The Hero With A Backpack
Henri d'Anselme On Fighting The Spiritual Battle To Save The West
In France they call him “the Hero With A Backpack.” In 2023, on a pilgrimage around the country to visit its cathedrals, Henri d’Anselme happened upon a park in the Alpine town of Annecy, when he saw a man attacking children and elderly people with a knife.
D’Anselme, who was carrying two backpacks, rushed towards the knife-wielding assailant, a Syrian refugee, swinging one of his packs in an attempt to stop him. Video of the scene shows d’Anselme chasing the Syrian away from the children. He and others there surrounded the Muslim until police arrived. Four toddlers were stabbed, and two pensioners — but no one died. In gratitude, French president Emmanuel Macron awarded d’Anselme the Legion d’Honneur.
I met d’Anselme, now 26, in Rome at the annual meeting of the Christian Creative Minority Program, a training weekend for young European Christians, teaching them how to be more engaged in public life as faithful believers. D’Anselme, a native of suburban Paris, spoke to me of that terrible day in Annecy, and what he believes is not only his mission, but the mission of his generation, to recover the faith in Europe. This interview has been edited for length and clarity:
Rod Dreher: Why were you in Annecy that day?
Henri d’Anselme: I was realizing one of my greatest childhood dreams. I wanted to go through all the cathedrals of France. I wanted an adventure, first of all. Second, I wanted to give an homage to Notre Dame de Paris. And third, I wanted to show to everybody the beauty of our cultural and spiritual heritage of the stones. The stones show us something. It was starting to be forgotten, but then the fire at Notre Dame reminded everybody that we have these treasures all over France. They all reveal the same message.
I was going on foot and hitchhiking for nine months. I arrived in Annecy two and a half months after my departure. Annecy is such a peaceful city. I was going through the central park of the city, when I saw a man stabbing little children at a playground. I knew I had to do something. I had three option: I flee, I film, or I act. I decided to act, certainly helped by God.
In my head were two images, instantaneously, pushing me to act. The first one was St. Michael the Archangel. The second one was a French policeman, Arnaud Bertrame [a French gendarme murdered by an Islamic terrorist after exchanging himself for a hostage in 2018]. I thought, he did it, I have to do it.
I ran at him swinging my backpack. He tried to stab me. We missed each other. Then he tried to stab the children in front of me. I ran after him, and threw my bag at him. I was the first to react, but I was not alone. With a few more people, we made a circle around him to trap him, and then the police arrived. There was blood everywhere, with children laying on the ground. No one died, thanks to holy Mary.
Seeing the blood, I knew there was only one thing left to do: to pray. I went on my knees, but I was in shock. Then we were taken by police, and I had to give my testimony. I spent three hours testifying about only six minutes of action. I was in shock for maybe a week.
I left the police station to go to my aunt in Annecy. Then I noticed my phone started ringing every thirty seconds. That’s how I found out that the video had gone on Twitter. At that time I had an Instagram account documenting my cathedral journey, with 12,000 followers. So people recognized me. I decided then that I didn’t want to be on the news. I had been a journalist before, and know how the machine works.
But late at night, talking with friends and my parents, I understood that maybe this was God giving me the opportunity to speak the truth and give a message. In three days, I made what seemed like thousands of interviews. It was very intense.
They all wanted to know who I was, and why I reacted. I told them I am only a Catholic French guy. I didn’t mention it to you, but the Syrian guy stabbing children was carrying a cross in his left hand, and was crying out, “In the name of Jesus Christ!” He was not a Christian. Personally, I think he was totally possessed. I looked into his eyes.
Anyway, I told them I was basically a Catholic guy who reacted as all Frenchmen would react if he had been nourished by the beauty of what is great in our country, and our heritage.
RD: What is the connection between loving beauty and heritage, and your reaction?
HD: Because only if we can understand beauty, love, and truth, can we fight evil. I had been going through the south of France for two months, being received with joy in ordinary households, where I knocked seeking a bed. Because I was nourished by all that, I had only one choice to react. I cannot stand for evil when it’s in front of me.
All of the journalists were wanting to know who I thought I was to talk like this on national TV. They demanded to know who I was voting for. I told them it’s not their concern. At the end of the day, there was a prayer vigil in Annecy to pray for the victims, with the bishop. I remember an old lady on a bike trying to reach me. She said I want to thank you for what you have done, but more specifically for what you have said [in the media] this morning. I understood from that moment that my mission is to give my testimony, and to tell people that if we have such beauty in France, this is a call to action today, a call to witness, a call to leadership, a call to action.
RD: What did you tell President Macron?
HD: I asked him if I could be there for the re-opening of Notre Dame. He said yes, and he kept his word. I was in the VIP area, two meters behind Donald Trump. It was a crazy experience! I understood something really, really cool there. I had this weird experience of all the biggest political leaders in all the Western world, going in the cathedral to pray. We were all at the same level. Nobody was higher than anybody else. There was Trump, princes, kings, our president, Elon Musk, big donors, but there were also nobodies — ordinary parishioners from all over France, chosen randomly. It was like we were all at the same ground, and only one person was above us: Holy Mary, with the big statue.
So, on that day in 2024, it’s a big thing that all the Western world was praying together to honor Holy Mary, even if not everybody understood what they were doing, they were here. That’s the real witness of the Western world: for us all to be together, in prayer. I made a promise to God and to Holy Mary that I will fight all my life to get this back.
RD: How have you been living that mission?
HD: So, two months ago I started a YouTube channel. I propose to show to French people the beauty of our cultural heritage in France and in Europe, and to make them see a message of leadership. I also wrote a book, and I’m writing two other books. I’m trying to get involved in the cinema world. I really think that before going into politics, we must convert the hearts and minds of people. Cinema is the best way to do that, I think.
I know the first part of my life will be a cultural fight, and the second part of my life will be a political fight. I feel a real call from God to do this. It came to me in prayer, when I was 17. I felt a deep, deep call to action, and to take part in the great fight. Maybe one day I will go into the political field, but now is not the time. I want to have a family first, and to gain experience.
RD: What is the political nature of the fight?
HD: You have to understand France is weird. We are always saying politics and religion are very separate fields, but in fact, it is totally merged. The French man cannot understand politics without a certain spiritual dimension, and he cannot understand spirituality without a political dimension. This is our heritage from monarchy. The fight now is mainly a spiritual fight, and that’s why the demon is so powerful in France. He wants to destroy religion and spirituality in France, because he cannot destroy politics in the country without destroying religion.
RD: But France is an atheist country.
HD: No. I don’t think so. People may say that, but as you have said, the main danger for my generation is not atheism, but occultism. I think [atheism] is something for the older generation in France. When I was traveling through France, I saw a lot of joy, especially with young men, rediscovering the Catholic faith. Even though if they don’t complete the journey, they are at least starting again to love the Church. The media are trying to destroy the Church, but the more they try, the more people love the Church.
RD: In the US, we are seeing a particular move of young men toward church. What is it about men?
HD: I think it is because men have a sense for life. Young women will be converted by men, I think. It is in the nature of a man to give his life for something. If the world has no meaning, we are lost. Women can manage to live in that world, but men can’t, because we want to give our lives for something. It’s deeply rooted in our nature, so we are more able to understand what is the message of Christ.
Young men in France really want to regain strength and virility. We are fed up with feminism.
RD: I think so much popular Christianity has become feminized, bourgeois, and boring. I think young men are seeking a Christianity that is more heroic.
HD: Yes, and that’s why the traditional Latin mass is really successful with young men. I am a traditionalist. I was raised by my parents and grandparents to fight hard for the traditional Latin mass. But I am part of a generation when the issue is not to fight for a liturgy. The purpose is to fight for the transmission of faith. So I have no problem going to both the Novus Ordo and the traditional Latin mass. I prefer the Latin mass, but I don’t care what kind of liturgy it is, as long as the priest really believes what he’s doing, and people are being converted. I am part of a generation we call “tradismatic” — a mix of traditionalist and charismatic.
RD: Where did you get this dream to make a pilgrimage to France’s cathedrals?
HD: It was a childhood dream. I wanted to discover my country, and really understand it. I wanted to understand the different cultures of France, to learn to love them, and maybe have some responsibility. Going to cathedrals is the perfect pretext.
RD: Why is it important to become aware of the Christian message embedded in things like the stones of cathedrals?
HD: I think for two reasons. The first one is that our ancestors deeply knew what they were doing. We only build a civilization if we have the energy to do so, and the energy to transmit it. To build beautiful castles and cathedrals is like giving a gift to future generations as a material incarnation of our civilization, so that the future generations can receive it, maintain it, and transmit it — and maybe augment it. The specificity of western European civilization is transcendence. Cathedrals are the perfect example of this. They are the house of God, and because they are the house of God, they are also the house of the people.
You know this medieval mentality, in a church, everybody goes through the same door: the king and the poor. And nobody can be armed in a church. A bad guy can ask for sanctuary in a church. It’s a House of God mentality: everyone is equal.
The second reason is the idea of transcendence. You know, when we rebuilt Notre Dame de Paris, the guy leading the work was a Catholic general. He understood what the purpose of the reconstruction. When I’m contemplating the new spire of Notre Dame rising in the sky over Paris, I see it is also like a finger pointing to heaven, telling us we have to raise our eyes and began to search for God. That’s exactly what our ancestors wanted to say to us. Cathedrals are a bridge between heaven and earth.
RD: Is Western civilization under threat?
HD: Yes. Western civilization as we know it today is going to collapse — and that’s good news. It’s good news because this is not a Catholic civilization anymore, not Christian anymore. But we have this promise that God made us 1,500 years ago, when he gave us a king, when Clovis was baptized [in the late 5th century]. I think God will not abandon us, and we will see a new, truly Christian civilization — and my generation will be the one to see it. It’s going to happen!
RD: Do you think there will be a civil war?
HD: The civil war is already here. What happened to me in Annecy is a testimony of civil war. A migrant stabbing children is an act of war. What proportion the war will be, I don’t know, but I’m really convinced that the people of France have to go through a really deep spiritual and material crisis to be reborn. We are already in the spiritual crisis, but we are starting to resolve it. But we are beginning to go through the material crisis.
Right now there’s a lot of political debate over the debt. The government will soon fall, and everybody will go crazy. But I’m convinced we have to go through that, and it’s good news, because what we have now is shit. Catholics have to be prepared to offer a new model of society. Your book [The Benedict Option] had a big success in France, because it made people realize that Catholics have to be ready for what’s coming after.
For me, I am full of hope for my country, for Europe, and for the world. I think my job is to make France understand that we need Europe, and to make European people realize that France has a special mission in Europe and in the world. I am really convinced that France has to be the first country that will get back on its Christian feet. If France will do so, then Europe will do so, and if Europe will do so, the world will do so.
RD: A lot of Americans never pay attention to Europe. What would you say to an American, especially an American Christian, about why he should care about Europe’s fate?
HD: Go to France, go to Europe, and visit cathedrals, and you will understand. Try to understand the deep meaning of this places, and you will understand. It’s not just beauty, but beauty with meaning. It’s not just aesthetically pleasing, but it is an experience of the soul.
Second, I would say you, American, are a young civilization. Maybe you are good luck for Europe, because you have a really fresh view on the world. You are able to give us energy to do projects. Europeans carry a heavy weight of history on our shoulders. We can be quite immobilized because of it. We need your American energy to build our civilization back.
But because you are a young country, you have to start to build real beauty in your country. You need to build truly beautiful cathedrals. You need real Christian art. If you only stay on the material level, you will disappear, just as we will. Only if you build spiritual incarnations of your civilization will you survive.
Third, don’t be stupid. Don’t consider other civilizations that you are fighting as a stupid civilization. I’m talking about Russia. We really need Russian civilization to get back true Christian values to save the world. You Americans have a great responsibility in that. That’s why I’m happy to see Trump trying to make peace with Russia. Russia is not your enemy. I understand the geopolitical reasons you are fighting, but you shouldn’t consider the Russians as stupid, or your enemy. They are your opponent right now, but not your enemy. Russia is a key point for Europe, and you have to understand that.
Christianity has two blocs. You’re Orthodox, you know that. There is Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. Russia is Eastern Christianity. If we want the whole world to know Jesus, Western and Eastern Christianity have to be together. So we have to stop fighting each other.
RD: How should we think about migration? Pope Francis said we have to open the doors wide. What do you think?
HD: There is a lie. Cardinal [Robert] Sarah [of Guinea] said it very well: how our Western elites are lying to the African countries, telling them that Western countries are a paradise, you will be welcome, you will have money, you will be able to work. It’s a lie. We are not able to welcome anymore. We have to make a distinction between the personal and the national.
On a personal level, if a migrant stands in front of me, I have to help him, because he is in a difficult situation. But I have to help him after I have already helped the poor people of my own country. It’s the order of charity. It’s justice.
We have to stop lying to African people. They will not be able to work in our country. They will receive assistance, but too much assistance is ruining them. It is driving them to crazy stuff, like drugs, et cetera. I really think one day we will have to send a good part of them back to their country. It’s very hard for me to say that, but I think the devil is really using one civilization against another. He wants to destroy all civilizations, but today, he is using Islamic civilization against Christian civilization. It’s not crazy to say that.
RD: It’s simply a historical fact that since the beginning of Islam, it has been the civilizational enemy of Europe. This isn’t to say Muslims are bad people, only that they are very, very different — and they have been fighting Christian Europeans since the beginning. But we refuse to see it today.
HD: Totally different. During all of Europe’s history, they have tried to invade us by arms. Today they are trying to use our weakness to invade us by population transfer.
RD: Our compassion, our sentimentality.
HD: Yes. It’s a weapon, and they know it very well. We have to think like they are thinking, and be ready to fight back. And we will have to fight back.
RD: Last question. When I was in France in 2018 promoting the French edition of The Benedict Option, I noticed that Catholics of my generation — in my 50s — had real problems with the book, but younger Catholics eagerly accepted it. Why?
HD: Because your generation has known a Christian France. They have known a civilization where the Church is everywhere, where almost everybody was getting baptized. But my generation didn’t know that. So I’m not able to see what a Catholic France is. So maybe it’s easier for me to see that we no longer live in a Catholic country, and that we have to build communities. Your generation, and my grandparents’ generation, are really struggling to understand that. But my generation, we get it.
The history of my country shows us that God will never leave us. We can make a comparison between our time and the time of St. Joan of Arc [1412-1431]. There were Englishmen everywhere. No more unity in the kingdom. The king wasn’t even a king — he had only one city, and everybody was fighting each other. Then this young lady came to the king, and said “God will not leave you. God will be faithful.” Then began the most epic journey. It will happen to France again.
RD: You speak with such confidence!
HD: Yeah, because there can be no other way. God made a promise. God made a promise. And if there is only one person who believes in that promise, God will be there.
RD: Maybe you are that person?
HD: I am not alone. There are more and more of us. It will be hard. It will be very hard. But we have already won.
Follow Henri d’Anselme and his cathedral pilgrimages on Instagram here.
See also this amazing piece from Astral Star Codex of a book about St. Joan of Arc, and the miraculous aspects of her life and mission.
What strikes me here is d’Anselme’s optimism. Not naive optimism, but one that shines in the midst of a hard-edged realism.
“Western civilization as we know it today is going to collapse—and that’s good news.” Etc.
From the evidence, France’s young Catholics seem to be downright … joyful. Which is an interesting conundrum. France has been the very Mecca of smug cynicism for most of modernity, and is now clearly choking on its own sophisticated libertine bile. Yet these French Catholics, unlike many of us in the Anglosphere, radiate confidence and joy.
Surely it’s due mainly to grace. But I’m thinking it also might be cultural. In a negative sense. It might be due to a lesson they’ve learned from their compatriots. Watching their elders scoff and smirk and pout postmodernly, they’ve realized: “No, that’s not the way.”
Compare this to us. Our national culture tends to be upbeat and sunny, often in dumb ways. Meanwhile many American Christians (I’ll speak for myself) lean cynical—not the same kind of cynical that defines the French, but still certainly not *joyful*. Pessimistic, say.
Probably we could learn something from the young French Catholics. “Yeah, it’s gonna unwind. It’ll be ugly. But praised be the Lord.”
The young man reiterated what I mentioned in a recent post - we have to endure suffering & no matter how much we push back before things will change. This could take generations. It is on God’s schedule - not our timeline. I would not be shocked if folks in USA just consented to a form of tyranny via technology. We are already seeing this in the AI debate. The irony is that the more security we seek the more fragile we become & the more compliant we become. Again this is a recipe for oppression. Caio from Amalfi.