Far-right writer kills self in Paris's Notre Dame 
 
 PARIS — A far-right writer and activist shot himself dead in front of the altar of Paris's famed Notre Dame Cathedral, leaving statements denouncing gay marriage and immigration. 
 
 Police confirmed the man's identity as Dominique Venner, 78, an essayist and activist linked with France's far-right and nationalist group. 
 
 They said he had shot himself with a pistol shortly after 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) Tuesday and the cathedral, which at the time contained about 1,500 people, was then evacuated without incident. 
 
 Venner left a message, which was read out by a friend after his death on the conservative station Radio Courtoisie, and a final essay on his website. 
 
 They denounced both the recently passed law legalising gay marriage and immigration from Africa. 
 
 "I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us," he said in the message read out on the radio. 
 
 "I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences." 
 
 Venner's suicide was hailed by Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National (FN), as a political gesture. 
 
 "All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France," Le Pen said on Twitter, though she added later that "it is in life and hope that France will renew and save itself". 
 
 Cathedral rector Monsignor Patrick Jacquin told AFP that Venner had laid a letter on the altar before killing himself. A police source said the letter contained similar writings to those on Venner's website. 
 
 "We did not know him, he was not a regular at the cathedral," Jacquin said, adding that he believed it was the first time anyone had committed suicide inside the cathedral. 
 
 Jacquin said masses had been cancelled and that church officials would hold a vigil later on Tuesday. 
 
 "We will pray for this man, as for so many others at their end," he said. "This is terrible, we are thinking of him and his family." 
 
 In a final essay on his website, Venner railed against France's adoption of a "vile law" legalising gay marriage and adoption. It finally became law on Saturday after months of bitter political protests from the right. 
 
 Venner also denounced immigration from north Africa which, he said, was the real "peril", calling on activists to take measures to protect "French and European identities". 
 
 In what appeared to be a reference to his suicide, Venner wrote: "There will certainly need to be new, spectacular, symbolic gestures to shake off the sleepiness... and re-awaken the memories of our origins." 
 
 "We are reaching a time when words must be backed up with acts," he added. 
 
 Venner had a long career publishing right-wing essays, military histories and books on weaponry and hunting. 
 
 He was a soldier during France's war in Algeria and was a member of the OAS (Secret Armed Organisation), a short-lived paramilitary group that opposed Algeria's independence from France. 
 
 Venner's publisher, Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, said his next book due in June was titled "A Western Samurai". 
 
 He said the writer's death had "an extremely strong symbolic power that approximates (Yukio) Mishima," the radical right-wing Japanese author who committed ritual suicide in 1970. 
 
 Mishima had likely been an inspiration for Venner's suicide, Gollnisch, a Japan expert, added. 
 
 Mishima, considered one of modern Japan's most important authors, killed himself in a dramatic, samurai-style disembowelment at a Self Defense Force camp in Tokyo at age 45 in a political protest. 
 
 Minutes before his suicide he addressed the troops, condemning the post-war pacifist constitution and lamenting the decadence of modern Japan. He called on soldiers to rise up to build a nation with the emperor at its core. 
 
 The Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral on an islet on the River Seine is one of the most visited sites in Paris, attracting 13.6 million visitors in 2011, and is this year celebrating its 850th anniversary. 
 
 Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has hailed Tuesday’s suicide of a far right activist opposed to gay marriage as an "eminently political act". Dominique Venner shot himself at Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, filled with 1,500 visitors at the time. 
 
 The suicide of a writer and right wing activist at the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Tuesday has been hailed as a political act by leaders of France’s far-right National Front party. 
 
 Dominique Venner, an author of many history essays that often decried immigration in France and the decline of European civilizations, shot himself in front of the altar of the famous church in the early afternoon. 
 
 Police sources said Venner pulled out a pistol and put it in his mouth, before pulling the trigger. 
 
 A photo of Dominique Venner posted on his website 
 
 The day before, Venner had left a final essay on his website that suggested his dramatic suicide was intended as a protest against both the recent passing of a bill legalizing gay marriage in France and immigration from Africa. 
 
 He also left a message that was read out after his suicide on the conservative station Radio Courtoisie. 
 
 "I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us," he said in the radio message. 
 
 "I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences." 
 
 Venner’s suicide was later hailed as a political gesture by National Front leader Marine Le Pen. 
 
 "All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France," Le Pen said on Twitter, though she added later that "it is in life and hope that France will renew and save itself". 
 
 Bruno Gollnisch, a senior National Front figure and member of the European Parliament also paid tribute to Venner, referring to him as an “extremely brilliant intellectual”. 
 
 "I think his dramatic gesture is a protest against the decadence of our society," Gollnisch told BFM TV. 
 
 In a final essay on his website, Venner railed against France's adoption of a "vile law" legalising gay marriage and adoption. 
 
 French interior minister Manuel Valls comments on suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral 
 
 The gay marriage bill has sparked numerous protests in France, with many on the right bitterly opposed to the act. The bill was finally signed into law by President François Hollande on Sunday. 
 
 Venner also denounced immigration from North Africa which, he said, was the real "peril", calling on activists to take measures to protect "French and European identities". 
 
 In what appeared to be a reference to his suicide, Venner wrote: "There will certainly need to be new, spectacular, symbolic gestures to shake off the sleepiness... and re-awaken the memories of our origins." 
 
 "We are reaching a time when words must be backed up with acts," he added. 
 
 Venner fought for France in the 1954-62 Algerian War of Independence and was a member of the OAS (Secret Armed Organisation), a short-lived paramilitary group that opposed Algeria's independence from France. 
 
 He went on to have a long career publishing right-wing essays, military histories and books on weaponry and hunting. 
 
 Notre Dame, which this year is celebrating its 850th anniversary, is one of France’s top tourist attractions, with 13.6 million visitors passing through its doors in 2011. 
 
 The cathedral contained around 1,500 visitors at the time of the suicide, all of whom were then evacuated without incident, said France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who visited Notre Dame following the incident. 
 
 “I can only imagine the shock for these people, both faithful and tourists,” he said. 
 
 “Notre Dame … is one of the biggest symbols of the capital and the country and we can only imagine the impact that this [act] will have.” 
 
 It was the second dramatic suicide in less than a week in Paris, after a 50-year-old man with a history of family problems shot himself dead Thursday in a primary school near the Eiffel Tower, in front of about a dozen stunned children. 
 
 (FRANCE 24 with wires)
– The suicide of a far-right writer/activist at Paris' Notre Dame yesterday is being hailed as a "political act" by other far-right leaders. Dominique Venner, who shot himself in front of an estimated 1,500 people inside the vaunted cathedral, had posted a final essay on his website decrying both the country's recent legalization of gay marriage and immigration from Africa, reports the AFP. The 78-year-old left a letter containing similar statements at the altar before killing himself, says a police source. Venner also left a message that a friend read on a conservative radio station. A sample: "I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us. ... I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences." On Twitter, National Front party leader Marine Le Pen praised Venner. "All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France," she wrote. Another senior National Front figure and member of the European Parliament also hailed the "dramatic gesture," and called Venner an "extremely brilliant intellectual," France 24 reports. He noted the death was likely inspired by that of right-wing Japanese author Yukio Mishima, who committed ritual seppuku in 1970 as an act of political protest.