Yet another French chuirch has been hit by a devastating arson attack. A huge fire destroyed the belfry, roof and framework of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer near Calais in northern of France at the start of September.
Around 120 firemen tackled the huge blaze, saving some of the mid-19th century, neo-gothic church’s inner furnishings but not the organ. The church had undergone a thorough restoration and reopened in 2018.
Fr. Sébastien Roussel,the local parish priest was given permission to enter the burning building to grab the most important works of art.
“There were no listed historic works,” he later told La Voix du Nord. “But I wanted to evacuate the Blessed Sacrament! And also the reliquary bust of Saint Cornelius,” he explained.
He was able to go on to salvage a number of statues, including one of Our Lady in front of which the local faithful would come to pray. Unlike many churches in de-Christianised France, many of the services at this much-loved church attract upwards of 300 people.
The only suspect at present, Joël Vigoureux was arrested Monday evening and questioned by police. Vigoureux, 38, who has previously set fire or attempted to set fire to as many as 15 churches and been found guilty of 10 attacks on property and Catholic buildings, had only recently been freed from prison.
The rap-loving, 'anti-racist', leftist vagrant has a deep hatred of the Catholic church, as well as long-term mental problems.
This is a clear example of “anti-Christian” hatred, or “racism” as it is legally named in France.
The French “General Alliance against Racism and for the Respect of French and Christian Identity,” known as AGRIF, is going to submit a request as a civil party to the trial in order to represent the interests of Catholics.
According to the Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux, 27 churches were damaged by fire in France in 2023 and 12 during the first six months of this year. Some of these fires are due to accidental causes, but in a number of cases, arsonists have been to blame. In previous incidents, young local Satanists have been found guilty of arson and of other acts of anti-Christian vandalism.
Attacks have also been perpetrated by Islamists. Back in July a 19th-century church in Paris, Notre-Dame-du-Travail (Our Lady of Work), was sprayed with graffiti including “Submit to Allah, infidels, pray 5 times a day” and “Bast … Jesus, only one god Allah.” The church’s organ was destroyed. While the arson attack failed, a statue of the Virgin Mary was found in a sink in a room next to the church with a kitchen knife through its neck and blasphemous inscriptions.
There were nearly 1.000 officially registered ant-religious incidents in France in 2023 alone. 90 percent of these targeted churches or Christian cemeteries, according to the French Ministry of the Interior.