The Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov church, which is a Russian orthodox church in the French capital of Paris, has been razed by fire, AFP reports.
According to the report, the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov church, which is a small Russian Orthodox church was burned down on Sunday in Paris. But there is no information as to what caused the fire, and whether it was criminal or accidental, AFP learned from firefighters.
The report by AFP also stated that the firefighters on the scene confirmed that the interior of the church, a very small wooden building in the 15th arrondissement of the capital, “was completely destroyed by fire” in the afternoon, but nobody was injured.
The privileged accidental thesis
According to the first elements of the “faithful would have installed fabrics and lit candles in order to prepare the office then would have left the building”, a Police source explained to AFP.
The “accidental thesis is currently preferred”, added the Police source.
In a tweet on Sunday evening, the Minister of the Interior, also in charge of worship, Gérald Darmanin reacting to the fire incident said:
“I express all my solidarity with the faithful of the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov Orthodox Church.”
Unlike Catholics, Orthodox do not celebrate Easter on the weekend of April 16 and 17, but on April 23 and 24, according to the Julian calendar.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, several places associated with Russia have been targeted by acts of vandalism.
The origin of the fire was not known on Sunday, said the firefighters who asked the laboratory of the Prefecture of police to investigate.
The main places of Russian Orthodox worship in Paris are the Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky cathedral in the 8th arrondissement and the Sainte-Trinité cathedral, on the banks of the Seine and close to the Eiffel Tower, in the 7th arrondissement.