Priest who helped save Crown of Thorns from Notre Dame 'showed no fear'

There was no way they were keeping him in on the sidelines.

Father Jean-Marc Fournier, a Catholic priest and the chaplain of the Paris fire brigade, accompanied the firefighters into the burning Notre Dame cathedral in Paris to save the Crown of Thorns from the flames, and reportedly "insisted" on being allowed to enter the building to help. But given his history of putting himself in harm's way to help others, it's really no surprise he's once again being hailed as a hero.

In Nov. 2015, Fournier was on hand to tend to the injured and pray over the dead in the aftermath of the bomb attacks at the Bataclan theater in Paris. Per The Associated Press, prior to that he also served in the Diocese of the French Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

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A member of the emergency services called Fournier an "absolute hero" for his role in saving the relic, as well as the Blessed Sacrament, the name for the consecrated bread and wine in Catholic services. "He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved," the emergency service member said. "He deals with life and death every day and shows no fear." Tim O'Donnell