Roman Rite Catholics in Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, France, celebrated Christmas outside the closed doors of an inn a church.
Very small boys served at the altar. The Francis Church didn't even offer them a stable. For more than 15 years, they had hoped to be given a church for Sundays and feast days. There are two churches in town which are both unused on Sunday mornings: the Franciscan church and a hospital chapel.
Their dream came true in June. Bishop Lucien Crepy, 63, of Versailles, who had only been installed in April, allowed the faithful to use the hospital chapel. Weeks later, after the merciless Traditionis custodes, Crepy made them again refugees. Since October, about hundred Catholics attend Mass outside the church. Pictures of them, gathered in wind and rain, made rounds on the internet.
In a Christmas press release, they called themselves “happy to have offered the cold of the night and the discomfort of the sidewalk, little annoyances, to unite themselves more intimately …More