The leader of a western French region has described as “grotesque” an order to remove a Nativity crib from his town hall.
Following a complaint by a group called the Federation of Freethinkers against a traditional crib at the town hall in La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée region, a local court ruled that the display was a violation of France’s secular laws and ordered its removal. The action set in train a number of orders from local councils for similar displays to be removed from other civic buildings.
Vowing to challenge the original ban, Senator Bruno Retailleau of Vendée said the move against cribs was “grotesque”, adding: “Next we’ll be banning epiphany cakes at the Élysée Palace.”
The Freethinkers took their action under a 1905 law which states that it is forbidden to construct an “erection or display of any religious sign or emblem on public monuments or in any public place, apart from religious buildings, sepulchres and cemeteries, funerary monuments and museums and exhibitions”.
However, despite this, Vendée has, for over 20 years, allowed for a crib at its town hall, a seasonal display supported by the strongly Catholic population.
As the war of words over the cribs rumbles on, one mayor, Robert Ménard of Béziers has issued an instruction for the crib at his town hall to remain in place in defiance of the Freethinkers.
The issue has now gained broad media coverage in France, with one newspaper, Le Parisien, offering the results of a poll showing that 86% of more than 12,000 readers asked were in favour of Nativity cribs.
