PM JEAN CASTEX PAYS NATIONAL TRIBUTE TO THE 3 VICTIMS OF NICE CHURCH ATTACK

USPA NEWS - The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, chaired, Saturday November 7, 2020 in Nice, the Ceremony of national tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack of October 29, 2020 in the presence of several ministers of his government: Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, Frédérique VIDAL, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of Citizenship and Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice.
This tribute is dedicated to the three victims, Nadine Devillers, 60, Vincent Loques, the sacristan of the church, 55, and Simone Barreto Silva, a 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian, of the attack in Nice on Thursday 29 October 2020 in the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church. The Prime Minister presided over a national ceremony at the top of the Colline du Château, which began with an honor to the flags, and the Marseillaise (French Anthem), and a review of the troops while the three portraits of the victims were carried by their families and relatives. The family was then lit, followed by "the Hymn of the victims" sung by the Choir of the Opera de Nice. We publish the full text of this Remarks.

The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, chaired, Saturday November 7, 2020 in Nice, the Ceremony of national tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack of October 29, 2020 in the presence of several ministers of his government: Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, Frédérique VIDAL, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of Citizenship and Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice. This tribute is dedicated to the three victims, Nadine Devillers, 60, Vincent Loques, the sacristan of the church, 55, and Simone Barreto Silva, a 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian, of the attack in Nice on Thursday 29 October 2020 in the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church. The Prime Minister presided over a national ceremony at the top of the Colline du Château, which began with an honor to the flags, and the Marseillaise (French Anthem), and a review of the troops while the three portraits of the victims were carried by their families and relatives. The family was then lit, followed by "the Hymn of the victims" sung by the Choir of the Opera de Nice. The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, then gave a speech and demanded "more material but also political means to stop these attacks ", before the Prime Minster who delivered his hommage statement to the victims. “All three of you together are all the diversity, all the humanity of the people of Nice,“ he said, while denouncing a “war against all that we are“. Christian Estrosi added that “We must enter into resistance“: “We now need not only a tribute but also strong, operational, immediate means to put an end to this threat, to these barbaric acts“. On this occasion, Prime Minister Castex also handed over the legion of honor to the municipal police officers who neutralized the attacker with a knife. "It is France which is targeted every time and is the target of terrorism, but Nice will have paid a heavy price", declared the Prime Minister Castex, while recalling the previous attack on the corniche, promenade des Anglais, which had been committed on July 14, 2016 by a terrorist in a Belier truck. We publish the full text of this speech.

REMARKS OF PM JEAN CASTEX ON THE HOMMAGE CEREMONY TO NADINE VICNENT AND SIMONE VICTIMS OF THE TERRORIST ATTACK-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- « The prayers of a mother do not condemn to death. Candles lit in the early morning do not condemn to death. The humble work of a sacristan does not condemn to death. And yet, last Thursday, October 29, here in Nice, a man entered the Basilica of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption to sow death with nameless savagery. Three people were murdered because they peacefully practiced their religion; two women and a man. Two women and a man who were nobody's enemies. The families gathered on the Promenade des Anglais on July 14, 2016, were not enemies of anyone either. Should we remind you, here and in front of you, that this terrible attack left 86 dead and 458 injured that day? It is France which, each time, is the target of terrorism, but Nice will have paid a heavy price and I have come today to tell the people of Nice, in your person, Mr. Mayor, my emotion, my compassion and my indignation. These feelings, the whole Nation shares them. In Nice on October 29, terrorism attacked freedom of worship as it had done in Saint-Etienne du Rouvray on July 26, 2016 where a priest was slaughtered even while he was celebrating his Mass. No religious celebration is an offense in a secular Republic which respects Religion for what it is; the expression of an inner conviction, and which guarantees its practice for what it is: the exercise of a fundamental freedom. On this freedom, the Republic does not compromise. At the Bataclan on November 13, 2015, as in Nice on July 14, 2016, terrorism has simply attacked our way of life. Choosing your way of life is also a fundamental freedom. On this freedom, the Republic does not compromise.---------------------------- PM CASTEX RECALLS THE TRAGIC PREVIOUS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA RECENTLY « In Vienna a few days ago, it was also our European ways of life that terrorism directly attacked.In Paris on October 16, in front of a college in Conflans Sainte-Honorine, as on January 7, 2015 at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, terrorism attacked freedom of expression in the person of an exemplary professor, Samuel PATY. Freedom of expression is one of the very first achievements of the Republic and the law of 1881 is one of those Fundamental Laws which deeply rooted the Republic in our country. On this freedom, the Republic does not compromise. In Toulouse, as early as 2012, terrorism attacked, again and again, Judaism, a father and children. Against anti-Semitism, the Republic does not compromise. Never. Here in Nice three people were murdered and a church was bloodied. These three people had a name, a life, a family, and today they are in the hearts of all French people These names, I have come here to honor them. These lives, I have come here to say that they have immeasurable value, that of all human life, unique by definition. These families, I came to bring them the condolences of the whole Nation. » PM Jean Castex declared.

PM JEAN CASTEX DESCRIBES THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED IN THE ATTACK ON NOTRE DAME---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- « Nadine DEVILLERS lived a few steps from here and often came to pray in this church. A woman who passionately loved the theater and who loved to play SHAKESPEARE, TCHEKHOV or FASSBINDER. A woman who wrote in secret and hoped she could be published one day. A woman who once again shared plans for the future with her husband because after a period of unemployment she had to go to a job interview. A woman whom a man has decided to sacrifice for his ideology of death. I want to honor this name, this woman and this life here. Simone BARRETTO SILVA. Simone was not born in Nice, nor even in France but, very far from here, in SALVADOR de BAHIA in Brazil. She arrived with us in 1996. By dint of determination as much as will, she had succeeded in realizing her dream because she had just brilliantly obtained her diploma thanks to the “stars and women“ program which opened wide the doors of establishments to her. the most prestigious. On the morning of October 29, she entered the Basilica to pray before taking her home help service. Mortally wounded, she nevertheless found the strength and courage to escape her torturer to call for help and give the alert, which allowed the valiant municipal police of Nice to intervene immediately and neutralize the terrorist. Without Simone's courage, perhaps her murderer would have continued his bloody journey.Without her, maybe this morning we would have more victims to mourn, other names to say. I want to honor this name, this woman and this life today. Vincent LOQUES: Vincent was not passing through that morning. He was a pillar, almost literally, of the Basilica of Notre-Dame and for a simple reason he was its sacristan. He was the one who opened the doors each morning and closed them each evening. It was to him that priests turned to when there was a problem of stewardship. It was to him that the faithful or simple visitors came to seek information or an explanation. A former mason by trade, he had no equal, I was told, to "make the crib" of the Basilica. As Christmas approaches, I imagine what it will be like to all who try to replace him in this task. Vincent was known and appreciated not only by the parishioners but by the whole neighborhood. He was one of those people, we all know, whom we like to cross on our daily paths and with whom we like to exchange a few words for the sole pleasure of the discussion. I want to honor this name, this man and this life today. » PM, Jean Castex acknowledged .

PM JEAN CASTEX PAYS HOMMAGE TO THE THREE VICTIMS OF THE NICE ATTACK OF OCTOBER 29------------ "On October 29, here in Nice, a terrorist stole three lives from the very heart of a church. This desecration was "repaired" according to the rites proper to the Catholic Church. It is obviously not for the Republic to intervene in the field of the Sacred, but if I am here this morning it is also to express my support for the Church of Nice, for its bishop, Monsignor André MARCEAU, for the priests of the Basilica, and its faithful. Also express my support for the Church of France and for all the Catholics in our country. The construction of the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption Basilica a few steps from Nice train station owes nothing to chance. Indeed, its promoters wanted it to be there to welcome the traveler and the stranger. Simone BARRETO SILVA, who came from so far, understood it, she who stopped there every morning. The terrorist who came to sow death there not only desecrated a place of worship, he also desecrated this spirit of welcome and hospitality which the city of Nice has made an ideal of. » PM Jean Castex said.  

TERRORISM TAKES WHAT WE ARE "DECLARES PM JEAN CASTEX----------------------------------------------------------- Terrorism attacks who we are, what makes us who we are, our freedom, our culture and ultimately our lives. We know the enemy. Not only is he identified but he has a name, which is radical Islamism. A political ideology which disfigures the Muslim religion by diverting its texts, its dogmas and its commandments to impose its domination through obscurantism and hatred. An enemy who enjoys support abroad but who, alas, also has French citizens in its ranks. An enemy who collects the complacency of certain speeches which make themselves accomplices. An enemy that the government of the Republic fights relentlessly, by providing itself with the necessary means and by mobilizing all of its forces on a daily basis. A long time ago, in Nice, when his mother fell ill, a young boy who had fled Poland and anti-Semitic persecutions with her, rushed to the first church he met on his way. This church was none other than the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption. This child, who had just arrived in France, was Romain Gary, who spoke of Nice as "his dear almost hometown". A France where a little foreigner who arrived in our country at 14, naturalized at 21, Companion of the Liberation before becoming one of our greatest writers, naturally comes to hide his sorrow in a church even though he is Jewish origin and is not Catholic. Romain GARY, by his own admission, simply converted to France. I do not see, today, a more beautiful image to draw, here in Nice, the true face of France. It is this open, diverse and welcoming France that radical Islamism seeks to destroy. The France that we love and that we will not allow to be disfigured by those who, on October 29, bloodied The Promise of Dawn“¦ ../ Prime Minister Jean Castex concluded.