The fight against fetishism": A vandal who burned down a Christian temple was arrested in France.
As a result of another attack on the Basilica of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in Lorraine, France, a Christian temple was destroyed. An attacker stole a fragment of the relics of St. Nicholas from the church and burned it.
According to the police, a man broke a display case in the treasury of the basilica and took a glass case that contained a 2-centimeter fragment of the saint's bone. Law enforcement officers were able to quickly identify the suspect and arrest him. During the interrogation, he fully admitted his guilt, saying that he destroyed the remains as a sign of "fighting fetishism" and superstition.
The community called the event a deep blow to faith, history and centuries-old traditions of pilgrimage. In turn, the head of the Association for the Preservation of the Basilica, Denis Burquin, refuted the detainee's arguments, recalling that in Christianity the veneration of relics is an expression of respect for the righteous, and not worship of objects instead of God.
Tribune Chrétienne notes that this incident was the third attack on the basilica since the beginning of the year.