The Drosnay church fire

It’s a tradition we could do without: as soon as a church in France burns down, the extremists go wild on social networks to denounce a supposed Islamist attack on the values of the West. But while Islamist attacks are a fact of life, and so are fires in religious buildings, none of the latter have recently been associated with a criminal act of this type, as we would be sure to point out. The more recent arson attack on Nantes cathedral and the attempted arson attacks on several churches in Paris were in no way linked to the Muslim religion. The former was caused by a sacristan of Rwandan origin who was being deported, and the latter had a religious pretext, but the arsonist was a madman from the Ukraine who was Orthodox! Facts are better than rumours.

1. The church in Drosnay (7 June 2009)
Photo: Havang(nl) (CC0)

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2. Interior of Drosnay church
Photo: Gérard Janot (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Two churches have been hit by fire in recent days. In Descartes, in Indre-et-Loire and in Drosnay, in Marne. The recent fire on the roof of the church in Descartes was most likely caused by lightning. We don’t know the exact extent of the damage, but although the roof burnt down, the church is still standing, and many of the objects - none of which, according to the Palissy database, were listed - were able to be evacuated.
The disaster was much more serious at Drosnay, where the 17th-century (and early 16th-century for the apse [1]) half-timbered church was destroyed by a fire. According to the initial findings of the police, the fire was accidental, which the investigation will confirm or not. In any case, there is nothing at present to suggest foul play.

3. What remains of the Drosnay church after the fire
Photo taken from a report by Puissance Télévision

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