the links of the founder of the FN with this illegal fundamentalist church in Paris

This Thursday, January 16, 2025, a ceremony will be held in tribute to Jean-Marie Le Pen within the Val-de-Grâce chapel in Paris. The location, chosen by his three daughters, aims to highlight the military past of the co-founder of the National Front. However, there is another religious building, much more controversial, where the politician had numerous connections: Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. We tell you about the links that Jean-Marie Le Pen had with this fundamentalist church.

An illegally occupied church

Located in the heart of the 5th arrondissement, the baroque-style building has been illegally occupied for almost 50 years by the Fraternity of Saint Peter Saint Pius. The movement, initiated by the rebel bishop Marcel Lefebvrerejects the reforms undertaken by Vatican II in the 1960s. In the small group’s places of worship, Mass is celebrated in Latin and the officiant turns his back on the faithful.

It was in 1977 that the fundamentalists carried out a coup. In the middle of mass, they invade the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church. The parish priest is fired and the place becomes a traditionalist temple. Despite an expulsion order issued by the courts, nothing has changed since. For several decades, the church has seen numerous controversies pass behind its stained glass windows, such as the funeral of the collaborationist militiaman Paul Touvier or even masses for those nostalgic for French Algeria…

An acquaintance since the church “putsch”

Relations between the occupied church and Jean-Marie Le Pen began in 1977. When the church was taken, members of the very young National Front were among the putchists. Among the latter, Wallerand de Saint-Justwho joined the party a few years later, and became its historic treasurer.

If the presence of Jean-Marie Le Pen during these days of invasion is not attested, the support of his party is more so. In March 1977, during the municipal elections, leaflets were distributed in front of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. The latter praise a far-right list supported by Jean-Marie Le Pen… but also by Mgr Ducaud Bourget, the rebel ecclesiastic at the origin of the occupation of the church.

Burials with great pomp

For almost half a century, Jean-Marie Le Pen became a regular at this place from another time. One of the reasons for its presence: the funerals over the years of figures of the French extreme right. These ceremonies began in 1978 after the assassination of François Dupratnumber two of the FN and convinced negationist.

Less than two decades later, in 1994, the “Menhir” paid a vibrant tribute to André Dufraissemember of the party’s political bureau. On the church square, Jean-Marie Le Pen bids a final farewell to the man who had fought alongside the Germans during the Occupation. More recently, we saw the politician again at the funeral of one of the founders of the Party of France. He poses there all smiles alongside the priest officiating the ceremony.

For some activists, the organization of the funeral ceremony in Val-de-Grâce this Thursday is almost nonsense. “Before, they took place in Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet. Traditions are being lost,” grumbles one of them on social networks.

Father Laguérie, present until the end

These connections with fundamentalist circles did not fail to resurface after the death of the politician on January 7, 2025. Shortly before his death, Jean-Marie Le Pen saw himself, to the great dismay of his daughters, grant extreme anointing by Father Philippe Laguérie, indicated our colleagues from Parisian. The latter is a figure of the traditionalist church of the 5th arrondissement.

The fundamentalist ecclesiastic was the priest of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet from 1984 to 1997. Among his feats of arms, the failed attempt to occupy a second church in Paris. The latter, carried out in 1993 within Saint-Germain l’Auxerroisopposite the Louvre Museum, resulted in a muscular intervention by the police. It was also Father Laguérie who married the “Menhir” to his wife Jany in 2021. The religious ceremony took place in the greatest secrecy in the stronghold of Montretout in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine).

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