A Catholic sister tackles an environmental activist to the ground, an altercation that went viral on social media.
On Monday morning, a group of environmental activists blocked the construction site of a large Catholic religious center in Saint-Pierre-de-Colombier, a village in France, local media reported.
They opposed the construction of a new reception hall for pilgrims and a new church that could accommodate up to 3,500 worshipers, saying such work could have an impact on the environment.
In addition, residents are concerned about the impact of the thousands of pilgrims the church will attract.
To protect the site from protesters attacking the materials, a group of nuns decided to form a human chain. Around 8 a.m. one was filmed pushing someone to the ground who was trying to escape with pipes.
France 3 journalist Léo Chapuis, who shared the video on X, highlighted the impressive appearance of the scene. “Huge! “The good sister attacking an environmentalist,” he wrote, specifying that it was a “non-regulatory attack,” to use sports parlance.
Gigantic ! The good sister who dumps an environmentalist… a major spectacle in Ardèche where nuns defend the construction site of a future religious center against activists who are blocking it because of its environmental impact.
🎥 @ferro_nicolas
☝️non-regulatory approach pic.twitter.com/3wSyO7s3LO— Léo Chapuis (@leo_chapuis) October 16, 2023
The religious community of the Missionary Family of Notre-Dame, which has been welcoming pilgrims to the village for a long time, launched the major project to expand its reception capacity in 2019. Even when it was announced, the project received a very poor response and was contested.
There were numerous demonstrations until the construction site was stopped in October 2020. However, work resumed in 2022 following the completion of an environmental study that would not have taken into account the complaints of civic associations.