Two traditionalist friars have been arrested in France for setting ablaze one telephone pole and trying to destroy a second one to “protect the population” against what they believed were the harmful effects of the new 5G wireless network recently installed there.
The friars, 39 and 40 years old, owned up to their acts and were freed under judicial control. They could face trial for arson and criminal association, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of €150.000.
The case has proved embarrassing for the Capuchin community, which is linked to the ultra-traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX), said a member of the monastery at Villié-Morgon in the Beaujolais region north of Lyon.