These images show inside the secret, illegal Easter mass held in Paris before French police shut it down amid the COVID-10 lockdown.
The incident took place at the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church in the 5th arrondissement in the heart of Paris, when the organ was heard being played inside by people on the street.
Locals alerted the police and they subsequently fined the priest, but not the faithful, for breaking the lockdown.
According to local media, the priest, who has not been named, is a “traditionalist” who gives his Catholic sermons in Latin.
When the police arrived on the scene, the doors to the Church were closed. At midnight (on the night of Saturday to Sunday), one person came out and reportedly told the cops that there were indeed about 40 people inside the church, although it is currently unclear exactly how many were members of the clergy.
The police contacted the priest and fined him. French newspaper Le Point say that a police source stated that the other people could not be fined as they had already left. The amount the priest was fined is currently unclear.
But the church uploaded the ‘secret’ mass in Latin to YouTube where all three hours of it can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AMQKnepkv8
The footage has nearly 20,000 views at the time of writing.
Netizens had a lot to say about the illegal mass, whose caption on YouTube asks the faithful to donate money, with ‘zastroute minart’ saying: “Thank you very much […] Can we participate to help pay the fine?”
While ‘chilsana matitis’ added: “Thank you for resisting the Devil.”
And ‘Louis Marie bonnet’ slammed the media: “And to say that the media is calling this splendid ceremony streamed live ‘clandestine’, what a coarse and odious manipulation. No one will be fooled, I hope! A big thank you to the clergy of Saint Nicolas.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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