Contemplating the devastation caused by time which is damaging the structure of the thousand-year-old church of Sérifontaine (Oise), a feeling of vertigo seems to take hold of Philippe Surplie when faced with “the magnitude of the task” to restore the building. “It’s a mountain. And the mountain grows bigger and bigger…”worries this 74-year-old deputy mayor, a stone's throw from the main altar left abandoned since the church closed in January 2023, due to its dangerousness.
This radical decision by the mayor (without label) of the city was taken after the fall of a hanging key (a keystone bearing a sculpted pendant), revealing deep damage such as the sagging of the roof and numerous cracks. Since the closure of the Saint-Denis church, this town of 2,700 souls has been deprived of any religious ceremony. Only the bells that still ring throughout the city every hour have resisted wear and tear. “When city residents have to organize a funeral or a wedding elsewhere, it comes as a shock”sighs Mr. Surplie.
But, before considering a possible reopening for this church, classified as a historic monument since 1928, major work is to be planned, at a cost estimated by municipal officials at around 2 million euros. A challenge for a city with an annual budget of 3 million euros. Like Sérifontaine, many towns – which are responsible for the maintenance and restoration of religious buildings built before the 1905 law – are faced with the deterioration of their churches and the cost of the work.
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Drop in attendance
« We are most often involved in emergency work, because regular maintenance has been insufficiently done and repairs postponed”ultimately increasing the bill, explains the mayor of Saint-Flour (Cantal), Philippe Delort (various center). For these local elected officials, the question also arises of the usefulness of committing such means to monuments which are also suffering from a drop in their attendance with the fall of Catholic practice throughout the territory.
This situation pushed the Church of France to launch the Estates General in September 2023 in order to review this religious heritage. Thus, of the 40,000 religious buildings in charge of the municipalities, at least 1,600 are currently closed due in particular to their dilapidation, mentions the report made public Monday, November 18. According to the Religious Heritage Observatory, between 2,500 and 5,000 churches even risk being abandoned, sold or destroyed by 2030. “A country that cannot take care of its heritage is a country that cannot take care of its future”alerted the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, Monday evening, on the occasion of the closing of the States General.
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