A decision to cancel the screenings of the Christian film Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart) at a public venue has been overturned.
The administrative Court of Marseille ruled on October 25 that city Mayor Benoît Payan’s move was not legally justified.
Payan decided to cancel screenings of the Christian docu-fiction in a public venue earlier in October, arguing it did not respect France’s secularism.
He defended his move by invoking France’s strict separation of Church and State but the court dismissed his argument.
“The mere screening of a film that may be considered religious in nature in a municipally-run cinema does not, in itself, violate the principle of secularism, since such screening does not express recognition of a religion by the municipality or indicate a religious preference on its part,” the Marseille court ruled.
It also ordered the city to redress the cancellation of screenings sessions by rescheduling them.
Marseille officials complied immediately after Saturday’s ruling.
Nevertheless, critics accused the city of rushing through what some called a “sneaky screening” to avoid public backlash.
Local Republicans (LR) party mayor of the 11th and 12th arrondissements of Marseille, Sylvain Souvestre, who previously criticised the cancellations, welcomed the court ruling.
“Victory! I am delighted by the judges’ decision ordering its screening in Marseille,” he said.
In its decision, the court also emphasised that by removing the film from the schedules, “the mayor of Marseille has committed a serious and manifestly illegal violation of freedom of expression, freedom of artistic creation, and freedom of artistic distribution”.
The French Mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, has cancelled the screening of the Christian movie Sacré Coeur (Sacred Heart) from a public-owned venue, arguing it did not respect France’s secularism. https://t.co/xtWdgxDChQ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 24, 2025
