A small Russian Orthodox church burned on Sunday April 17 in Parislearned AFP from the firefighters, without it being known whether the fire was of criminal or accidental origin.
The interior of the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov church, a very small wooden building in the 15th arrondissement of the capital, “was completely destroyed by fire” in the followingnoon, without causing any casualties, said the firefighters.
Three people present gave the alert.
According to the first elements of “the faithful would have installed fabrics and lit candles in order to prepare the office and then would have left the building”, explained a police source. The “accidental thesis is currently privileged”.
“I express all my solidarity with the faithful of the Saint-Séraphin-de-Sarov Orthodox Church”tweeted in the evening the Minister of the Interior, also in charge of worship, Gérald Darmanin, without further comment.
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.
Acts of vandalism
Since the start of theRussian invasion of Ukraine on February 24several places associated with Russia were 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.