A religious ceremony planned for Saturday, November 15th in Verdun, in homage to Philippe Pétain and his soldiers, was banned by Mayor Samuel Hazard. The elected official justified his decision by recalling the Vichy regime leader's conviction for treason in 1945 and his subsequent stripping of his military rank.
A tribute deemed "indecent" in Verdun
A municipal decree put an end to the planned mass organized by the Association for the Defense of the Memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP). The event was to be held in the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Verdun, a major site of remembrance for the First World War. The mayor, who said he discovered the initiative over the weekend, denounced it as an "unacceptable" attempt to rehabilitate a man convicted of collaborating with the Nazi occupiers. In a message posted on Facebook, Samuel Hazard expressed his anger: "I will never accept a mass being celebrated in Verdun in homage to Pétain, who was stripped of his national honors in 1945 and therefore deprived, among other things, of his military rank. Verdun is the city of universality. Pétain is the antithesis of humanity." The mayor also specified that the association had obtained the consent of the ecclesiastical authority, in this case, the Archbishop of Metz.
A tug-of-war between memory and freedom of worship
On its website, the ADMP (Association for the Defense of the Memory of Pétain) stated that it had received written authorization from an apostolic vicar, after several appeals to religious authorities, to "organize a mass in homage to Marshal Pétain and his soldiers." According to the association, this celebration was intended to commemorate the Battle of Verdun and not the "political actions" of the French head of state during the Occupation. The town hall, however, believes that this initiative contravenes the spirit of the Meuse city, a symbol of republican sacrifice and the shared memory of the Great War. Samuel Hazard confirmed that the municipal services had issued an order prohibiting the mass immediately and that the municipal police would be mobilized to enforce this decision.
A legal battle is brewing.
The Association for the Defense of Marshal Pétain's Memory has announced its intention to file an emergency appeal with the Nancy Administrative Court to challenge the decree. It cites the right to freedom of worship and asserts that "the ceremony had no political purpose." The mayor, for his part, has vowed to "go all the way to prevent any attempt to rehabilitate someone convicted of treason." In the Meuse region, where the annual November 11th commemorations bring together veterans and elected officials, the controversy has reignited the tensions of a region still deeply marked by the memory of wars.
