According to media reports, the priest made fun of the religions represented on the island in his sermon. "I don't believe in this fat, seated man with a beautiful belly who is called Buddha," said the priest from Sainte-Suzanne, Jean-Francois Laco.

Buddha figures should, therefore, not be used as decoration. "That doesn't bring peace, but rather disorder," he emphasised.

The video, published on social media and ironically captioned "Living together on Réunion," sparked controversial debates and comments.

The video reached over 180,000 views and hundreds of comments within a few hours. Some users were shocked by "such unacceptable and hateful remarks" from a priest, while others did not understand the controversy.

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