LThe ceremony will not take place. The mayor (different from left) of Verdun, Samuel Hazard, issued an order banning masses “to pay homage to Marshal Pétain and his army”. It will be celebrated at the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Verdun, this Saturday, November 15. “I would never accept a mass being celebrated in Verdun in honor of Pétain, who suffered national humiliation in 1945 and was therefore stripped of, among other things, his military rank,” the councilor wrote on his social networks, Tuesday, November 11, expressing his “very strong disgust and anger.”
In the accompanying decision, Samuel Hazard considered that this ceremony, “in a national context where anti-Semitism is experiencing an unprecedented increase, is likely to seriously disturb the security and tranquility of society”. “If necessary, I will come myself to prevent people from entering the church,” he assured in a column for L’Est Républicain, Monday, November 10.
“The Church prays for all the dead”
The Association for the Defense of the Memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP), from which the mob originated, “wants to take the matter to the administrative court” to challenge his banning order, wrote the mayor of Verdun. Therefore, the organization recalls having received written permission from the Archdiocese of Metz. Contacted by the regional daily, the Diocese of Verdun explained: “The Church does not take a political position, let alone a polemical stance, and prays for all the dead at every mass. Therefore, the celebration is accepted within this framework.”
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Answer
First World War hero Philippe Pétain was nicknamed “Vinqueur de Verdun”. However, he lost the rank of “marshal” in August 1945 when he was sentenced to national humiliation for high treason and intelligence against the enemy.
