WATCH: French politician angers Communist mayor by reciting ‘Hail Mary’ in chamber

(LifeSiteNews) — A French politician held up a cross and recited the Hail Mary during a city council meeting led by a Communist politician who deplored his homage to God and the Blessed Mother as a “political crime.”

Kevin Nader, elected RN of Ivry-sur-Seine, a commune in the suburbs of Paris, had proposed during the June 11 meeting a rule banning the “wearing of a sign or outfit ostensibly manifesting religious affiliation,” according to the French outlet JDD. The regulation would have affected several councilors who wear the Muslim headscarf, the hijab, including the Deputy Mayor of Ivry, Fenda Diarra.

Nader’s proposal was immediately shot down by the Mayor of Ivry-sur-Seine, Philippe Bouyssou, who belongs to the French Communist Party. According to Nader, “this amendment was not put to a vote” since Bouyssou said he was “morally rejected.”

“Very well, since you refuse to be under the sign of secularism in this city council, you refuse secularism. That’s right — indeed, you refuse secularism in this city council. But, from now on, we will be under the sign of the cross at every city council meeting,” Nader responded during the council meeting as he held up a wooden cross.

Catholic politician condemned by communist mayor of d’Ivry, France for reciting the ‘Hail Mary’.

The prayer came in response to his colleagues’ lack of concern for imposing their secular standards on another elected official wearing a veil. pic.twitter.com/qZxCMlPSnz

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“And may the cross bless you all. And may God bless you. And I’ll say a Hail Mary,” said Nader, continuing to hold up the cross as he proceeded to say the Hail Mary, concluding with the sign of the cross.

Mayor Bouyssou immediately condemned his religious display. “So, what you have just done, Mr. Nader, clearly marks your political crime,” the French Communist said.

“And I remind you, anyway, that you are indeed being filmed. And I, who have a deep and unwavering respect for all religions, even if I practice none, firmly believe that Ivry’s Christian and Catholic community will deeply and clearly appreciate the manner in which you have just dragged them through the mud with this attitude,” Bouyssou fumed, with hostility in his eyes, to the applause of council officials.

“This is a disgrace indeed. This is a true and genuine scandal. In just a few hours of consultation, you have climbed to every summit imaginable, truly and utterly crossed every single red line,” Bouyssou continued.

He then furiously moved to oust Nader. “I invite you to leave this municipal assembly immediately,” Bouyssou exclaimed to applause as he pounded his fist. “Never has the city council of Ivry been insulted in this way.”

When Nader refused, Bouyssou suspended the meeting.

Nader said he suffered “very violent, off-site” attacks by council officials after the meeting. “I was booed, threatened, people told me I was going to hell, I was called racist,” Le Parisien reported. Nader shared that he plans to file a complaint.

In comments on YouTube’s post of the council meeting and on social media, Nader was applauded for his Catholic display and his demonstration of the mayor’s hypocrisy.

“The Catholic cross and the Muslim headscarf are both religious symbols. French law on secularism (which I don’t support) clearly prohibits wearing either. Therefore, this mayor is not only a relentless hypocrite and a double standard, but his veiled deputy, Fenda Diarra, is also breaking this same law,” one commenter noted in French. “He ‘sees no problem’ with one but acts like a vampire in the face of a crucifix regarding the other. This blatant hypocrisy is at the root of the current division.”

“He should resign immediately because he has no respect for the law except when it suits his biased personal views on Catholicism,” user eglantinepapeau1582 noted.

The commenter pointed out that French law “strictly” prohibits civil service employees from the wearing of the headscarf, or any ostentatious religious symbol. The law states that “People who work in public services … cannot express or show their convictions (religious, political or philosophical). 

“Praying in a deliberative assembly has clearly created a disturbance to public order,” Bouyssou later told AFP.

Nader later shared on Facebook that a deputy mayor “said she was proud to wear the veil in City Council. Following this clear answer, I then expressed my faith as a practicing Catholic,” he added.

“Two weights, two measures: when it comes to an ostentatious sign linked to Islam, secularism suddenly becomes negotiable. When it’s Catholicism, it’s a ‘crime,’” a Catholic X user remarked.