Page 13 - michael-journal-2019-may
P. 13
What Are We to Think of the Fire at
Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral?
At the start of Holy Week in Catholic Liturgy, on
Monday, April 15, 2019, the unthinkable took place:
Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral — that had stood
for 850 years through the French Revolution and
two World Wars — was on fire. Not only were the
Catholics of Paris and the rest of France impacted,
but those of the whole world. Even non-believers,
who saw in Notre-Dame a masterpiece of human
Louis Even genius, were moved. For a moment, it was thought
that the entire structure would collapse.
Gerard Leclerc, writing in the magazine France
Catholique, noted: “Notre-Dame de Paris is no or-
dinary artwork. It is the magnificent expression of
Christian faith that a multitude of craftsmen have architects who feared that none of the work under-
raised to a rare degree of perfection. Through it, taken could possibly have caused such a fire, at
beauty is placed at the service of truth, the truth such a location and at such speed. Building pro-
that leads to salvation.” As the Archbishop of fessionals and firemen assert that 800 year-old oak
Paris, Michel Aupetit, said: “Notre-Dame Cathedral beams cannot burn since they are practically petri-
is a jewelry case, and the greatest treasury it holds fied. Bernard Mouton, Notre-Dame’s former chief
is Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist.” architect until 2013, also had doubts concerning the
What must we make of this event: was it an accident: “A major source of heat had to be present
accident or a crime? If it was criminal, who would to start such a fire. Oak is particularly resistant.”
profit? Whether the fire was a criminal act or not, On the following day, April 16, during a tele-
we can also ask ourselves: what spiritual mean- vised broadcast, President Macron declared: “Yes,
ing might this fire have; is God trying to send us a we will rebuild a more beautiful Notre-Dame Cath-
sign, a message? edral, and I want this done within the next five
Let us begin by answering the first question. years.” Why five years? In five years Paris will host
Days have gone by but the causes of the fire re- thousands of tourists for the 2024 Olympics and
main unknown. the 2025 World Fair.
By eight o’clock on the night of the fire, while What needs to be said, and could well be the
flames reached 30 meters high and no one had any answer to the question ‘whom does the crime
idea what caused the fire, the newly appointed Pros- profit?’, is that two years earlier a tourist project
ecutor of the Paris Republic, Rémy Heitz (a personal had been planned for the area of Ile de la Cité (City
appointee of French President Emmanuel Macron) Island) where the cathedral is located. Thierry
stated that criminal intent was not at fault and that Meyssan explains this in an article on the internet
the fire was linked to a construction accident. entitled The Hidden Stakes of the Restoration of
The Prosecutor’s statement raised an outcry Notre-Dame: 1
from the site’s experts, firemen, craftsmen and “L’Élysée (the official residence of the President
of the French Republic) has used the fire of Notre-
Dame de Paris to carry out a project that was in
Make sure MICHAEL moves with you! limbo. It has set new rules, outside of respect for
the heritage component and normal tendering pro-
If you have just moved or are about to cedures, not to restore the cathedral, but to trans-
move, it is very important to send us your form the Ile de la Cité into Europe’s leading tourist
new address. If you do not send us your new destination on the eve of the 2024 Olympic Games.
address, the post office returns your MI- To avoid judicial constraints, the hypothesis of a
CHAEL magazine to our office and we bear construction site accident was arbitrarily imposed.”
Louis Even a cost for each journal returned. Thank you!
1 https://www.voltairenet.org/article206340.html u
www.michaeljournal.org MICHAEL May/June/July 2019 13
