Court orders city council to dismantle nativity display, after complaint from secular groups
THE GUARDIAN
By Anne Penketh in Paris
FRANCE---It has been called the nativity war. A French court’s ban on a nativity scene in a town hall in order to preserve France’s secular traditions has triggered a fierce backlash. “Why not ban Christmas and the public holidays that go with it?” thundered Le Parisien on Sunday. Its headline read: “Spare us a nativity war.” According to the newspaper, 86% of more than 12,000 readers surveyed were in favour of keeping nativity scenes in public places. The court in Nantes ordered regional authorities in the western town of La Roche-sur-Yon to remove the crib from its building’s entrance hall, after a complaint from the secular campaign group Fédération Nationale de la Libre Pensée. [link]
By Anne Penketh in Paris
 |
| The nativity scene at Béziers city hall, which has also been the subject of demands for its removal. Photograph: Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images |
