Desecration of an Orthodox Church in France

June 1, 2015. The Orthodox church of Saint Nikolas, which is located in the retirement home in Cormeilles-en-Parisis (commune Val-d’Oise, department Ile-de-France, Northern France), was desecrated by perpetrators who stole liturgical items and icons as reports the website exarchat.eu. The unknown persons made damages to the church.

The police was informed by inhabitants of the retirement home about the incident and started investigation. The police officers took the fingerprints of the unknown persons and examined the situation with the rest liturgical equipment.

The reaction of His Eminence Archbishop of Telmesos Job (Patriarchate of Constantinople) was immediate. He condemned the desecration and asked from the rectors of all churches and chapels, which is under his spiritual jurisdiction to take measures in order to protect the churches and the liturgical equipment. For this reason, he asked from the rectors to write down in a catalogue every liturgical item and all the icons that belong to their churches.

The photo documents from the website exarchat.eu