A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #363 - Antifascism - PERICLES Project: Stérin Takes Control of Southern Loir-et-Cher (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

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
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