Notre Dame
photo source: nytimes.com
Well, I don't know how much this post will have to do with editorial choices. But it does have to do with what we've discussed in class over the past few weeks. Something that's been weighing on my heart, that I feel compelled to write about. On Monday, April 15th 2019, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris caught fire in what is, at this point, thought to be an electrical mishap. Many looked on helplessly as firefighters attempted to stop the blaze and preserve as much of the 800 plus year old Cathedral, which took around 200 years to construct, burned. Others (not to name names...) tweeted that perhaps we could drop mass quantities of water on it from the sky. French officials concluded that this would not be a smart move. Regardless, precious, irreplaceable relics such as Notre Dame's famous spire and most of the roof were lost to the colossal tragedy.
But what came next was, at least for me, no less troubling. Within a day, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild Notre Dame, stating that "We will rebuild Notre Dame, more beautiful than before-and I want it done in the next five years. After the time of testing comes a time of reflection and then of action" (The Gaurdian). I, too, am a believer of this time of reflection and action. But I hope some revelations are made before too much action (or money) is put into rebuilding Notre Dame. In a New York Times article that a classmate shared while we were working on our "HuffPo" article project, marketing director Pierre Guillaume Bonnet explained "It is like losing a member of one's own family" when expressing his devastation over the incident. But although I absolutely feel that Guillaume's, and everyone else's feelings regarding this tragedy are valid and that it is a painful loss, here's the thing: people are losing members of their own families.
Every day around the world people are dying of preventable diseases, starvation, dehydration, abuse, slavery, the list goes on. When there is so much good to be done for humanity, the idea of throwing hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars into rebuilding a Cathedral is a lot to grapple with. I'm sure the billionares who quickly pledged such large sums of money do make donations and work closely with non-profits that help humanitarian crises. Still, should a building (a phenomenal work of art with deep religious significance, but still, a building) command such a significant sum of money so quickly? Mission statements vary between Catholic churches, but most seem to put some sort of emphasis on serving and caring for human kind. It's my hope that in this moment of reflection, we can act in a way so that when we tell future generations about the Notre Dame fire, we can proudly say we recognized our greatest priority: each other.
I honestly felt so saddened when I first saw the media posts of the cathedral burning while the French citizens stood by. I've always wanted to go to France and seeing such an iconic structure catch fire impacted me on an emotional level. After I found out all that money would go to restoring and repairing Notre Dame, I was so happy! I couldn't image letting this amazing cathedral, this symbol of France and religion just go untouched. However, soon after I saw the initial posts about the money, I also saw people critiquing and rejecting that decision.
ReplyDeleteI noticed many people brought up other groups or issues that require attention like veterans, the homeless, environmental causes, poorer countries, medicine etc. People argued that these areas should receive much more public attention and funding than the cathedral. This perspective also made me feel conflicted and caused me to think about the Notre Dame situation in a different way. I still agree that Notre Dame should be repaired because of its meanings to the French, French history, those who visit the Cathedral, architecture, and to the Catholic Church. However, I also believe that more money should go to humanitarian causes. I think it's really difficult to tell exactly how much money is either donated or funded for the main problems our world faces today. You'd like to think that celebrities or the wealthy do give money to causes or people that need them, but then you also notice that people lavishly spend money for so many unnecessary reasons.
The Notre Dame or Humanitarian Causes conversation is definitely a complicated and many-sided topic. I love your concluding phrase to this post and I think that it really summarizes and clearly expresses the most important component of perceiving and dealing with the world's problems: "we can proudly say we recognized our greatest priority: each other."
Thanks so much for your insight, Maria. I agree, this tragedy is many sided and even though there are humanitarian causes that really need the money, the idea of leaving the Cathedral behind and not restoring it is also very upsetting as it is a masterpiece and holds so much cultural and spiritual significance. It's definitely worth noting that the Notre Dame fire also brought attention and donations to the historic Black churches in Louisiana. Perhaps this trend will continue and more awareness and money can be generated for other causes.
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