(Paris) "The church was destroyed, as the terrible photo shows," said the Association Mémoire Vivante du patrimoine gestois (MVPG) that had been campaigning for the salvation of the Church. In France, the demolition of churches continues. After the church of Saint Jacques in Abbeville ( see separate report ), the church of Saint Pierre aux Liens Gesté was demolished in the western Anjou (Maine-et-Loire departments).The renovation of the Church of Abbeville was too expensive. If the buildings are dilapidated, the mayor recently, called for the "deconstruction" as the "cheaper" means the termination. Or, as in the case of Gesté, to make a new building in place of the old church.
Gesté is located just six kilometers from the Brittany. On the 5th of February 1794, the place was burned down by the Colonnes Infernales , the "Hell Brigade" of the French Revolution. 300 Chouans, Royalist Catholics, were massacred. "The dead should be our duty to fight for our heritage," goes the call to protest against the demolition. The current church was built in 1800 and is now being demolished on the ruins of the church destroyed in 1794 and initially expanded in subsequent phases in the classical, then in neo-Gothic style.
The cost of the demolition amounts to 200,000 euros. The new church at one million euros. What for?, ask the critics and point to the waste of money and destruction of cultural heritage.
The Bishop of Angers rejects disapproval of the demolition action. The pastor responsible resides not in Gesté, but in the nearby town of Avrillé where the old Gothic church of Saint Gilles was replaced in 1983 by a modern elliptical construction.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: L'Observatoire de la Christianophobia Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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