A bus carrying around 50 Catholic pilgrims was taken by assault by about twenty hooded people, Sunday morning, on the road between Caen and Pontmain, reports France 3 Normandy.
The group of individuals tried to immobilize the bus before it left the diocesan house, around 8 a.m. Once the driver managed to get out of the group, they started to paint the windshield with paintball guns to prevent them from leaving.
The coach confused with the Manif pour Tous
“As we were leaving the private car park of the diocese, we saw around twenty people hooded in front of the bus who were trying to prevent us from leaving,” said France Gérard Father Pitel, present on Sunday morning. “They had a banner but I couldn’t read it. The driver jerked forward. It lasted between two and three minutes but it was funny anyway.”
Father Berthou, spokesman for Monsignor Boulanger, explains to the chain not to want to file a complaint, explaining that the attackers “probably confused them with buses of the Manif pour Tous”, whilea demonstration was planned this Sunday in the capital to protest against the bioethics bill. “What seems serious to us is this increase in violence. We want to launch an appeal for social peace and respect for each other’s opinions,” denounces the priest.
A precedent in October 2019
The latter also indicates that the Manif pour Tous buses are not organized by the diocese, and that this vehicle was actually going to Pontmain in Mayenne for the 149th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary.
The diocese explains that the passengers seated at the front of the bus, including some children, were shocked by this event. Just like the bus driver, according to the director of Alizé Voyages, Laurent De Graw.
Father Berthou assures that this is the second time in a few months that “a pilgrim bus has been attacked”. According to him, “the passengers of a bus returning from a pilgrimage to Lourdes had been taken to task by people shouting insults in October 2019”, a day of demonstration of the Manif pour Tous in Paris.
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