Coexistence Corner

A Fire Burns Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

By Nate Feldman

The biggest international news story in the last week was the fire that engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France on Monday.  The 850 year old landmark was undergoing renovations when something set off an inferno that took 15 hours for firefighters to extinguish.  The roof suffered significant damage with the church's spire being completely destroyed.  The firefighters were able to salvage the main structure, but it will have to undergo significant repairs. 

The church is an important symbol of France and one of its most important tourist attractions.  Emmanuel Macron, France's president, has vowed to rebuild the church in the next five years. 

Many people around the world began offering donations to help rebuild the church.  An article in the Washington Post mentioned that up to $1 billion had been raised in the aftermath of the fire.  The same article mentioned, however, that many people are critical of all of the money going to Notre Dame when there are more pressing needs, such as the needs of impoverished people and other destroyed landmarks that don't get nearly the same amount of attention (See "Billionaires raced to pledge money to rebuild Notre Dame.  Then came the backlash," by James McAuley). 

The fundraising efforts for Notre Dame had some positive effects on others trying to rebuild damaged houses of worship.  An article on CNN.com highlighted three historically African American churches in Louisiana that were destroyed by arson within the last month.  After people saw all of the money going into the restoration of Notre Dame, they immediately pledged support for these churches as well, helping them raise the amount of money needed for their rebuilding projects (See "Notre Dame fundraising efforts inspire people to donate nearly $2 million to rebuild burned Louisiana Churches," by Amanda Jackson).