In the shadow of churches, nationalist compromises sometimes grow, this concept developed by Charles Maurras which defends a circumstantial alliance between different political currents. Thursday January 16, on the square in front of the Val-de-Grâce church, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, all the chapels of the extreme right gathered to pay a final tribute to Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died on January 7 at the age of 96.
9 a.m., hundreds of people flock to rue Saint Jacques to attend mass, given by Christophe Kowalczyk, former military chaplain. There is, first of all, what the far right considers most radical and which the RN has ordered to filter. On the square, Jérôme Bourbon, editor-in-chief of the anti-Semitic newspaper Rivaroldistributes a few copies of the special Le Pen issue that he has hidden under his coat. He regrets, with the latter’s disappearance, “the end of an era, that of freedom of speech and spirit”. The founder of the National Front had also spoken out several times in the weekly, declaring in particular in 2015 that “the German occupation had not been so inhumane”. In front of the gate, Jérôme Bourbon is refused access by the security service of the National Rally.
He is closely followed by the representatives of the Pétainist Parti de la France – one of whose hobbies consists of discussing the reading of the works of Goebbels – also evacuated, under the disapproving eye of Bruno Gollnish who greets all the same the president of the movement Thomas Joly. Similar treatment for other representatives of the denialist movement, such as Yvan Benedetti, ex-frontist admirer of Mussolini. The former comedian Dieudonné, convicted several times for anti-Semitism, also attempted a happening to gain access to the ceremony, without success.
Elders, Catholics, small groups and the military
10 hours. Others are luckier. Some “old guys”, followers of the “Jean-Marie Front” era. Among them, the former right-hand man Carl Lang, Martial Bild, now director of the far-right channel TV Libertés, or Jean-Yves Le Gallou, former head of the Frontist party and theoretician of national preference. This older generation, adept at raw discourse, who so regrets the turn of demonization instilled by Marine Le Pen, converges on the giant screens installed on the square when the mass is to begin. At their side, representatives of the traditionalist and identity-based Catholic sphere, such as the Academia Christiana movement, whose dissolution Gérald Darmanin had requested. Other small groups, too, came to lend a hand. From Parisian identitarians to former representatives of the GUD (dissolved in June) including Marine Le Pen’s close friend, Axel Lousteau. A strange team, dotted here and there with former soldiers, in green and red berets, spread out on both sides of the square. Behind the gates, a few onlookers stick their noses between the bars, flanked by long leather raincoats or sunglasses matched with balaclavas.
Access to the church is reserved for selected personalities. And not likely to cause any trouble. Family, of course. In the front row, Marine, Yann and Marie-Caroline, the three daughters of Jean-Marie Le Pen, are accompanied by their mother, Pierrette Le Pen, and Jany Le Pen, his widow. The elected officials of the party, then. A large number of MPs and MEPs responded. And too bad if among them, many of them officially reject the legacy of Jean-Marie Le Pen and affirm that they would never have joined the party under his presidency. The party stands together, and everyone will sit in their assigned place. “It’s still incredible that Jean-Marie’s real friends had to give up their places to these little ass-combs,” chokes up from outside a former relative, visibly unhappy. It was Renaud Labaye, Marine Le Pen’s right-hand man in the Assembly and familiar with the parishes, who was responsible for the organization. Liturgies promote absolution. Éric Zemmour, Philippe de Villiers and Bruno Mégret had the right to access the reserved space.
No mention of slippages
Verdi resonates in the stone building. At the ambo, the priest begins his homily. “I do not dwell on the successive commitments [de Jean-Marie Le Pen] who are not in my field, but who have always been guided by the love of France”, he assures, pointing the finger at the “judgment specialists”, before delivering his hagiography of the deceased in front of an assembly of more than 400 people Then comes the family of the founder of the FN His daughter, Marie-Caroline Le Pen, first, followed by several grandchildren of the dynasty, including Marion Maréchal, who greets, in a speech with the accents of. meeting, the political journey of the patriarch There will be no mention of the slippages and other racist or anti-Semitic convolutions uttered by Jean-Marie Le Pen. This tribute is followed by that paid to the child of the country, rejected by the Maquis with whom he had wanted. enlist in World War II.
Then, the time comes to glorify the soldier Le Pen, and it is Louis Aliot who takes care of it. Because political heirs are entitled to their speaking time. After the paratroopers’ prayer, the mayor of Perpignan, an early Frontist, returns to Jean-Marie Le Pen’s commitment to the army, greets his comrades with whom he joined the Algerian war, notably the former members of the OAS (Organization of the Secret Army) Jacques Peyrat and Roger Holeign. The standard bearers are also present, at the end of mass, to escort those leaving. The bells are ringing. The elected officials and the frontist family cross the nationalist net, all the nuances of which have one day or another come into contact with Jean-Marie Le Pen, this reconciler of the extreme right whose heritage the RN now claims. And behind their backs, as the procession moves away, everyone united sings a final Marseille song.