FUNERAL LOLA. Lola’s funeral takes place this Monday, October 24, 2022 in Pas-de-Calais, ten days after the murder of the 12-year-old schoolgirl. A public ceremony must precede the burial of the teenager reserved for the family.
The Lola affair still arouses great emotion ten days after the discovery of the murder of the 12-year-old schoolgirl in Paris. Since then, wreaths of flowers have been laid at the teenager’s former home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, but it is in Pas-de-Calais, the department from which the young girl and her family originate, that the mobilization is the strongest this Monday, October 24 because it is in Lilles that the funeral of Lola takes place. From 2:30 p.m., a religious ceremony organized at the Saint-Omer collegiate church will pay a last tribute to the schoolgirl and French gymnastics champion. Sign that the event takes on a strong symbolism, it is the bishop of Arras, Mgr Olivier Leborgn, who must ensure the mass.
Lola’s death shook public opinion and since October 14, the young girl has been presented as the one who “could have been our little sister” to everyone. Faced with this mobilization and this emotion, the parents of the teenager decided to organize a public funeral “open to all those who wish to pay a last tribute” to Lola. On the other hand, all political recoveries are asked to stay at the doorstep and not to come and disturb the ceremony. Only two political figures will be present at the funeral with the agreement of the family: the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the Secretary of State for Children Charlotte Caubel.
Public funeral and private burial
Several hundred people could come to pay their last respects to Lola during the funeral of the young girl on Monday. The Saint-Omer collegiate can accommodate up to 500 people and the ceremony will also be broadcast in audio outside the building to allow everyone to follow the funeral. On the other hand, after the funeral it is in the family that the parents of Lola will say a last goodbye to their daughter since “the burial in the cemetery will be done in the strictest privacy” according to the press release published by the family of Lola. If Lola’s funeral is open to the public, Lola’s parents have repeated their call for “respect” and “dignity” several times.
A “simple and sober” funeral for Lola
Lola’s parents who called for “respect” and “dignity” at their daughter’s funeral also want a “simple and sober” ceremony. The description of the funeral is made by the bishop of Arras, Mgr Olivier Leborgn on France 3 in an interview granted on October 23: “I hope that people will be very sober, very discreet, very respectful and that they will be with the family, to pray for Lola. That is what the family wants.” A discreet ceremony, therefore, as Lola’s parents have been since the announcement of the tragedy and in which the teenager will be the only center of attention, as the bishop pointed out, “it is Lola’s funeral that we going to celebrate, we’re here for no one else”.
Faced with the death of Lola, the representative of the Church also wishes to bring and try to return “the possibility of living now” to the parents of the young girl. “We have to be stronger than the logic of death. We have to dare a logic of life, stammering, groping, but dare a logic of life”, he declared recalling the horror of the crime of which Lola has been a victim and indicating that it is not this memory of the little girl that should be kept.