Posted on 08/15/2016 7:38:24 AM PDT by Eleutheria5
Thousands of Catholic pilgrims thronged to the French shrine of Lourdes on Monday for Assumption celebrations held under tight security after the murder of a priest, the latest victim in a series of jihadist attacks.
The gathering at the sanctuary in the foothills of the Pyrenees is the first major Catholic event in France since priest Jacques Hamel was killed by two jihadists who stormed his church during mass on July 26 and slit his throat.
Groups from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia traveled to Lourdes for the occasion, one of the biggest in the Christian calendar.
"We've come to pray for peace in the world, which seems to be in chaos," said Piet Tarappa, an Indonesian businessman who came from Jakarta with 35 other pilgrims and a bishop.
Lionel Ambroise, a 29-year-old French engineer living in Brussels, said he had come to "reflect on the world and France in particular, which is "going through a crisis."
Security was extremely tight ahead for this year's pilgrimage, which culminated Monday with an open-air mass.
Soldiers in fatigues with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders watched over the ceremony and a helicopter flew overhead during the mass. In total, 500 security force members were deployed to protect the crowd of up to 25,000 pilgrims expected at the mass.
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France is under attack from islam. There is no other way to say it. France has hordes of newly-arrived savages on its soil. They hate France. They want to turn it into an islamic state.
French leadership is socialist, and wants to make nice with the muzzards. It is mistaken. You can’t make kissy-face with bearded savages. It just gets your face dirty and makes the savage mad.
Will France kick the socialists out and put in the Front National? If it knows what’s good for it.
Lourdes has long been on my bucket list.
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