A cafe in New Brighton also caught fire at about 5.30am.

Fire crews were first called to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Burwood just after 3 am.

Less than half an hour later, at 3.30 am, fire crews were called to the Cardboard Cathedral, on Hereford St, after an automatic alarm went off - triggering an alert to fire authorities.

There was a small fire in a backroom.

A third fire occurred at the Beach Road Cafe in New Brighton early Monday morning.

Fire and Emergency say the large Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness building has extensive damage, and three crews were needed to put it out.

A resident who lives opposite the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses said she and her family woke to see large flames and fire and police crews.

She was worried the blaze would spread to the houses beside the church.

"I'm surprised that there's so much [of the church] left," she said.

Southern fire communications said the fire at the Cardboard Cathedral was out by the time staff arrived at the scene.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said it was unusual to have two church fires within half an hour of one another.

In a statement, police said they are seeking information on three suspicious fires in Christchurch in the early hours of the morning.

"Police were alerted to three separate fires at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Parklands, the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral (Cardboard Cathedral) on Hereford Street and the Beach Road Cafe in New Brighton."

Police and Fire and Emergency staff attended all scenes on Monday morning to conduct scene examinations.

Source

• rnz.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• odt.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
• Image: Screenshot tvnz.co.nz

His mother Kath Payne, said her son had a "strong mind "He's not a mindless church-burning thug. He had a really good sized bout of depression and he made some really stupid choices in the midst of it." Read more

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The new Philomena Hall was built over the last four months and can hold around 300 people.

Principal Anna Wormald said the school was lucky to have the facility available, after three years of moving seats out of classrooms to make room for special events.

"As they say, out of some bad comes some good, there's some bonuses for us," she said.

When she was interviewed last year Wormald said "On a weekly basis we empty a classroom and we squeeze into a very small space to get the children in but it's very much limited to parent involvement."

"We are a very close community school and it'll be nice to bring our community back together and for them to feel like they can be there and be part of the things that we do."

"Even little things like practicing for the school dance would be easier as they wouldn't have to wait for a fine day to practise for the concert outside the school office."

The hall has been paid for by the Diocese of Palmerston North and other fundraising efforts and the school.

Last Friday afternoon the students, teachers, parents and grandparents lined up outside the school before walking across the playground and into the hall for the first time.

A table in the hall has been made by the grandfather of one of the students using wood salvaged from the church.

The stained glass windows are also the same colour as the church.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

Fires occurred at the churches in New York, Melbourne, Sydney and in Russia during the Orthodox Easter last month.

Officials fear the fires may have been started in retaliation for Orthodox efforts to block the canonisation of Croatian Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac.

The cardinal supported parts of a puppet Nazi regime, the Ustashe, in Croatia in World War II.

The regime persecuted Serbs and Jews and also forced Orthodox Christians to convert to Catholicism.

In the 1990s, Vatican offices and Stepinac's defenders in Croatia produced evidence that the archbishop criticsed the excesses of the Ustashe as early as 1941, and that he personally intervened to save the lives of a number of Jews.

But his criticisms were seen as muted.

After the war, Stepinac spent five years in prison and the rest of his life under house arrest in the small village of Krasic, his birthplace. He died in 1960.

In 1998, Pope John Paul II beatified him.

Cardinal Stepanic's possible canonisation is a point of dispute between Croatia and Serbia, with leaders of both nations lobbying Pope Francis.

Serbian Othordox Patriarch Irinej wrote to Pope Francis and said: "We are afraid that there are too many open questions and wounds which Cardinal Stepinac symbolises."

"His canonisation, to our great regret, would return the relations between Serbs and Croats, as well as between Catholics and Orthodox faithful, back to their tragic history."

Dusan Batakovic, a former Serbian ambassador, told US media: "Too many churches have burned to call it an accident.

"It is very strange that it happened, that the fires all took place on Easter, the greatest Christian Orthodox holiday. Some kind of terrorist action cannot be excluded."

Authorities in Melbourne initially deemed the church fire there to be not suspicious, and the fire at an Orthodox cathedral in New York may have been caused by candles left burning at Easter.

The displaced Orthodox congregation in Sydney has received support from nearby Catholic and Uniting churches, which have offered their buildings for services.

Sources

• Daily Mail
• New York Post
• The Guardian
• Sydney Morning Herald
• New York Post
• Chicago Tribune
• Image: New York Post