Catholic pilgrims from around the world, many sick or disabled, yesterday converged at a shrine in Lourdes, France, under exceptional security after recent Muslim extremist attacks.
Armed soldiers and police patrolled the train station, town center and inside the sanctuary at Lourdes, where a 19th-century village girl said she had visions of the Virgin Mary.
The site in southern France near the Spanish border draws pilgrims of all kinds, some hoping for a cure from the famous springwater in the Lourdes grotto.
Photo: AP
As a helicopter circled overhead, visitors bearing candles and banners streamed toward the grotto and the sprawling plaza of the basilica, apparently undeterred by new security restrictions or the recent attacks.
Crowds began gathering at the sanctuary before dawn yesterday for a series of outdoor Masses in multiple languages celebrating the Feast of the Assumption, when according to Catholic belief, Jesus’ mother Mary ascended into heaven. Thousands attended a candlelight procession on Sunday night, although the route was reduced from past years to better protect believers.
French authorities had already been planning extra security for the annual holiday, but concerns mounted after a series of attacks last month around Europe — notably one on July 26 in northwest France, in which two extremists claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group stormed a morning Mass, slit an elderly priest’s throat and took nuns and parishioners hostage.
Lourdes officials refused to cancel this year’s pilgrimage, although some other summer festivals around France have been dropped.
To reach the Lourdes sanctuary, pilgrims proffered up their bags for repeated checks, and authorities funneled visitors through three access points, reduced from past years.
Roads were closed to allow pedestrians, some in wheelchairs, to reach the site unhindered. Car attacks are a new concern after a driver rammed his truck into Bastille Day revelers in Nice last month, killing 85.
Nearly 300 extra forces were brought to Lourdes — including mobile intervention teams, soldiers, bomb squads and canine units — to help local forces, raising the overall security presence to more than 500.
The Catholic Church has recognized dozens of miracles at Lourdes since villager Bernadette Soubirous — gathering stones in the grotto in 1858 — said she had visions of the Virgin Mary.
In other developments, a noise that sounded like gunfire sparked panic at the French Riviera resort of Juan-Les-Pins as people rushed to flee what they believed was a terror attack, causing a number injuries, the fire service said.
The noise was caused by firecrackers thrown from a car, local radio France Azur reported, adding that about 40 people were injured in the incident late on Sunday.
Video footage showed tables and chairs overturned on the terraces of cafes and restaurants near the beach and people screaming in the stampede.
The fire service in Juan-les-Pins — known for its vibrant nightlife and annual jazz festival — said a number of people were lightly injured, but did not say how many.
Police were examining CCTV footage to determine the exact cause of the incident.
Additional reporting by AFP
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
RSS