If you’ve followed The Dissenter for any amount of time, you may remember in 2019 when I wrote that the fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral was not the tragic loss that many claimed it to be. Instead, I argued that it was a fitting symbol of the Roman Catholic Church’s decaying legacy and a monument to centuries of spiritual rot, finally brought to its knees by the very flames that seemed to erupt from the depths of its hypocrisy.

And now, as we see a string of fires sweeping through French Catholic churches, I can’t help but see a pattern that demands our attention—a pattern that, despite all the pious posturing, cannot be easily dismissed.

Are these fires—one after another—just random acts of nature, or are they simply the results of human negligence? Or are they are a relentless reminder of an institution that has long abandoned the truth of the gospel, replacing it with hollow rituals and empty traditions?

The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer is just the latest casualty in what seems to be an ongoing reckoning.

This historic building, much like Notre Dame, was not just a place were Catholics gathered to worship but a fortress of dogma that has, for centuries, stood in opposition to the true, Bible-believing Christians and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The irony is almost too rich—while the Catholic Church clings to its crumbling edifices, claiming them as signs of divine favor, these very structures are being reduced to ashes.

Remember the boasts during the Olympics? The Sacre-Coeur Basilica proudly declared that its lights shining amidst a citywide blackout were a sign from God—a beacon of divine protection. How quaint. As if God, in all His sovereign power, would be so concerned with keeping the lights on in a building from an institution that has historically dimmed the light of the gospel for so many.

This isn’t divine favor—it’s more like the last flicker of a dying candle, trying to stave off the inevitable darkness.

And now, we come to the latest in this line of divine “coincidences”—the fire at the Church of the Immaculate Conception. What are we to make of this? Another unfortunate accident? Or perhaps something more?

The Catholic Church, with all its wealth, power, and influence, has managed to survive for centuries, often at the expense of those who dared to challenge its authority. The Inquisitions stand as a grim testament to this, where Bible-believing Christians—Protestants, Baptists, Waldensians—were hunted, tortured, and executed for daring to oppose the Roman Catholic false gospel of works. The blood of these martyrs cries out from the ground, and it seems that, finally, there may be an answer.

Let’s not mince words—the Catholic Church has long been an adversary of the truth, wielding its power not for the glory of God, but for its own gain. The fires consuming these grand, ancient works of men’s hands seem not to be merely material.

So then, are they symbolic of a spiritual burning that has been a long time coming? How many more cathedrals need to go up in flames before we acknowledge what is happening? How many more boasts of divine favor will be silenced by the roar of fire? The signs are all around us, but who among us has the courage to see them for what they are?

Is it really so far-fetched to suggest that these fires are a form of judgment? That the very structures that have harbored false teachings for centuries are now being consumed by the flames of divine retribution? After all, God is not mocked. What the Catholic Church has sown for centuries—corruption, falsehood, and persecution—is it not possible that it may now be reaping in fire and ash?

I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty, and of course, to suggest such a thing outright would be presumptuous, wouldn’t it? Yet, one has to wonder—if not this, then what?

As we watch the latest blaze reduce another Catholic church to rubble, we should pause and reflect on the broader implications. The Catholic Church may continue to preach its damning gospel of works and traditions, but the true gospel—the gospel of Christ, the gospel of grace—is a consuming fire, one that cannot be extinguished by any man-made institution.

And perhaps, just perhaps, these literal fires are a foretaste of what is to come for those self-proclaimed “vicars of Christ” and the minions that bow to him who refuse to repent and turn to Christ.

The Catholic Church may try to rebuild, to rise from the ashes, but one thing is certain—no amount of stone and mortar can withstand the consuming fire of truth. And that is the only rational explanation for what we are witnessing today.