Chaplain who rescued victims of horrific 2015 terrorist attack heroically saves Jesus’ Crown of Thorns

A Parisian chaplain has been hailed after pulling off an incredible rescue with a bold foray into the burning Notre Dame Cathedral.

A Parisian chaplain who entered Notre Dame with firefighters and saved the sacred Crown of Thorns has been once again hailed as a hero.

Jean Marc Fournier, who serves as chaplain to the Paris fire service, entered the cathedral as it burned and parts of the roof collapsed on Monday night to salvage what he could of the numerous priceless artefacts housed within.

The chaplain is no stranger to heroic acts of selfless bravery, having held prayers and assisted those grieving after horrific terrorist attacks in the French capital killed 130 people in 2015.

Jean-Marc Fournier has been hailed a hero. Picture: KTO Television, Paris

Mr Fournier held keys and codes to Notre Dame that meant, once inside the burning and collapsing cathedral, he was able to unlock the artefacts and get them out from the burning building, including the Crown of Thorns, which for Catholics is a “most precious and most venerated relic”.

“The police took the crown and I took the holy sacrament (the wafers, or body of Christ),” Mr Fournier told CNN.

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) 15 April 2019

Flames and smoke rise from the blaze after the spired toppled over on Notre Dame cathedral yesterday. Picture: Thierry Mallet

Mr Fournier has been praised as a hero on social media, including on Twitter where the director of French Catholic television network KTO, commending the chaplain.

“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.”

Many of the priceless artefacts have now been relocated to the Paris City Hall or the Louvre Museum.

Before Mr Fournier worked for the Parisian fire service, he worked for the French Armed Forces in Afghanistan, and spent time based in Germany, according to CNN.

He assisted those in need after the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks across Paris, which injured more than 350 people.

Firefighters risked their lives to fight the fast moving fire, working through the night to control the inferno. Reports emerged of the French fireys forming a human chain to save Notre Dame’s “priceless treasures”.

Fire rips through Notre Dame cathedral: in pictures

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Within an hour, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said “General Jean-Claude Gallet (the commander of the Paris fire brigade) is explaining to us that it will be very difficult to save the (wooden) roofing but that the priority will be to save the relics.”

The firefighters then moved in, seeking out as many of the building’s treasures as they could, forming a human chain to bring them to safety.

Fire brigade Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Plus said “everything was against” the first firefighters on the scene.

“Time and the wind were against us and we had to get on top of it fast. We had to make a rapid choice... and the priority we gave ourselves was to save the two bell towers, and both were saved.”

They also brought out many relics by going inside even as the inferno spread quickly on the internal roof beams, made of medieval oak. These priceless artefacts include the Holy Crown of Thorns and a sacred tunic worn by 13th century French King Louis IX.

A Paris Fire Brigade firefighter watching the fire inside Notre Dame. Picture: Benoit Moser

The crown of thorns which was believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ. Picture: Remy de la Mauviniere

Three trucks headed off with many of the rescued items, initially to the nearby town hall while interior secretary of state Laurent Nunez reflected that “a quarter of an hour, half an hour” more would have been too late — the treasures would have been lost.

“You could smell the burning,” said Justine Heller, 29, a town hall security inspector, as the historic treasures arrived.

She could not disguise her fascination as she contemplated a large chandelier and a valuable painting.

Guarding them would, she said, be “an honour” as Notre Dame embarks on what President Emmanuel Macron calculated would be a five-year restoration process.

Within hours of their removal, the treasures would be on the move once again, this time to the Louvre, for safe keeping.

Back at a disfigured Notre Dame, annually visited by more than 12 million people, emotion was still in the air as bystanders viewed the terrible, smouldering spectacle, some placing roses on the cathedral plaza.

—With AFP