France: Migrant Who Murdered French Priest Gets 4 Years in Prison for Setting Fire to Nantes Cathedral

An illegal from Rwanda, Emmanuel Abayisenga, 42, was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison for setting fire to the Nantes cathedra. Abayisenga will later stand trial for the murder of a priest in Vendée.

Nantes Cathedral Arson

In the early hours of July 18, 2020, a church volunteer, Emmanuel Abayisenga, an illegal Rwandan who had lived in France since 2012, set fire to the Nantes Cathedral in France. Abayisenga was a former child soldier and police officer in Rwanda.

Abayisenga set fire to three parts of the cathedral; one concentrated on the main organ at the west end, built initially by Jacques Girardet in 1621, which was destroyed, a second near a smaller organ to the left of the altar, and the third to the right of the altar. Around 100 firefighters tackled the blaze. Police at the time investigated the incident as a possible act of arson.

Abayisenga was detained for questioning but released without charge. However, he was later arrested for the arson and released from prison in May 2021 under judicial control while awaiting trial for the Church arson.

The murder of Father Olivier Maire

The dangerous migrant\ arsonist was taken in by Father Olivier Maire and lived at the Montfortains religious community in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, south of Nantes, while awaiting his trial.

As previously reported by RAIR Foundation USA, on August 9, 2021, Abayisenga beat 60-year-old Priest Olivier Maire to death and was again arrested after surrendering himself at a local police station. The beloved priest was the national leader in France of the Montfortian community, with congregations in around 30 countries worldwide.

Four rejected asylum applications – ordered to leave France

Abayisenga, born in Rwanda, had previously claimed that his father was executed for participating in the Tutsi genocide and that his uncle was serving a life sentence. 

Abayisenga also claimed he deserted the police after three or four years. He said he left for France after being tortured ‘because he would refuse to participate in executions or dirty work against the Hutus.

His story, however, did not convince the Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, which is responsible for examining asylum requests. As a result, he was sent four notices to leave the country, but instead, he ignored them all.

It turns out that Abayisenga had lied about his past traumas in Rwanda, and he was not tortured and did not see his father assassinated, as he had previously claimed.

Instead of leaving France peacefully, Rwanda Abayisenga set fire to the Nantes church in 2020. The French press reported that he lit the Church on fire because he was “angry” over the difficulties he was having with his expired visa.

Open border advocates and media promoting a mass immigration agenda lept to the migrant’s defense by validating the migrant’s frustrations. Even the authorities went to great lengths to caution the public against leaping to conclusions about the migrant’s involvement in the fire or if it was terrorist-related.

Priest Killing Migrant Met the Pope

Abayisenga met with Pope Francis on November 11, 2016, in Rome during a gathering for the European Festival of Joy and Mercy in the Vatican. He traveled to Italy with a group from Nantes for the event, which was for “socially excluded people.” At the event, the French Catholic newspaper La Croix captured a photograph of Abayisenga greeting Pope Francis: