France: Rouen Cathedral Catches Fire

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Facts

• The covering of a spire of a Gothic cathedral located in the French city of Rouen, Normandy, caught fire on Thursday, with minimal damage reported as the blaze was extinguished early in the afternoon.¹
• The local prefecture posted online images showing dark smoke rising from scaffolding at the top of the Our Lady of the Assumption cathedral, with the local fire chief saying 70 firefighters and 40 fire engines arrived to put the fire out.²
• The prefecture also said there were no casualties, and a perimeter was set up around the scene. Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol further detailed that the 'origin' of the fire remains unclear.³
• The Rouen cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, was built over several centuries. The 495-foot-tall (150m) was reportedly the tallest building in the world between 1876 and 1880.²
• This isn't the first time that the cathedral painted by Claude Monet over 30 times in the early 1890s has been damaged. Allied bombardments severely harmed the building during World War II, and Vikings destroyed an earlier building in 841.¹
• This incident follows the destructive fire in the roof of the landmark Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in 2019, which is due to officially reopen in December.²

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²BBC News and ³Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Ctif. From cathedrals in France to Denmark's stock exchange in Copenhagen, historic buildings are extremely prone to fires. While smaller buildings are most at risk, even massive cathedrals like Notre Dame are vulnerable due to their wooden roofs. Most remarkable is that due to their lack of modern fire-resistant technology, some estimate that one historic building catches fire every day.
• Narrative B, as provided by Religion Unplugged. While accidental fires receive global coverage, the media refuse to cover the far more sinister rise in vandalism against Catholic churches. Attacks are on the rise in France, the US, and, most terrifyingly, in Canada, where almost 100 churches have been vandalized and burned down since the announcement of the discovery of mass graves near a residential school in 2021. Catholic churches deserve protection as much as anything else.

Predictions