Several Catholic gatherings took place in France on Sunday, as here in Toulouse -

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP

As during the weekend of November 15, more than 300 faithful gathered again on Sunday in Bordeaux.

For two weeks, in Bordeaux as in several cities in France, they have been calling for the return of mass, banned during confinement.

“Mass, a basic necessity” ... Kneeling in the shade of Saint-André Cathedral in Bordeaux, the mobilized faithful recited a rosary and sang songs and recitations of prayers during a gathering, under the eye of a discreet police presence and between two banners "Give us back the mass" and "Stop the health dictatorship".

"This ban is nonsense"

“For us, Mass is vital.

We need it now and now.

This ban is nonsense.

Sanitary measures can be implemented and respected in churches ”, explained to AFP Elisabeth Blanchet, a student who set up with four friends the collective“ Pour la messe Bordeaux ”.

"We will be there every Sunday as long as they do not give us back mass", she added.

On November 15, more than 300 Catholics had already met on the forecourt of Saint-André Cathedral.

Towards a return to ceremonies from December 1?

On Monday, the government cautiously agreed to a resumption of religious ceremonies with the public from December 1, but on two conditions: compliance with a new health protocol in places of worship and a favorable development in the epidemiological situation.

Before the collective prayer, one of the organizers asked the faithful to reach out to move away from each other, in order to respect social distancing.

Among the faithful, of all generations, some carried small signs such as "Less cathode ray tubes, more catholic masses" or "The mass, well of first necessity".

“The buses are full, but mass is prohibited?

"

In Toulouse also a few hundred Catholics, many of them families with children, gathered in front of Saint-Etienne cathedral for the second Sunday in a row.

“Our freedom of worship was taken from us.

We need to go to mass to fully live our faith, ”Marie-Clémence Bourgeois, a 20-year-old design student, told AFP.

Thomas Robesson, 42, came to demonstrate with his family, does not understand the “logic” of the government: “The buses are full, the subways are full, the supermarkets are full, but mass is prohibited?

".

300 people at Place Bellecour in Lyon, several hundred in Paris

In Lyon, around 300 people, including many young people and families, gathered on Place Bellecour.

Banners were hung at the foot of the equestrian statue of Louis XIV: "Mass prohibited by order of the government, believers, traders, craftsmen all together against confinement", one could read in particular.

In Lille, a few hundred people, mainly young people and families, gathered on the forecourt of Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille in Old Lille and sang songs, of which "the Lord calls all his activists. to the reconquest of Christendom ”.

In Paris, several hundred faithful prayed together in front of Saint-Sulpice church at 5 p.m.

"The Eucharist is the summit of our faith", "Mass is for us the nourishment of the soul", the organizers said in particular at the microphone.

"Let us hope that the speech of the President of the Republic on Tuesday will bring good news", added one of them.

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