By Robert Royal
Today is the Feast of the North American Martyrs, a group of French Jesuits and religious – Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Lalande, Antoine Daniel, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Noêl Chabanel, and Br. René Goupil. It's worth recalling each of them by name as a reminder that they were individuals like us (though holier and more heroic), not merely some distant historical band. They were brave and dedicated men who suffered the most unspeakable horrors – fire, torture, mutilation – on the way to death as they tried to carry out the Lord's command to preach the Gospel to all nations.
France, modern France, is herself now undergoing a fiery agony. It's difficult to sort out exactly who's responsible. It's being said to have started as a "student" protest over too few teachers and poor school facilities. But how such protests could have erupted in multiple places all over the nation among "student groups" without some extensive coordination remains unexplained. And whatever the origins, it's clear that the violence and destruction are coming now from the far-left and the worst elements in France's large Muslim population. There are reports that even Notre Dame is under potential threat as is the Élysée Palace, the French White House.
This is not an entirely new phenomenon, however, and should call greater attention to the simmering attacks on French institutions in recent years, not least against the Church.
Many people took heart at seeing the enthusiastic crowds that turned out during Pope Leo's visit to France just a few weeks ago. It's also difficult to sort out exactly what all that meant. It was very moving to see people kneeling on the sidewalks of the Champs-Élysées making their Confessions. But that's just the happy part of the story. For many years now, the French Church has been under attack, literally, from various quarters.
The Faith & Reason Institute, the parent institution of The Catholic Thing, has been working on a project in co-operation with Aid to the Church in Need USA, that we've named "Faith under Siege." We mostly look to the clear cases of persecution and, yes, modern martyrdom in Muslim nations these days – Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Yemen, etc. – and totalitarian states such as China, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, and more. But in the course of our research, we've also discovered that there's a subtle and not-so-subtle anti-Christian current even in Western Europe, though it's hardly reported on.
When there's an obvious case like the 2016 murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel by two radicalized young Muslims (and the less-reported murders of Catholics at Mass shortly thereafter) the world notices for a week or two, then moves on. But there's a pattern beneath the most flagrant events.
The world has been shocked over the weekend by images of the historic Limoges town hall burning and its tower collapsing after being torched by rioters. But French authorities have been saying for years that, on average, two religious buildings burn down per month in France. And that despite considerable efforts by the government to protect them.
Everyone, of course, still recalls the mysterious 2019 fire that almost destroyed Notre Dame de Paris. But the Saint-Maclou/Saint-Jacques Cathedral in Rouen also caught fire, in 2024. That same year, the Basilique de l'Immaculée Conception in Saint-Omer was also damaged by a blaze that was deliberately set. The list goes on and these high-profile events are only the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of smaller churches, shrines, statues, etc., have suffered similar attacks or serious vandalism.
Now, to be sure, there are multiple reasons for the fires. Some are accidental, maybe a third owing to poor wiring, aging infrastructure and the like. But French authorities estimate that two-thirds are deliberately set. It's not difficult to speculate – because some perpetrators have been caught in the act – that large parts of this are perpetr...
