Crowds gathered in the French coastal town of Saint-Tropez to bid a final farewell to actress Brigitte Bardot.
The casket bearing Bardot, who died Dec. 28 at the age of 91, arrived at Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church to applause from well-wishers and fans of the famed actress who retired from acting in 1973 to dedicate her life to animal rights activism.
After her death, tributes poured in from notable figures in France, including Bishop François Touvet of Fréjus-Toulon, who recognized the former actress as “an icon of French cinema” who “defined an entire era.”
“In this Christmas season, as we celebrate the coming of God into our world, we pray to him and ask him to welcome Brigitte into his eternal kingdom of peace and light,” Bishop Touvet wrote in a statement posted on Facebook Dec. 29.
According to Le Figaro, Father Jean-Paul Gouarin, pastor of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, presided over the Jan. 7 funeral. He avoided speaking about Bardot’s worldly fame and instead focused on love and the hope of eternal life.
“I do not know how many among us believe in eternal life,” Father Gouarin said to those present at the funeral, which included figures in both French cinema and politics. “Many believe that it is finished. Well no. And that is precisely what must motivate us, what must invite us to fulfill ourselves as best as possible.”
“Of course, you may tell me, ‘But what proof do we have? I do not know people who have gone to the other side and come back,'” he added. “I only know the word of Christ, who tells us: ‘I go to prepare a place for you,’ and we are here to pray that Brigitte has a place. The essential thing is that she has her place. The essential thing is that she is there.”
In a 2024 interview with Aleteia, Bardot said that although she was no longer “a practicing member,” her Catholic roots remained a part of her life.
“I have a deep devotion to the one I call ‘my little Virgin.’ I don’t like the idea of going through an intermediary to address her, so I speak to her directly,” she said.
Throughout her life, Bardot courted controversy due to her outspoken support of far-right policies. According to France 24, the actress-turned-animal rights activist was fined five times by French courts between 1997 and 2008 for inciting racial hatred due to remarks disparaging Muslims in the country.
She was married to Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to the National Rally, the French far-right party led by Marine Le Pen, who was present at the funeral.
A self-described “traditionalist,” Bardot was critical of the ordinary form of the Mass celebrated in the Catholic Church, saying that it was “a shame that it’s been modernized” and that the current way Mass is celebrated gave the “impression of a theatrical performance.”
A rebel not only in the acting world but also the faith world, she was also critical of the late Pope Francis, telling Aleteia that she had “no admiration whatsoever for what Pope Francis says or does.”
“I wrote to the pope twice, happy to learn that he was taking the name Francis and convinced that he would do something for animals. I never received a reply,” she said.
After the funeral Mass, Bardot was buried in a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Saint-Tropez town hall, as reported by The Associated Press. She treated the iconic celebrity spot in southern France as her refuge from the world that made her a name recognized by millions.
