Banned by the Mayor of Verdun, the mass “honoring” Marshal Pétain was eventually legalized by the courts

The judge considered the incident “unlikely to cause a disturbance to public order”.

A mass tribute to Marshal Pétain will take place. The religious ceremony was held Saturday 15 November “in honor of Marshal Pétain and his army” in Verdun (Meuse), which the mayor had decided to ban, was finally legalized by the Nancy administrative court. The summary judge ruled on Friday November 14 that this ceremony, “By specifically considering the date and place of implementation, this will not in itself cause a disturbance to public order”.

The court was confiscated “very” by the Association to defend Marshal Pétain’s memory against requests for temporary suspension. The association has been authorized by the archbishop-bishop of Metz, apostolic administrator of Verdun, to celebrate a mass for the repose of the souls of Marshal Pétain and the victims of all wars on Saturday in the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Verdun.

Mayor Samuel Hazard issued an order on Tuesday banning the ceremony in honor of the First World War hero, who later became the leader of the Vichy regime, which collaborated with Nazi Germany. Reacting to the court’s decision, various left-leaning elected officials defended their decision on Facebook, giving rise to a “republican approach”. “How do we (…) pray for the soul of someone who contributed to the deportation and death of women, men and children?”he confirmed.