justice opens investigation into crimes against humanity

A mass was held on Saturday in honor of Philippe Pétain, who was convicted of collaborating with Nazi Germany.

This controversy did not weaken after a mass was held on Saturday in Verdun (Meuse) in honor of Philippe Pétain. The court announced on Monday, November 17, that it would open an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity. The complaint specifically targeted the association’s president, Jacques Boncompain, who, speaking outside the church, believed that Philippe Pétain had “France’s first resistance fighter”. It also targeted priests celebrating mass, said Delphine Moncuit, Verdun’s public prosecutor, in an email sent to AFP.

The mayor of Verdun had banned the mass, but an administrative court ruled wrongly and allowed it, considering the service would not disturb public order, a decision he regrets. “How to celebrate a mass in honor of the man who contributed, by collaborating with Nazi Germany, to the deportation, arrest and murder of tens and tens of thousands of victims ?”, asked Samuel Hazard, mayor of (DVG) Verdun.