Archdiocese of Tours Reports Desecration of Three Churches

The Archdiocese of Tours in France announced that three Catholic churches – in Chambray-lès‑Tours, Luynes and the St. Joan of Arc Church in Tours – were vandalized. The attacks involved looting offering boxes, forcing open doors, damaging liturgical vessels, breaking a tabernacle and desecrating the Blessed Sacrament. The archdiocese said Masses of reparation will be celebrated in the affected churches.

Mayor Michel Lamy of Chambray‑lès‑Tours condemned the acts as "unacceptable" and expressed solidarity with the parish community and priest François Xavier Olayemy Oniossou. The incident marks the seventh church desecration in the archdiocese within two years; four churches were similarly attacked in November 2024. Archbishop Vincent Jordy previously warned that such acts may stem from hostility toward the Church.