by Heather Tomlinson, Premier Christianity
Churches are burning across Europe. But why?
A symbolic resurrection will take place in Paris in two weeks’ time when the Notre Dame Cathedral reopens, five years after the historic building was destroyed by fire.
This medieval icon is just one of hundreds of churches across the world to be engulfed in flames in recent years. There is growing evidence that some have been targeted due to hatred and bigotry towards Christians – even in Western countries. Known attackers include political extremists on both the left and right, Islamic radicals, and even satanists.
Of course, church fires have occurred throughout history due to war or the inevitable faults in old buildings with wooden construction. The 2019 blaze that destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral was officially declared accidental, while York Minster’s flames in 1984 were started by a lightning strike.
But concern is growing about deliberate arson, particularly in France, where a number of attacks have hit the headlines. A church steeple caught fire in Saint-Omer in northern France in September, with signs of forced entry. In 2016, a team of young jihadists attempted to set fire to Notre Dame Cathedral, but were caught and imprisoned, fuelling rumours that the 2019 fire was not accidental and the authorities were not honest about the cause.
This is why videos of church fires feature regularly on right wing social media, often with sarcastic comments such as “strange coincidence” or “I’m sure it’s just an electrical fault.” They imply Islamists are to blame, fuelling an anti-immigrant narrative. To this end, a map of France covered in red marks has been widely shared on social media, purporting to show a church arson crime wave. It was declared “false” or “misleading” by Reuters because it is out of date and represents an unofficial blog’s tally of all vandalism against churches – not just arson.
Yet it could be argued that Reuters ignored the real story: more reliable evidence of widespread attacks against churches that are fuelled by hatred of various kinds, of which Islamic extremism is just one.