Cardinal Aveline: Don't be drawn into violence, but restore peace

By Roberto Paglialonga “I urge everyone not to be drawn into the spiral of this violence. With all believers, we pray that these disturbances will cease and that peace will return.” This was the appeal Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille, made in a statement published on the Archdiocese of Marseille's website following another day of clashes and confrontations in the capital and other French cities on Saturday, 17 October. 'Our country deserves better' “Unacceptable violence” is how Cardinal Aveline described the situation, which resembles urban warfare and has alarmed France for several days. “On the sidelines of planned demonstrations, shops were looted, churches broken into, the town hall stormed and vandalised, a police station ransacked, and members of the security forces attacked,” he explained.

On behalf of the Church in Marseille, he expressed “support and solidarity with those who have been injured and with the shopkeepers who have fallen victim to these acts of vandalism.” The Cardinal also urged people to pray for the clashes to end as soon as possible and for peace to be restored. “Our city and our country deserve better than this,” he concluded. Meanwhile, the local prefecture has banned demonstrations in the city between noon and 8 p.m. on 19 October. Lyon’s Archbishop: Facing society’s challenges together Lyon’s Archbishop Olivier de