Arson suspected after fire at French Catholic cathedral

Arson is suspected by investigators after a fire broke out Thursday night at the Cathedral of Saint-Pol-de-Léon in what may be just the latest arson attack at a Roman Catholic church in France .

The fire reportedly broke out Thursday evening around 5:30 p.m. in the town of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, located on the northwest coast of France in the Brittany region.

A total of 13 firefighters arrived at the scene of the Saint-Paul-Aurélien cathedral, built in the 13th century, as well as local gendarmes, reports Ouest France.

According to the broadcaster, at least a dozen chairs were set on fire inside the historic cathedral, lit by candles and causing significant amounts of smoke in the building.

The mayor of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Stéphane Cloarec, said their fires appeared to have been set deliberately.

African migrant arrested after Nantes cathedral fire https://t.co/2DlEFky3da

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No one was injured as a result of the blaze and structural damage was reportedly minimal as the cathedral could reopen the following day.

Built between the 13th and 15th centuries, the cathedral has been listed as a historical monument in France since 1840. It was built on the site of an earlier wooden church believed to have been built in the 4th century.

The alleged arson is just the latest against a Catholic church in France and comes just a year after a 36-year-old man was suspected of setting fire to four different churches in October and November of last year in Boulogne and Portel.

Several other cathedrals in France have also been targeted by arsonists, including the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Rennes in 2020, which saw arsonists placing a large trash can near a side door of the cathedral and setting it on fire in an attempt to burn the cathedral. .

The same year in Nantes, a Rwandan migrant was arrested for having set fire to the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul cathedral, causing serious damage and destroying its great organ and its stained glass windows.

The same Rwandan, identified as Emmanuel Abayisenga, was again arrested the following year and charged with the murder of the Catholic priest Père Olivier Maire, whom he allegedly beat to death.

Last month, Abayisenga was finally charged with the murder after spending more than a year in a mental institution.

Arsonists attempt to set fire to Rennes Cathedral in France https://t.co/AjLBl68rsh

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