Eco-activists have re-entered the spotlight in recent years for some mysterious reason. While a portion of these protesters have garnered attention through silent protest, others have opted to grab headlines through more dramatic methods. For example, who could forget the climate activists who threw soup on a Van Gogh, or the other activists who glued themselves to another painting in London’s National Gallery?


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Not everyone is happy with these eco-protestors — especially this nun, who recently went viral after decking one of them.



The video, which was taken in Ardèche, France, starts by showing a protester running across a patch of land.


Then — what’s that? Is that the Lord and Savior’s music I hear? With a grunt, a local Biblical featherweight rookie — we’ll call her The Nun — enters the ring, downing the protester with a single heave. With moves like that, she’s well on her way to winning the coveted Belt of Truth.


While I would love for this to be a simple case of protester versus nun, it seems like the actual story is a bit more complicated. In short, a lot of people hate this construction project, which includes a basilica that holds around 3,500 people. Why? Because the whole thing is being helmed by a controversial sect of the Missionary Family of Notre Dame.


Investigators for Miviludes, the French government’s agency tasked with monitoring cults, have “identified several worrying testimonies which show that certain members of the Missionary Family are cut off from their family” and have “limited telephone calls and correspondence,” per HuffPost France. The sect also allegedly asked some people to work for free, which is a crime worthy of the death penalty in France.


Of course, the area where they are building is also home to a really cool plant that eco-activists would rather not be destroyed, hence the above video. Because of all of this controversy, both a local bishop and Rome have asked them to stop working on the basilica.


Nevertheless, the sect is continuing their work on the basilica. As one user on Reddit put it — you could say that, in regards to the protests, they’re having nun of it.