French Priest Robbed at Gunpoint During Baptism

A French Catholic priest in the commune of Carbon-Blanc, a suburb of the city of Bordeaux, was held at gunpoint and robbed over the weekend while another priest was performing a baptism ceremony.

Three masked men broke into the home of the priest of the church of Carbon-Blanc at around 1 pm on Sunday afternoon, likely believing that no one would be home as the priest was performing a baptism at the time.

The men proceeded to steal a safe from the home and searched a cupboard in a room only to find the home was not empty and another priest had been there, broadcaster France Bleu reports.

According to the broadcaster, the masked men then proceeded to threaten the priest with a handgun after he had called out for help before the men fled the home, with around 2,000 euros worth of items.

The priest later gave witness testimony to French gendarmes officials but was said to be in such a state of shock about the incident that he was not able to accurately provide a detailed description of the men or of the vehicle they fled the scene in.

Robberies and attacks on churches in France have been a major problem across the country for several years, with a report from 2019 suggesting that the country sees an average of three attacks on churches per day.

This year has seen several incidents at French churches, including last month when a Muslim man entered the Church of Saint-Germain, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Paris suburbs of Yvelines during evening mass and proceeded to harass and ultimately assault a parishioner during the mass.

“He called us hypocrites. Christians. He said he was being made to look like a buffoon. It was then that a man, quite tall, approached him and told him to leave. The other asked him if he wanted to fight. That’s when there was the headbutt. Others intervened to control it,” a witness said.

In April, another attack took place during a Sunday mass in the Saint-Pierre-d’Arène church in Nice, which saw a man with a knife attack the priest who was celebrating the mass, stabbing the clergyman several times.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.