The Marseille court overturned Mayor Benoît Payan’s decision and reinstated the film “Sacred Heart” at the municipal theatre. A lesson to French secularism.

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There is a judge in Marseille!

It took the intervention of the administrative court of Marseille to force the municipality to restore the programming of the documentary film Sacré-Cœur (Sacred Heart).

Its screening in the city’s venues had in fact been cancelled by Mayor Benoît Payan, who had invoked respect for the principle of secularism.

 

Laicist censorship of the film Sacré-Cœur

The film’s advertising, considered “too religious” for fierce French secularism, had already been banned in recent days from public media in stations and subways, up to the prohibition of the screening scheduled from October 22 to 28 at the municipal cinema Château de La Buzine.

A censorship that had outraged thousands of French people, starting with directors Steve and Sabrina Gunnell, authors of the feature film that recounts the Apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Marguerite-Marie Alacoque in the 17th century, an event also cited by Pope Francis in his encyclical “Dilexit nos”.

As rightly observed by Andrea Morigi, for Socialist Mayor Benoît Payan the screening in a municipal building violated the 1905 French law on secularism, despite approval by the state commission that examines the decency of cinematographic works.

Paradoxically, a few months ago, at the proposal of the same mayor, the Marseille city council had sold a plot of almost 5,000 sqm to the local Islamic community to proceed with the construction of a new mosque.

And Payan himself, at the end of Ramadan, had carried out election campaigning among the Muslim faithful, expressing words of esteem and appreciation.

Evidently, in his view, in that case no form of integralist secularism was being violated.

 

The Marseille court rebukes the mayor

Fortunately Benoît Payan was not able to prevent the film about the “Sacred Heart” from being shown in 336 French theatres, also achieving a fair success. Since October 1 almost 200,000 people have already seen it.

The case also provoked political reactions and finally the court decision arrived to restore the screening, a ruling that could influence future stances in other French cities.

The Court ruled that “the screening of a cinematographic work”, even of a religious nature, in a municipal cinema managed by public bodies «does not in itself violate the principle of secularism», because «it does not express the recognition of a religion by the Municipality, nor does it indicate a religious preference».

Therefore, for the Court, «the Mayor of Marseille gravely and manifestly illegitimately violated the freedom of expression and the freedom of artistic creation and distribution».

In a brief press release, the city of Marseille announced that it has “taken note of the decision”, adding that «it will be implemented and the film will be screened as originally planned».

A tragedy for the laicist mayor who will be forced to witness the screening right in the Municipality.