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Muslim Young Men Protect Catholic Church After Deadly Attacks in France: ‘We will protect churches ourselves’
Elyazid Benferhat and friends protected the 13th-century cathedral in Lodeve on All Saint's Day after a deadly attack on a Nice church.
Social & Lifestyle
A team of French Muslims recently spent the night standing outside their town’s cathedral to symbolically protect it and show solidarity with Christian churchgoers.
When Elyazid Benferhat heard about a deadly attack on Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice at the end of October, he was sickened. Three people had died. He started thinking about what he could do to help.
He talked to a Muslim friend, “and we had this idea,” Benferhat told the Associated Press. “We needed to do something beyond paying homage to the victims. We said, we will protect churches ourselves.”
He and his pal gathered together other young Muslims from among their friend group, as well as through the soccer club Benferhat coaches.
On All Saints’ holiday weekend—in coordination with local police—the group guarded their local church in Lodève on Saturday night and again for Sunday Mass.