The chaplain to the Parisian fire brigade has been hailed as a hero after it was revealed he led efforts to save the priceless holy relics and art stored inside Notre-Dame Cathedral. The story of Father Jean-Marc Fournier was reported by Christian journalist of French Catholic Television station KTOTV, who revealed the chaplain went into the burning cathedral to retrieve relics and art before they could be damaged by fire and falling debris. Reports state the priest formed a human chain to carry the items away from danger. Le père Fournier, aumônier des @PompiersParis, est allé avec des pompiers dans la cathédrale #NotreDame pour sauver la couronne d’épines et le Saint-Sacrement… pic.twitter.com/4IoLVdoJZW — Etienne Loraillère ن (@Eloraillere) April 15, 2019 Following up that report, the Katholiek Nieuwsblad states Fr Fournier has a history of Christian mission under dangerous circumstances. The newspaper reports he responded with the fire brigade to the 2015 Bataclan terror attacks in Paris, where Islamist extremists killed 90 with rifles and suicide vests at a rock concert in the city, where he was “quickly on the scene after the attack… he helped remove the wounded from the hall and prayed with the bodies of the victims.” The priest also served as a chaplain to the French army and survived an ambush in Afghanistan where ten French soldiers were killed. Television network Sky News reports the remarks of one member of the Paris emergency services who said of the chaplain: “Father Fournier is an absolute hero. “He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear.” Report: Crown of Thorns, Artwork Saved From Notre Dame Blaze https://t.co/VtR5mhicvr — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 15, 2019 Among the relics saved in the effort was Notre-Dame’s most famous and revered and holy relic, the gold-encrusted Crown of Thorns, believed to be the wreath of thorns that was placed on the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion. That the relic was saved flashed around the world on Monday evening, but news of further items saved emerged Tuesday morning. Many of the objects removed from the Cathedral were bundled up in packaging and placed in Paris’s city hall. Other works of art associated with Notre-Dame had already been removed from the Cathedral before the fire even started. The 16 copper statues of the apostles and evangelists that adorned the roof of Notre-Dame made headlines last week as they were removed by crane for restoration work, intended to go two at a time over the course of the coming years. They now stand on palettes in a warehouse, having been saved from the fire which the restoration work, ironically, seems to have started. These pictures, taken over the past month show the process of disassembling and flying out the statues by crane from the roof, before the fire. The cathedral has long been in need of serious renovation work, but a lack of funds from the French government which owns Notre-Dame left the church asking for donations to fund the work.<doc-sep>Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris fire brigade, also comforted victims in the 2015 Paris terror attacks With France’s Notre Dame Cathedral in flames and time of the essence, a hero priest rushed to the scene to assist firefighters in their efforts to save invaluable artifacts from the historic landmark. According to The Guardian, father Jean-Marc Fournier — the chaplain of the Paris Fire Department — helped in a human chain of first responders who worked together to save religious relics from the world-famous landmark, which suddenly caught aflame Monday night. The devastating fire burned through the roof of the 856-year-old building and caused its spire to collapse, and put many of the centuries-old items inside at risk of damage or destruction. Get push notifications with news, features and more. A powerful image of Fournier, tweeted by reporter Etienne Loraillère of the country’s KTO Catholic television network, showed him working into the night to save artifacts such as the Crown of Thorns and the Blessed Sacrament. “Father Fournier, [the] chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, went with the firefighters into Notre Dame Cathedral to save the Crown of Thorns and the Blessed Sacrament,” Loraillère tweeted, in a translation by BuzzFeed News. The Crown of Thorns is a Catholic relic believed to be a piece of the item worn by Jesus when he was crucified, while the Blessed Sacrament represents the body and blood of Christ in the form of blessed bread and wine. But Fournier is no stranger to placing himself in dangerous situations. He was a member of the French armed forces and spent time in Afghanistan, The Guardian reported, and during the 2015 terrorist attack at Bataclan, Fournier arrived to comfort the injured and pray over the deceased. “Father Fournier is an absolute hero,” a member of emergency services told radio station NewsTalk. “He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear.” Paris’ Deputy Mayor for Tourism and Sports, Jean-Francois Martins, on Tuesday thanked the firefighters and public servants who rushed to save the items as the ash and debris rained down from the burning roof. Notre-Dame Cathedral fire Credit: Thibault Camus/AP/REX/Shutterstock “We made a human chain, with our friends from the church… to get, as quick as possible, to get all the relics,” he told CBS News. “Thanks to the great bravery of all our firefighters, and as well all the public servants there, we had a very quick intervention. Very quickly a team was fully dedicated to save all these holy pieces, and specifically the relics and the crown.” He added, “Everything is safe and undamaged, and in our really bad day, we had one good news.”<doc-sep>PARIS, April 18, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — While the fire was raging on the roof of Notre Dame on Monday evening, heroic firefighters were in the building, trying to salvage as many treasures as possible. The biggest of these treasures was unknown to most: the Blessed Sacrament kept in two tabernacles of the Cathedral. PETITION: Say no to rebuilding a 'modern' Notre Dame Cathedral. Sign the petition here. Fr. Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the firefighters of Paris – the élite army corps of the “Pompiers de Paris” – told Catholic weekly Famille chrétienne how he personally recovered the contents of one of those tabernacles and blessed the burning church with the consecrated hosts. It was precisely at that moment that the fire in one of the two towers of the façade broke out … and was mercifully extinguished. When Notre Dame started burning, Fr. Fournier was at the Arc de Triomphe with the military chaplains of France to pay homage to their heroic predecessors. Each year, they join their bishop on Monday of Holy Week for the ceremony. When it was over, Fr. Fournier returned to his car to drive over to the Ecole Militaire, where Bishop Antoine de Romanet was expecting all the chaplains for dinner. That is when he saw black clouds of smoke coming from the center of Paris. Switching on his cell phone, he found dozens of messages telling him the cathedral was on fire. He immediately headed to Notre Dame. Bishop Michel Aupetit, cathedral rector Msgr. Patrick Chauvet, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe were together at the command post. For the religious present, the priorities were obvious: Every effort had to be made to save the relics of the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Sacrament. Incredibly at that moment, nobody could tell them where to find the access code key to the reliquary containing the holy crown of thorns. A plan was in operation in order to salvage the cathedral’s treasures following a pre-established order and many firefighters were already inside. Was there a feeling of panic? “Not at all. No one panics. Never!” Fr. Fournier said. “There is simply a bit more stress than usual because we know time is playing against us. That sort of stress is good because it allows you to make on-the-spot decisions. “At one point, the sacristan gave us a set of keys together with the pass to the Cathedral. When we entered, we understood that while we were searching, another part of the team had decided to smash the reliquary from which they salvaged the fake presentation crown made of gold. Other firefighters had found a steward who gave them the code to the safe where the crown itself is kept. He opened it and took out the crown of thorns. The first objective was fulfilled.” But the Blessed Sacrament was still in the burning building: “When I entered into the cathedral, the spire had already collapsed,” Fr. Fournier recounted.”At any moment, the nave could cave in. There were two braziers on the floor: one in front of the main altar, the other in front of the high altar, in the canons choir. A rain of fire was falling without pause from the roof. “Inside the cathedral, the atmosphere was very special. There was no smoke, no excessive heat. We were moving forward, hugging the walls. I turned to the steward to ask him whether there were other treasures to save. He told me to retrieve a Virgin with Child in the second lateral chapel. Together with the sergeant major, we moved over to the chapel and retrieved this large painting.” From that moment on, the priest and the officers of the “Pompiers” decided to “rationalize” their actions. The sergeant major had a powerful torch, Fr. Fournier – a veteran Army chaplain with experience of theaters of operation such as Afghanistan – had the technical expertise, and a dozen men were ready to convey the artworks. They moved from one chapel to the other, with Fr. Fournier deciding which treasures needed to be salvaged first. One after the other, they were carried out and kept under police protection. When salvaging was impossible, covers were installed to protect the artifacts from the water. But as they progressed, the situation became more and more dangerous. An officer told them they had to stop. Up to that point, they had already cheerfully risked their lives at every step. “That's what we do every time we enter into a burning building. And it's not an impression. It's a reality!” Fr. Fournier recalled. But it was “time to get Jesus out of this burning cathedral,” he added. “The sacristan told me that the Real Presence resides in two distinct places. The first is the altar of the canons, where several thousand (consecrated) wafers are kept. The problem was that this altar was behind the place where an entanglement of beams was burning on the floor, while drops of molten lead kept falling. It was absolutely impossible to reach. I decided nothing could be done, to my regret, about this reserve (which probably remained untouched, according to Famille chrétienne). “A second reserve was situated at the altar of St. George. We found the keys. I retrieved Jesus. And with the Blessed Sacrament, I blessed the Cathedral. It was an act of faith. I asked Jesus – Who I believe is truly present in the hosts – to fight the flames and to preserve the building dedicated to His Mother. The benediction coincided with the beginning of the fire in the north tower – and also with its extinction! This was surely Providence … The two bell towers were saved.” Fr. Fournier left the “Real Presence” in the sacristy that was not threatened by the fire, no more than the treasure rooms. Both spaces were continually sprayed with fire hoses from the start in order to keep them safe. Having done all that he could, the chaplain of the firefighters went up into the South Tower. From there, he saw that the roof of Notre Dame was gone. At that moment, he thought of Ash Wednesday: “Remember you are dust and you will return to dust.” “The condition of ashes is way closely linked to our humanity,” he said. “But it is also necessary in view of the Resurrection. At the same time, I had this great sadness because of the loss of an extraordinary artifact, the forest that was the frame of the Cathedral roof, and the unspeakable joy that is attached to hope in the Resurrection.” Before joining the French army as a chaplain in 2007, Fr. Fournier, 50, was formed at Wigratzbad, the seminary of the Fraternity of Saint Peter whose priests offer the Mass in the ancient Latin rite. He was also present at the Bataclan terrorist attack in Paris in 2015, where he entered the theater while the Islamist terrorists were still shooting in order to help evacuate the injured and pray for the living and the dead. Jean-Marc Fournier is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and he carried the crown of thorns for the veneration ceremony described here by LifeSite every Good Friday.<doc-sep>
Bloomberg / Getty Images A human chain of rescue workers, led by the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, retrieved priceless religious artifacts from Notre Dame Cathedral as it burned, French officials confirmed Tuesday. Culture Minister Franck Riester said that the cathedral's treasury of irreplaceable Christian relics — the most precious being the Crown of Thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ, and the tunic of Saint Louis — was safe in the Paris city hall in a radio interview Tuesday morning. The rescue effort was led by Catholic priest and chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, Jean-Marc Fournier, who went into the burning cathedral to retrieve the holy items, Philippe Goujon, the mayor of Paris’s 15th district, told reporters. Goujon said that Fournier insisted on being allowed into Notre Dame with the other firefighters. Reporter Etienne Loraillère of France’s KTO Catholic television network tweeted a picture of the priest outside the cathedral Monday night. "Father Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, went with the firefighters into Notre Dame Cathedral to save the Crown of Thorns and the Blessed Sacrament," Loraillère said. Le père Fournier, aumônier des @PompiersParis, est allé avec des pompiers dans la cathédrale #NotreDame pour sauver la couronne d’épines et le Saint-Sacrement... "Father Fournier is an absolute hero," a member of the emergency services told Sky News. "He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear." According to a 2016 profile, Father Fornier served as a military chaplain in Afghanistan before joining the fire brigade. He was praised for his work alongside the firefighters in the immediate aftermath of the horrific Bataclan terrorist attacks in 2015, when he first helped evacuate victims and then prayed over the bodies of the dead and with victims who had lost loved ones. "I gave collective absolution, as the Catholic Church authorizes me," Fournier said in the profile. Patrick Kovarik / AFP / Getty Images, Godong / Getty Images The Crown of Thorns is believed to have been placed on the head of Jesus Christ during the crucifixion, and is only displayed in Notre Dame cathedral during Holy Week — which is currently taking place. It was brought to Paris in 1238 by French monarch Louis IX, who was later named a saint. A linen tunic believed to have been worn by St. Louis is also one of Notre Dame's most precious relics that was rescued from the fire. On Monday night, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had tweeted an image of artifacts that had been saved from the fire that had been transferred to the city hall. "Thank you to the Paris Fire Brigade, the police, and municipal agents who made a formidable human chain to save the works of Notre Dame," she wrote. "The Crown of Thorns, the tunic of St. Louis, and several other major works are now in a safe place." Merci aux @PompiersParis, aux policiers et aux agents municipaux qui ont réalisé ce soir une formidable chaîne humaine pour sauver les œuvres de #NotreDame. La couronne d'épines, la tunique de Saint Louis et plusieurs autres œuvres majeures sont à présent en lieu sûr.