Koun Breizh is outraged by the decision of the Administrative Court imposing the relocation of the calvary of Kerdalaes in Saint-Divy. This decision confirms the impossibility for Bretons to preserve their original heritage. It concerns our culture, our heritage, and our roots. We can no longer accept such secular intransigence that fuels discomfort, conflict, and all forms of...
The administrative court has decided. The calvary of Kerdalaes in Saint-Divy has not been renovated, but simply reproduced. It must therefore be removed from its original location since its creation in 1652.
The uncompromising interpretation of secularism advocated by the applicant "free thought" has convinced the administrative court of Rennes. The court decided that this calvary is a religious emblem erected after the law of 1905 in that it was not a renovation.
However, the court could have drawn from the historical nature of this calvary, whose upper part has been reproduced identically, the right to be reinstated in its original location. Why must the most uncompromising interpretation always be retained in matters of secularism?
Should we remind that the law recognized the right for municipalities to grant a long-term lease on a property they own for its allocation to a cultural association of a place of worship?
New places of worship can be built on public land. And one could not reinstate a Breton calvary dating from 1652? Thus, the Bretons are deprived of the right to preserve their religious heritage by reproducing it identically.
Moreover, the religious dimension of this calvary does not exhaust the question. It is still about safeguarding our Breton heritage, and this is indeed the objective pursued by AGIP - Guipavas Identity and Heritage Association - which is carrying the project.
Whether we like it or lament it, our Breton heritage is largely of religious or spiritual essence, with its menhirs, sacred springs, chapels, and calvaries waiting for their recognition by UNESCO. Our parish enclosures are on the French State's intermediate list among the candidates for inclusion in UNESCO's intangible heritage. Our calvaries are unique in the world.
Beyond the religious dimension, these calvaries speak to us of our ancestors who populated this land before us and marked it with their faith and their works. They bring us back to our roots.
Rootedness is one of the primary needs of the soul, emphasized the philosopher Simone Weil. The loss of roots, whether desired or suffered, explains a large part of the current malaise.
Our calvaries are works of art that, as such, must be protected, reproduced if necessary, and restored to their natural environment.
The worst part of this affair is that this decision risks being instrumentalized by the far right, which already sees it as contempt for our Western cultures while Islam multiplies the construction of mosques in France.
Now more than ever, we need our Breton roots, if only to share them and not to oppose them to those who come from elsewhere. Brittany does not need intransigence but openness and respect for its roots.
For Koun Breizh
Y OLLIVIER
President
