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Polish PM ready to accept controversial statue
Beata Szydlo tells national news agency that country would be willing to take Morbihan town's 8m statue of Pope John Paul II 'to save it from censorship'
The Prime Minister of Poland has intervened in a row that has erupted over a statue of Pope John Paul II in the Brittany town of Ploërmel.
Beata Szydlo told Polish news agency Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP) that the pope's home country would be willing to accept the statue and put it on display.
As reported, France’s top administrative court the Conseil d’Etat ruled that a cross must be removed from the statue as it is a religious symbol and breaks France's 1905 law of separation of Church and State. The rest of the statue, including an arch over the figure of the Pope, can remain in place.
The eight-metre statue has been on public view in a square in the Morbihan for 10 years - but authorities must now remove the cross within six months. It was donated to the town by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli.
The Conseil d'Etat's ruling prompted an outcry on social media, 20 Minutes reports.
"The Polish government will try to save a monument to our compatriot from censorship, and we will propose to transfer it to Poland, if agreed by the French authorities and the local community," Mr Szydlo told PAP.
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He added John-Paul II "is a symbol of united Christian Europe".
