A Florida man lights the burning Catholic church with parishioners inside

A Florida man lit a burning Catholic church on Saturday as people inside prepared for morning mass.

Marion County Sheriff's Office reported on July 11 that deputies were called at 7:30 in the morning at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Ocala, while parishioners inside prepared for morning mass.

A man crashed a minivan through the church's front door, and then lit a fire with people inside, the sheriff's department said. A local press release, Orlando News 6, reported that the man set the building on fire by launching an incendiary.

The sheriff's office said the man led the officers in a vehicle chase and was eventually arrested. The name of the arsonist has not been released and the allegations have not yet been filed, but local media reports that the Federal Office for Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is helping with the investigation.

“We praise God that nobody has been hurt. We join in prayer for Father O'Doherty, the parishioners of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church, our first responders and the gentleman who caused this damage. That we can know the Peace of the Lord, ”the Orlando diocese told CNA on Saturday afternoon.

"The masses will normally resume in the parish hall starting this evening," added the diocese.

The church is one of the few in central Florida to offer the extraordinary form of Mass, otherwise known as traditional Latin Mass, which is celebrated weekly by a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter who leads Ocala from a church in Sarasota.

The fire occurred almost at the same time as a mission church founded by San Junipero Serra outside Los Angeles caught fire and was structurally destroyed.