2023-12-22 19:34:35
They see it as “an attack on secularism and the principle of separation of Church and State”, according to the terms of the email sent to the mayor. Residents of Chaumontel have decided to mobilize and come together as a collective to protest against the establishment of a living crèche in the town hall. An installation inaugurated this Tuesday by Mayor Sylvain Saragosa, departmental delegate of the Reconquête! party, in the presence of Marion Maréchal Le Pen, head of the list for the European elections of the movement created by Éric Zemmour.
“This crèche has no place in a town hall,” insists Julia, one of the members of the collective. There are laws, and we are in a republic. The separation of church and state need not be questioned. It’s intolerable. » For this resident, the installation of this crèche, a first for this village of just over 3,000 people, constitutes a symbol. “The city has not communicated about the event, for me the mayor is well aware that it is illegal,” she says. It’s provocation. This is far from the spirit of Christmas, which is more about bringing people together. » “The nativity scene with the nativity scene is visibly religious,” explains Charline, another member of the collective. These are not santons from Provence, for example. He is outside the law. »
“I don’t have to apologize,” says the mayor
The collective therefore wrote to the mayor and contacted the deputy (LFI) for the ninth constituency, Arnaud Le Gall. He has also approached associations defending secularism and is considering legal action to request dismantling or post-facto sanctions.
Sylvain Saragosa sees it as “a tradition”. “For me, it is an outcome of what we have tried to put in place in the town to keep the Christmas spirit alive,” explains the councilor. We also had a Christmas market which brought together a lot of people. I don’t have to apologize. There are a lot of illegal things. When everyone respects the law, I will do the same. »
In the past, the courts have ordered several town halls to remove their crèches, such as in Beaucaire, Béziers and Perpignan in 2022. The Council of State, contacted on several occasions, considers for its part that “the installation of a crèche does not comply with the principle of neutrality, unless particular circumstances allow it to be recognized as having a cultural, artistic or festive character, without expressing recognition of a religion or indicating a religious preference.
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