In France, cities setting up Christmas crèches despite court rulings

Mayor of Béziers Robert Ménard. Photo: Opoka

Residents of Béziers, Perpignan, and other cities in France are setting up Nativity scenes in municipal buildings despite court rulings. According to Opoka, research shows that 79% of French people want to see them in public places.

The mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, has been placing a Nativity scene in the city hall lobby for the eleventh consecutive year, despite court orders to relocate it.

In response to protests from secular organizations, the mayor asserts that resident support is evident: annually, up to 25,000 signatures are left in the guestbook, according to his data. "So the crib remains standing – on wheels, ready to be quickly moved if another court order comes," the publication writes.

Similar conflicts are observed in Perpignan, where the Nativity scene was moved to an adjacent building connected to the town hall but not formally part of it, and in Beaucaire, where the Christmas scene is divided into parts to formally comply with the law on secularism.

In the town of Asnières-sur-Seine, Mayor Manuel Aeschlimann obtained permission to use the phrase "Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus," while in Amiens, the Nativity scene became an object of vandalism. After the incident, residents restored the composition. However, in rural areas, such as Gavrus, nativity scenes remain part of cultural routes and local festivities.

According to a CSA survey conducted for CNEWS, Le Journal du Dimanche, and Europe 1, 79% of French people support the presence of Christmas crèches in municipal buildings. Among young people aged 18–24, support is 92%.

As reported by the UOJ, a Nativity scene with faceless figures of the Virgin Mary and Joseph was displayed in Brussels.

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