Sister Marie-Thérèse des Batignolles is somewhat persona non grata in Riddes. About fifteen members of the Fraternité Saint-Pie-X d’Ecône sent a letter to the Municipal Council to request the cancellation of the performance scheduled for this Friday evening at the Salle de l’Abeille.
One of the letters, sent to the president of the commune and of which Rhône FM has obtained a copy, goes even further. Its author, a member of Civitas, a Catholic-fundamentalist movement, threatens the municipality with a complaint for flouting the religious beliefs of others within the meaning of article 261 of the penal code. Its author considers that this piece is blasphemous and offends the religious convictions of the members of Ecône.
This is not the case, believes for its part the Municipal Council, which notified the authors of the letters of an end of inadmissibility. He assures that the show has no intention of hurting Catholics. “The Municipal Council is aware that the show may offend the sensitivity of some of our citizens”, argues Christel Duc, president of the municipality of Riddes. “The Municipal Council has decided to maintain this show. He was very clear in his decision. Cultural diversity is achieved through different artistic modes, ”continues the elected official, who ensures that she is facing this situation for the first time.
“I am flabbergasted. I thought the word tolerance existed in religion.”
Gabriel Dermidjian, actor
As for the fact that the play is performed on Good Friday, the municipality assures that it is the result of chance and that it tried to move the date. “The actor, the technicians and the production stop in Riddes as part of a tour. It was extremely complicated to change the date”, explains Arnaud Favre, cultural administrator of the municipality of Riddes. “I continue to have carte blanche on the shows played in Riddes”, he rejoices.
A surprising controversy
The character of Sister Marie-Thérèse des Batignolles comes from a comic strip (BD) French comedy, written and drawn by Maëster. It first appeared in 1982 and features an eccentric and atypical nun who drinks, takes drugs and even somersaults. The trashy nun even gets canonized by the Vatican during the show.
“People don’t have to attend the show”
Arnaud Favre, cultural administrator of the municipality of Riddes
Sister Marie-Thérèse is played by the French actor Gabriel Dermidjian. Contacted, he says he is stunned by the controversy that is swelling in Riddes. “I am flabbergasted. I thought the word tolerance existed in religion,” he says. I myself am a Catholic”, he continues in a plea in favor of Sister Marie-Thérèse. “There is so much benevolence in this show, so much fragility. We have a good sister full of love and lack. She has moments of doubt and she talks about it to God. So yes, she teases him”, conceives the actor. “She’s strong in excess but it’s still a lot of fun.”
No desire to provoke
The show Sœur Marie-Thérèse des Batignolles has already been performed several times in France, notably in Vienna in front of a full 800-seat hall. “People were up at the end of the show,” says Gabriel Dermidjian. In Switzerland, the piece will be performed for the first time on Friday evening at the Salle de l’Abeille in Riddes. A Good Friday, in Riddes, a provocation? “Not at all,” replies the actor. “I didn’t even know that Riddes was hosting the siege of Econe. It’s not at all targeted,” assures Gabriel Dermidjian, joined on this point by the cultural administrator of Riddes, Arnaud Favre. “People don’t have to attend the show.”
“My only weapon is to ask these people to come and see the show”
Gabriel Dermidjian, actor
Gabriel Dermidjian, on the other hand, dares to invite everyone to come to the show on Friday evening. “My only weapon is to ask these people to come and see the show and discuss it,” he says in the form of an invitation. When do they have all the rights, he wonders. I would also like to defend my human approach.
