In December, the court ordered the municipality to remove the statue of Saint-Michel within six months in order to comply with the 1905 law.
The municipality, which appealed this decision, launched a citizen vote on the subject.
More than 1,700 residents have already taken part.
“Would you like the statue of Saint-Michel to remain in front of the Saint-Michel church?
This is the question posed by the town hall of Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée) to the inhabitants, through an unprecedented citizen vote, organized all week via the town's website.
Since Friday, more than 1,700 people have already taken part in this consultation, while on Saturday morning, the inhabitants (main or secondary residents) will even be able to travel to five polling stations in the municipality to give their opinion on this sensitive file.
Installed since autumn 2018 on the forecourt of the Saint-Michel church, the famous statue of the archangel has indeed been the subject of a court decision.
Last December, the administrative court of Nantes had ordered the municipality to withdraw it within six months in order to comply with the law of 1905. The law of separation of Church and State "opposes the installation (…) in the public space, of a sign or an emblem showing the recognition of a cult or marking a religious preference”, recalled the judgment.
A decision which follows a request from the Vendée federation of the Free Thought association, which requested the removal of the statue from the public domain as a "manifest religious object".
Sablais vote online now: https://t.co/Xzoo2ANY4n
Would you like the Saint Michel statue to remain in front of the Saint Michel church?
pic.twitter.com/r1A8ixDdtP
- City of Sables d'Olonne (@VilleDesSables) February 25, 2022
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A symbol ?
The case took an even more political turn when the DVD mayor Yannick Moreau (who had appealed) received a visit in January from Eric Zemmour who came to defend the statue seen as a "symbol of Christian traditions" and symbol of the district.
The municipality ensures that this vote "is not intended to challenge a court decision" but to "guide the actions that it will be required to implement for the statue, in compliance with the rules of law.
The results will be announced early next week.
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