New Year's Eve Mass at Cologne Cathedral Deliberately Disrupted
The shelling of the Cologne Cathedral with fireworks and firecrackers on New Year's evening between 6:30 and 7:45 pm was a targeted disruption of the service.
One aspect of the terrible events in Cologne on New Year's Eve has only recently come to light: Early in the evening the Cathedral was heavily bombarded with firecrackers and fireworks from the station square.
In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, an eyewitness, former Cathedral architect Barbara Schock-Werner, described the events.
She said the year-end Mass at the cathedral was very well attended, with a few thousand people sitting in the pews. The north window of the cathedral was again and again lit red because rocket upon rocket flew against it. And because of the firecrackers, it was very noisy. She said she temporarily feared that panic would break out.
According to Ms. Schock-Werner, the shelling with fireworks and firecrackers was "both an attack on the urban icon" as well as "the religious symbol”.
She went on to say that the shelling of the dome also makes clear that by 7:00, the police no longer had the situation under control. After incidents twelve or thirteen years ago, the were always asked to prevent fireworks and firecrackers near the Cathedral during the Mass and that this largely succeeded. Since this did not happen, “something must have already gone wrong … at that time on that terrible New Year's Eve." The expert pointed out that the New Year's shelling constitutes a fire hazard for the Cologne Cathedral.
When asked if she thought this was an attack deliberately meant to disrupt the Mass, she responded that the period between 6:30 and 7:30 pm is really not the time one shoots large scale firework rockets.
Cardinal Rainer Woelki, who led the Mass, complained in the Bild newspaper "During my sermon, strong gun salutes were heard," said the archbishop of Cologne. "I had been annoyed by the loud noise that invaded the Cathedral. The following events have made me speechless and fill me with great concern.”
Sources:
Frankfurter Allgemeine
Kath.net