Authorities in France arrested a man in his 30s on Tuesday in connection to the fire that destroyed a historic Catholic church in northern France earlier this week.
Footage circulated on social media showing flames engulfing the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the town of Saint-Omer near Calais at approximately 4:30 a.m. local time on Monday, according to Le Monde.
The blaze caused the church’s bell tower to collapse, which was also shown in the viral video.
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Approximately 120 firefighters responded to the incident and contained the blaze, which caused no injuries but collapsed the church’s bell tower. Officials also said about 50 nearby residents were evacuated out of caution, Le Monde reported.
Is this definitely arson? https://t.co/QSzNGKfk3h
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
“My thoughts are with the Catholics and the people of Saint-Omer,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a post on X. “An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire.”
Authorities announced Tuesday that they arrested an unidentified man known to police “for similar acts” in the past, Saint-Omer prosecutor Mehdi Benbouzid told AFP. He said the suspect had been living in a hostel.
The investigation found signs of forced entry, including a broken stained-glass window, Benbouzid added, noting that he is considering a charge of “destruction of property by dangerous means.”
As footage of the fire went viral, social media promptly erupted with speculation that the fire was another example of the spate of arson attacks against French churches in recent years.
Among those raising the question was X CEO Elon Musk, who wrote, “Is this definitely arson?”
The neo-Gothic Church of the Immaculate Conception was completed in 1859 and restored in 2018. The fire comes weeks after another blaze engulfed Rouen’s historic cathedral on July 11 in a scene reminiscent of the fire that caused catastrophic damage to the iconic Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019.
According to the L’Observatoire de la Christianophobie — or the Observatory of Christianophobia, which is a Paris-based organization that documents and highlights anti-Christian acts around the world — acts of arson and other crimes against churches have been on the rise in recent years.
After Monday’s fire and the Rouen cathedral fire in July, a diagram went viral on social media that purported to show the many alleged acts of vandalism against churches in France. Reuters reports that the post was misleading because it also included acts of theft and vandalism.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
