Originally published at The Crux
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France’s bishops have condemned the weekend’s riots in the country that saw shops looted, public buildings set alight and violence spill out on the streets.
Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and president of the French Episcopal Conference released a statement on Sunday denouncing Saturday’s events as “unacceptable violence.”
“Yesterday, our city, like so many others in France, fell prey to unacceptable violence: on the sidelines of planned demonstrations, shops were looted, churches were broken into, the town hall was invaded and vandalized, a police station was ransacked, and members of the security forces were attacked,” he said.
“Along with the entire Church of Marseille, I wish to express my support and solidarity with those who were injured and with the shopkeepers who were victims of this vandalism,” he added.
He then called for peace and a rejection of the “spiral of violence.”
“I urge everyone not to be drawn into the spiral of this violence: our city and our country deserve better than this. With all believers, we pray that these disturbances will cease and that peace will return,” Aveline said.
Laurent Ulrich, the archbishop of Paris released a statement on Monday saying that especially over the weekend, the
