Five priests shot during the Commune beatified in Paris

Five priests shot during the Paris Commune, including Father Planchat, were beatified on Saturday some 150 years after their “martyrdom” in a ceremony presided over by a representative of Pope Francis. The Parisian church of Saint-Sulpice, which can accommodate up to 2,500 people, was full for the ceremony, which was attended by the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, bishops and members of congregations, reports Agence France Presse. .

A letter from Pope Francis, who granted a 127-year-old request in March to beatify (i.e. declare them blessed) the five religious, was read during the mass. In its missive, the Holy See requested that these men “may henceforth be called blessed and be celebrated annually on May 26.”

The priests Henri Planchat, of the congregation of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Ladislas Radigue, Polycarpe Tuffier, Marcellin Rouchouze and Frézal Tardieu, of the Picpus congregation were shot on May 26, 1871. Their portraits appeared on a large banner suspended behind the altar. These executions took place during the “bloody week” which saw several massacres in the capital at the end of May 1871, the end chapter of the Parisian insurrection after the French defeat by Prussia.

The historian and specialist of the Commune Éric Fournier sees in this beatification “a return of a clerical, conservative memory of the Commune”. Aware of the controversy, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, representative of Pope Francis, spoke of “a complex history” and called to pray for all the dead of the Commune.

The brief revolutionary adventure of the Commune ended in a bloodbath, with thousands of deaths (6,500 to 20,000 dead according to historians) and remains a major reference for the French radical left. The “blessed” beatified on Saturday had been held prisoner for several weeks by the communards. About 30 gendarmes and four supposed “snitches” were also executed on May 26, 1871.

In November 2021, the Vatican recognized the “martyrdom” of these clergymen – as they “died in hatred of the faith” – paving the way for their beatification.