A priest who comforted the wounded in the Bataclan concert hall after the Paris terror attacks in 2015 joined a human chain of firefighters to help save priceless religious relics from the burning Notre Dame Cathedral on Monday night.

Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris fire brigade, insisted on being allowed to enter the edifice with firefighters, Philippe Goujon, the mayor of Paris’ 15th district, told reporters outside the cathedral on Tuesday.

Etienne Loraillère, the editor of France’s KTO Catholic television network, tweeted that Fournier had helped save the Crown of Thorns and the Blessed Sacrament.

Etienne Loraillère ن (@Eloraillere) Le père Fournier, aumônier des @PompiersParis, est allé avec des pompiers dans la cathédrale #NotreDame pour sauver la couronne d’épines et le Saint-Sacrement... pic.twitter.com/4IoLVdoJZW

Fournier previously spent seven years with the French armed forces, including a tour in Afghanistan. His bravery was noted after the 2015 Bataclan attack, when he tended to the injured and prayed over the dead.

The 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral, whose spire and roof were largely destroyed in Monday’s blaze, is home to a large number of irreplaceable works of art, musical instruments, statues, woodwork and religious relics A full list is posted on its website.

Officials said a pre-existing plan to protect Notre Dame’s treasures had been activated rapidly. France’s culture minister, Franck Riester, tweeted photos of the operation.

“Agents of the culture ministry, aided by the archbishop’s staff, the Paris fire brigade and the security services, are evacuating the works inside the cathedral,” Riester said. “They are being progressively brought to safety.”

Franck Riester (@franckriester) Les agents du @MinistereCC, épaulés par les équipes de l’archevêché, les @PompiersParis et les forces de sécurité, évacuent les œuvres se trouvant à l’intérieur de la cathédrale. Elles sont progressivement mises en sécurité. #NotreDame pic.twitter.com/iINHyUqJME

Gold, silver and gem-inlaid chalices, candelabras and many other artefacts survived the blaze and a significant proportion of the cathedral’s masterpieces and sacred relics were saved, authorities have confirmed, although not all.

Saved

The Holy Crown of Thorns

One of Notre Dame’s most treasured relics, the crown purports to be a band of rushes from the original crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head during his crucifixion. Originally from Jerusalem, in 1238 it was given to King Louis IX, who built the Sainte-Chappelle in Paris especially to house it. It was later transferred to Notre Dame.

Individual thorns have been distributed as relics around the world: the Notre Dame relic is the original circlet of rushes, encased in rock crystal. On Monday night the mayor of Paris confirmed it had been saved.

The Great Organ

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The cathedral organ. Photograph: Stéphane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

Notre Dame’s principal organist, Vincent Dubois, has said Notre Dame’s 8,000-pipe grand organ was not burned in the fire, although its condition – and whether it can still be played – is not yet clear. Originally built in 1403, the organ has been updated and renovated in the centuries since, most recently in 2013, but some of the current organ’s pipes date back to the medieval era.

Bertrand de Feydeau, a senior French heritage preservation official, said: “The organ is a very fragile instrument, especially its pipes. It has not burnt, but no one can tell whether it has been damaged by water. Nobody knows if it is a functioning state or will need to be restored.”

The tunic of Saint Louis

The tunic of Saint Louis is a 13th-century linen garment said to have belonged to King Louis, the only French king to become a saint. Crowned in 1226, Louis participated in the Seventh Crusade and died during the Eighth Crusade in 1270. He was canonised in 1297. The Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said the tunic was saved from the fire.

True Cross and Holy Nails

Along with the Crown of Thorns, Notre Dame housed a purported fragment of the True Cross, upon which Jesus is said to have been crucified, and an original nail that was used. These too were saved from the flames, French media reported.

The Rose windows

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The north rose window of Notre-Dame de Paris Photograph: Steve Tulley/Alamy Stock Photo

All three of Notre Dame’s immense stained glass windows appear to have survived, although experts have yet to inspect them and they may have sustained hidden damage.

Descent from the cross

One of the cathedral’s centrepieces, the sculpture by Nicolas Coustou lies on Notre Dame’s high altar. Initial photos suggest that the sculpture was mostly unharmed.

Unknown

A large number of artworks and sculptures were taken from the cathedral and carried across the River Seine to Paris town hall, Riester said. It is not yet clear which of the following major works are among them:

Madonna and Child

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Madonna and Child

This statue, known as Notre Dame de Paris, with which the cathedral shares its name, depicts the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Created in the 14th century, it was moved to Notre Dame in 1818.

Statue of Saint Denis

Another 18-century sculpture by Nicolas Coustou. Saint Denis is the patron saint of Paris, and a depiction of him preaching stood in the cathedral.

Painting of St Thomas Aquinas

Made in the 17th century and given to the cathedral in 1974, this painting depicts the saint and people drinking from a fountain of wisdom.

Damaged or destroyed

“We have avoided a complete disaster. But some five to 10 percent of the artwork has probably been destroyed, we have to face up to that,” said Maxime Cumunel, secretary general of France’s Observatory for Religious Heritage.

Four of the largest-scale 17th and 18th century paintings depicting scenes from the lives of the apostles had been damaged, at least in part, he said.

Three relics that were not in the cathedral’s treasury are also known to have been lost: a separate fragment of the Holy Crown of Thorns, a relic of Saint Denis and a relic of Saint Geneviève.