Cathedral in Australia damaged in suspicious fire

On the other side of the planet, in Lismore, Australia, an early morning fire in the sacristy of St. Carthage’s Cathedral has been deemed suspicious by authorities and is under investigation by the local arson squad, according to ABC.net.au.

Although the fire spread to the roof of the church above the sacristy, firefighters were able to contain the fire. The main part of the Cathedral was spared, as was the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament.

“A damaged building is only a building, the Church remains undamaged because the Church is the people of God,” said Bishop Greg Homeming, OCD in a video statement, according to a Catholic Weekly report.

“We’re obviously in the early stages of the investigation and we don’t know exactly how it was started, but the base of the outside door of the sacristy was on fire and even though the sacristy was well-secured the fire got into the building that way,” explained Lismore Police Inspector Anthony Smith.

The site of the fire at the Cathedral is being treated as a crime scene.