Authorities in France arrested a person in his 30s on Tuesday in connection to the hearth that destroyed a historic Catholic church in northern France earlier this week.
Footage circulated on social media exhibiting flames engulfing the Church of the Immaculate Conception within the city of Saint-Omer close to Calais at roughly 4:30 a.m. native time on Monday, in keeping with Le Monde.
The blaze triggered the church’s bell tower to break down, which was additionally proven within the viral video.
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Roughly 120 firefighters responded to the incident and contained the blaze, which triggered no accidents however collapsed the church’s bell tower. Officers additionally mentioned about 50 close by residents had been evacuated out of warning, Le Monde reported.
Is that this undoubtedly arson? https://t.co/QSzNGKfk3h
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
“My thoughts are with the Catholics and the people of Saint-Omer,” Inside Minister Gérald Darmanin mentioned in a submit on X. “An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire.”
Authorities introduced Tuesday that they arrested an unidentified man identified to police “for similar acts” prior to now, Saint-Omer prosecutor Mehdi Benbouzid informed AFP. He mentioned the suspect had been dwelling in a hostel.
The investigation discovered indicators of pressured entry, together with a damaged stained-glass window, Benbouzid added, noting that he’s contemplating a cost of “destruction of property by dangerous means.”
As footage of the hearth went viral, social media promptly erupted with hypothesis that the hearth was one other instance of the spate of arson assaults in opposition to French church buildings in recent times.
Amongst these elevating the query was X CEO Elon Musk, who wrote, “Is this definitely arson?”
The neo-Gothic Church of the Immaculate Conception was accomplished in 1859 and restored in 2018. The fireplace comes weeks after one other blaze engulfed Rouen’s historic cathedral on July 11 in a scene harking back to the hearth that triggered catastrophic injury to the long-lasting Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019.
In line with the L’Observatoire de la Christianophobie — or the Observatory of Christianophobia, which is a Paris-based group that paperwork and highlights anti-Christian acts all over the world — acts of arson and different crimes in opposition to church buildings have been on the rise in recent times.
After Monday’s hearth and the Rouen cathedral hearth in July, a diagram went viral on social media that purported to indicate the numerous alleged acts of vandalism in opposition to church buildings in France. Reuters stories that the submit was deceptive as a result of it additionally included acts of theft and vandalism.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Publish. Ship information tricks to [email protected]
“Well bless their hearts.”
