New Caledonia's Catholic community is in shock and disbelief as two of its historic missions have been burnt down by rioters this week.
On Tuesday this week, the 165-year-old Catholic Church in Saint Louis, near Nouméa, disappeared in flames.
The iconic Church was the last building standing after the Mission's presbytery and residence for the Marist Sisters were also burnt down by rioters following gun exchanges between a group of rioters and French gendarmes.
Saint Louis mission Church main building in flames on Tuesday 16 July 2024 Photo: RRB
One man, described as the nephew of Saint Louis Great Chief and Congress pro-independence figure President Roch Wamytan, was killed last week as he was firing shots from the old Church.
Nouméa archbishop Monsignor Calvet told local media NC la Première he, like everyone else, is in a state of shock.
Aarchbishop Monseigneur Calvet on the scene of destroyed Saint Louis Mission Photo: NC la 1ere
"It's not something that happened by accident (...)Those people wanted to destroy. They destroyed various mission buildings several days ago, they threatened the religious community, which was there, and which had to be evacuated.
And so, this is deeply shocking. When young people have never been explained the rules of society and the common good, they can do anything.
Some young rioters even said it's just "for the sake of going crazy."
This means they don't see the harm, … but at the same time it is serious and particularly on the part of those who used the naivety of these young people", he said.
Vao church on fire on 18 July 2024 Photo: DR
On Thursday evening, in Vao, on the Isle of Pines (off Nouméa), another landmark Catholic mission, in the village of Vao, was also destroyed by arson.
Both missions are regarded as the cradles of Catholicism in New Caledonia, both having been established in the 1860s.
New Caledonia's President Louis Mapou, in a release on Friday, condemned those criminal "irresponsible acts", saying they undermined the values of "fraternity and sharing on which New Caledonia's society is based".
"No anger can justify this", he wrote.
Saint Louis Mission history specialist Monique Villisseck told local media parishioners felt deeply hurt.
"Because it's their forefathers' work, it's a part of all those mixed communities over 160 years, the Malabar, the sugar cane, the rice, the Japanese, the Vietnamese, the mines... It's a page of history that is turning," she said.