or the fact that it had the first hills on the Rhone coming from the sea).”
(Edited by Ojaswin Kathuria and Saptak Datta)
