The sprawling PERICLES project (Patriots, Rooted, Resistants,
Identitarians, Christians, Liberals, Europeans, Sovereignists), unveiled
in the summer of 2024 by L'Humanité[3], is seeing a new manifestation
this fall. The opening of a non-contractual establishment in
Nouan-Le-Fuzelier, in the heart of Sologne, with the unstated aim of
training future leaders of the (most) extreme right, is causing
controversy. For the past ten years, the fundamentalist movement has
been opening numerous establishments, often non-contractual, throughout
France, particularly in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region. Last year, the
proposed consolidation of the "works" of the fundamentalist Priestly
Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) in Chanceaux-sur-Choisille, north of
Tours, sparked enough fears to be monitored by the Prefecture... which,
however, allowed it to proceed.
Class Separatism
Until recently, the Fondation pour l'école, created in 2008 and a
multiple winner of the Nuit du Bien Commun (see box), was in charge. It
contributed more than EUR50 million between 2008 and 2020 (according to
its website) to so-called "free" projects and schools, meaning those
outside the school system. From now on, Stérin is no longer content with
merely funding, but is launching his own project with the Saint-Louis
Academies: these are supported by the Catholic Family Associations,
Saint-Joseph Education - whose charter for comprehensive education he
adopts - and... the Foundation for Schools!
The Saint-Louis Academy in Chalès, a Catholic single-sex school
advocated by its highly homophobic director Jean-Cyrille Péroteau[1],
was approved by the rectorate on July 18, a late date for a September
start. The school, whose captaincy system is inspired by the houses of
the ultra-select Eton College, plans to accommodate around sixty
students at an annual cost of between EUR4,500 and EUR14,500, depending
on the family income! With the medium-term plan to open one academy per
region, the goal is obviously elitist, given that secondary education
has approximately 5.65 million students. Add in the funding of the
school group's management association from "generous donors" (using our
taxes thanks to tax deductions[2]) such as Stérin (the main donor), and
the circle is complete. In short, a new stage in "the colonization of
Sologne by the ultra-rich," as Jean-Baptiste Forray describes in Les
nouveaux seigneurs (Les Arènes, 2024).
Some voices are nevertheless being raised against the project.
"Philanthropy does not rhyme with democracy": this is the summary of the
July 8 letter sent to the rector, the prefect, and the public
prosecutor. Signed by several dozen organizations and 160 public
figures, the two-page letter opposing the school's opening details the
foreseeable dangers and the deceptions deployed to deceive the education
authority, which is not its first problematic case.
Demonstration on May 6, 2025, in Tours against the Night of the Common Good.
Nico (UCL Tours)
A reactionary agenda
The private, non-contractual school group of La Martinerie, located in
Déols (north of Châteauroux), is a textbook case. This excerpt from the
March 2022 inspection report applies perfectly to the Chalès project,
which nevertheless has the full support of the mayor of
Nouan-Le-Fuzelier: "The total lack of diversity, the perceived
backwardness, and the prevalence of religion keep students in a closed
environment that does not allow them to develop their critical thinking
or form their own opinions." Despite the still-fresh Bétharram scandal,
the rectorate services nevertheless said yes without reservation. It may
be that the very aggressive legal methods specific to the fundamentalist
movement (from Stérin to the FSSPX) put pressure on the National
Education services. Nevertheless, it is above all an openly political
choice that was made in an academy seriously corrupted by a rapidly
expanding network of non-contractual establishments. After the scandal
surrounding the Nuits du Bien commun, the Stérin nebula would probably
have been less aggressive, even if, obviously, the opening of this first
establishment is a crash test not to be missed. However, radio silence
from the Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher, while the Gers Prefecture issued an
order on April 8 to close until the end of the year a non-contractual
school training in "Catholic counter-revolution." This summer, the
Transmissio association, which organizes "holidays with the good Lord"
at the Chalès estate, is part of this same movement. Two conferences
with evocative titles are planned for this event: "Natural Law and the
Challenge of Secularism" and "The Trap of Secularism." Is the prefecture
waiting for a return to these events before finally taking action?
Nico (UCL Tours)
THE NIGHT OF THE COMMON GOOD: WELL-ORDERED CHARITY...
Founded in 2017 by businessmen Pierre-Édouard Stérin, Stanislas Billot
de Lochner, and Thibault Farrenq, the Night of the Common Good is an
endowment fund that describes itself as "the springboard for
associations building the future." In reality, it is a philanthropic
organization connecting wealthy conservatives with initiatives whose
ideological foundations range from conservatism to the outright far
right. Since 2021, its president has included Louis de Bourbon, the
staunch royalist claimant to the French throne. Since the fund is
recognized as "of public interest," it allows donors to benefit from a
tax deduction of 66% of their donation.
Among the projects supported, in addition to private institutions
outside the contract, is the Free Institute of Journalism, designed to
train conservative journalists, and notably involving Geoffroy Lejeune
(editor-in-chief of the JDD, formerly of Valeurs actuelles). But also
anti-abortion associations like Maman Vogue, and a myriad of more or
less radical Catholic initiatives. This is in line with the Charter of
the Common Good, which advocates a Christian, anti-progressive, and
pro-natalist policy.
Over the years, the event has grown considerably. The last edition was
held in December 2024 at the Olympia, raising EUR1.4 million. But beyond
the money, these events are also veritable incubators serving to
strengthen far-right networks and consolidate its unity.
Validate
[1]In 2015, while headmaster of Notre-Dame-des-Aydes in Blois,
Jean-Cyrille Péroteau canceled the movie screening organized by Ciné'fil
showing Pride by Matthew Warchus and was criticized by SOS Homophobie:
see Anne Richoux, "Hide this film that I cannot see," La Nouvelle
République, Loir-et-Cher edition, January 14, 2015; Julien Massillon,
"Why a school principal banned students from seeing 'Pride'," Komitid,
January 16, 2015.
[2]See the Court of Auditors report of October 20, 2020, devoted to SOS
Education and citing the Foundation for Schools several times.
[3]Thomas Lemahieu, "Project Pericles: the document that says it all
about Pierre-Édouard Stérin's plan to install the National Rally in
power," L'Humanité; see also the series "Pierre-Édouard Stérin, patron
saint of the French far right".
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Projet-PERICLES-Sterin-met-la-main-sur-le-sud-Loir-et-Cher
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Identitarians, Christians, Liberals, Europeans, Sovereignists), unveiled
in the summer of 2024 by L'Humanité[3], is seeing a new manifestation
this fall. The opening of a non-contractual establishment in
Nouan-Le-Fuzelier, in the heart of Sologne, with the unstated aim of
training future leaders of the (most) extreme right, is causing
controversy. For the past ten years, the fundamentalist movement has
been opening numerous establishments, often non-contractual, throughout
France, particularly in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region. Last year, the
proposed consolidation of the "works" of the fundamentalist Priestly
Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) in Chanceaux-sur-Choisille, north of
Tours, sparked enough fears to be monitored by the Prefecture... which,
however, allowed it to proceed.
Class Separatism
Until recently, the Fondation pour l'école, created in 2008 and a
multiple winner of the Nuit du Bien Commun (see box), was in charge. It
contributed more than EUR50 million between 2008 and 2020 (according to
its website) to so-called "free" projects and schools, meaning those
outside the school system. From now on, Stérin is no longer content with
merely funding, but is launching his own project with the Saint-Louis
Academies: these are supported by the Catholic Family Associations,
Saint-Joseph Education - whose charter for comprehensive education he
adopts - and... the Foundation for Schools!
The Saint-Louis Academy in Chalès, a Catholic single-sex school
advocated by its highly homophobic director Jean-Cyrille Péroteau[1],
was approved by the rectorate on July 18, a late date for a September
start. The school, whose captaincy system is inspired by the houses of
the ultra-select Eton College, plans to accommodate around sixty
students at an annual cost of between EUR4,500 and EUR14,500, depending
on the family income! With the medium-term plan to open one academy per
region, the goal is obviously elitist, given that secondary education
has approximately 5.65 million students. Add in the funding of the
school group's management association from "generous donors" (using our
taxes thanks to tax deductions[2]) such as Stérin (the main donor), and
the circle is complete. In short, a new stage in "the colonization of
Sologne by the ultra-rich," as Jean-Baptiste Forray describes in Les
nouveaux seigneurs (Les Arènes, 2024).
Some voices are nevertheless being raised against the project.
"Philanthropy does not rhyme with democracy": this is the summary of the
July 8 letter sent to the rector, the prefect, and the public
prosecutor. Signed by several dozen organizations and 160 public
figures, the two-page letter opposing the school's opening details the
foreseeable dangers and the deceptions deployed to deceive the education
authority, which is not its first problematic case.
Demonstration on May 6, 2025, in Tours against the Night of the Common Good.
Nico (UCL Tours)
A reactionary agenda
The private, non-contractual school group of La Martinerie, located in
Déols (north of Châteauroux), is a textbook case. This excerpt from the
March 2022 inspection report applies perfectly to the Chalès project,
which nevertheless has the full support of the mayor of
Nouan-Le-Fuzelier: "The total lack of diversity, the perceived
backwardness, and the prevalence of religion keep students in a closed
environment that does not allow them to develop their critical thinking
or form their own opinions." Despite the still-fresh Bétharram scandal,
the rectorate services nevertheless said yes without reservation. It may
be that the very aggressive legal methods specific to the fundamentalist
movement (from Stérin to the FSSPX) put pressure on the National
Education services. Nevertheless, it is above all an openly political
choice that was made in an academy seriously corrupted by a rapidly
expanding network of non-contractual establishments. After the scandal
surrounding the Nuits du Bien commun, the Stérin nebula would probably
have been less aggressive, even if, obviously, the opening of this first
establishment is a crash test not to be missed. However, radio silence
from the Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher, while the Gers Prefecture issued an
order on April 8 to close until the end of the year a non-contractual
school training in "Catholic counter-revolution." This summer, the
Transmissio association, which organizes "holidays with the good Lord"
at the Chalès estate, is part of this same movement. Two conferences
with evocative titles are planned for this event: "Natural Law and the
Challenge of Secularism" and "The Trap of Secularism." Is the prefecture
waiting for a return to these events before finally taking action?
Nico (UCL Tours)
THE NIGHT OF THE COMMON GOOD: WELL-ORDERED CHARITY...
Founded in 2017 by businessmen Pierre-Édouard Stérin, Stanislas Billot
de Lochner, and Thibault Farrenq, the Night of the Common Good is an
endowment fund that describes itself as "the springboard for
associations building the future." In reality, it is a philanthropic
organization connecting wealthy conservatives with initiatives whose
ideological foundations range from conservatism to the outright far
right. Since 2021, its president has included Louis de Bourbon, the
staunch royalist claimant to the French throne. Since the fund is
recognized as "of public interest," it allows donors to benefit from a
tax deduction of 66% of their donation.
Among the projects supported, in addition to private institutions
outside the contract, is the Free Institute of Journalism, designed to
train conservative journalists, and notably involving Geoffroy Lejeune
(editor-in-chief of the JDD, formerly of Valeurs actuelles). But also
anti-abortion associations like Maman Vogue, and a myriad of more or
less radical Catholic initiatives. This is in line with the Charter of
the Common Good, which advocates a Christian, anti-progressive, and
pro-natalist policy.
Over the years, the event has grown considerably. The last edition was
held in December 2024 at the Olympia, raising EUR1.4 million. But beyond
the money, these events are also veritable incubators serving to
strengthen far-right networks and consolidate its unity.
Validate
[1]In 2015, while headmaster of Notre-Dame-des-Aydes in Blois,
Jean-Cyrille Péroteau canceled the movie screening organized by Ciné'fil
showing Pride by Matthew Warchus and was criticized by SOS Homophobie:
see Anne Richoux, "Hide this film that I cannot see," La Nouvelle
République, Loir-et-Cher edition, January 14, 2015; Julien Massillon,
"Why a school principal banned students from seeing 'Pride'," Komitid,
January 16, 2015.
[2]See the Court of Auditors report of October 20, 2020, devoted to SOS
Education and citing the Foundation for Schools several times.
[3]Thomas Lemahieu, "Project Pericles: the document that says it all
about Pierre-Édouard Stérin's plan to install the National Rally in
power," L'Humanité; see also the series "Pierre-Édouard Stérin, patron
saint of the French far right".
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Projet-PERICLES-Sterin-met-la-main-sur-le-sud-Loir-et-Cher
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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