Newsroom (10/22/2025 20:25 , Gaudium Press) The newspaper La Manche reported that on Friday, October 17, around 7:00 p.m., while closing the church of Saint-Hilaire, Father Lemieux came across this abominable act of vandalism. “I was coming back from the cinema, as I wanted to schedule the film Sacred Heart for next week (the premiere will take place on Thursday, October 23). That’s when I saw the image of the Sacred Heart completely destroyed. At first, I considered it an act of incivility, but it is undoubtedly a desecration,” he said.
In fact, it is an act of pure evil and is unjustifiable. “We don’t understand it, we can no longer understand it,” said a parishioner of Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët parish on Sunday, October 19, in front of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, reduced to thousands of fragments scattered on the ground.
Realizing that only one hand remained intact, “with the index finger pointing to heaven,” deeply moved, Father Benoît Lemieux interpreted it as a sign: even in the midst of chaos, the Lord remains and invites us to lift our gaze to Heaven.
The recently restored image of Jesus, approximately 1.70 meters high and weighing about 40 kg, was placed on a pedestal supported by two columns.
This demonstrates, in reality, a hatred for the sacred. It was the only image damaged that day in the church, which houses several other images, “as if it had been deliberately chosen as a target,” emphasized the priest.
Let us remember that France is the eldest daughter of the Church and that, as early as 1689, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received a message from the Sacred Heart of Jesus himself to be transmitted to Louis XIV, urging him to consecrate France to his Sacred Heart. But, for unknown reasons, this request was not heeded.
Steven Gunnell‘s film, “Sacred Heart,” which the priest attended, is achieving remarkable success in theaters, bringing goodness to many souls. This may be another reason for the hatred shown against the destroyed statue of the Sacred Heart.
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
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