From Reuters:
“French President Macron hopes to rebuild Notre-Dame in five
years”
President Emmanuel Macron pledged
on Tuesday that France would rebuild the fire-devastated Notre-Dame de Paris
cathedral, saying he hoped the work would be done in five years and the French
people would pull together to repair their national symbol. Macron devoted a brief prime-time televised
address to Monday’s catastrophic blaze in the heart of the capital, again
postponing planned remarks on his response to months of anti-government
protests. “We will rebuild Notre-Dame
even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do
it,” Macron said. “It is up to us to
convert this disaster into an opportunity to come together, having deeply
reflected on what we have been and what we have to be and become better than we
are. It is up to us to find the thread of our national project.” “This
is not a time for politics,” added Macron, who had cancelled a speech planned
on Monday evening on the response to the “yellow vest” protests. He visited the site of the fire late on Monday
and promised then to rebuild the cathedral, parts of which date to the 12th
century. The cathedral spire was
destroyed and its roof gutted but the bell towers were still standing and many
valuable art works were saved after more than 400 firemen worked to contain the
blaze, finally quelling it 14 hours after it began. As the city and the country grieved for a
potent national symbol, billionaires, companies and local authorities were
quick to offer donations. Some 24 hours
after the fire started, more than 750 million euros ($845 million) had been
pledged, including 500 million from the three billionaire families that own
France’s giant luxury goods empires: Kering, LVMH and L’Oreal. Paris public prosecutor Remy Heitz said there
was no obvious indication the fire was arson. Fifty people were working on what
would be a long and complex investigation, officials said. The fire swiftly
ripped through the cathedral’s oak roof supports, where workmen had been
carrying out extensive renovations to the spire’s timber-framed supports. Police
began questioning the workers involved, the prosecutor’s office said. One
firefighter was injured but no one else was hurt, with the fire starting at
around 6:30 p.m. after the building was closed to the public for the evening. Firefighters
examined the facade, with its spectacular 10-metre filigreed stained-glass rose
window still intact. They could be seen walking atop the belfries as police
kept the area in lockdown. Investigators will not be able to enter the
cathedral’s blackened nave until experts are satisfied its walls withstood the
heat and the building is structurally sound. “Yesterday we thought the whole
cathedral would collapse. Yet this morning she is still standing, valiant,
despite everything,” said Sister Marie Aimee, a nun who had hurried to a nearby
church to pray as the flames spread.
“CATHEDRAL OF THE PEOPLE”
Messages of condolence flooded in
from around the world. Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, was
praying for those affected, the Vatican said, adding: “Notre-Dame will always
remain - and we have seen this in these hours - a place where believers and
non-believers can come together in the most dramatic moments of French
history.” Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
expressed deep sadness while her son and heir Prince Charles said he was
“utterly heartbroken”. Chancellor Angela Merkel offered German help to rebuild
a part of “our common European heritage”. Considered among the finest examples of
European Gothic architecture, Notre-Dame is visited by more than 13 million
people a year. It sits on an island in the Seine, overlooking the Left Bank
hangouts of Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. “Notre-Dame de Paris is the
cathedral of the people, of the people of Paris, of the French people, of the
people of the world. It is part of those references of our history, of what we
have in common, of what we share,” said Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. It
was at Notre-Dame that Henry VI of England was crowned “King of France” in
1431, that Napoleon was made emperor in 1804, and Pope Pius X beatified Joan of
Arc in 1909. Presidents Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand were mourned
there.
Human Chain:
The cathedral is owned by the
state and has been at the centre of a dispute between the nation and the Paris
archdiocese over who should finance restoration work to collapsed balustrades,
crumbling gargoyles and cracked facades. It was too early to estimate the cost of the
damage, said the heritage charity Fondation du Patrimoine. Paolo Violini, a restoration specialist for
Vatican museums, said the pace of the fire’s spread had been stunning. “We are used to thinking about them as eternal
simply because they have been there for centuries, or a thousand years, but the
reality is they are very fragile,” Violini said. The company carrying out the renovation works
when the blaze broke out said it would cooperate fully with the investigation. “All I can tell you is that at the moment the
fire began none of my employees were on the site. We respected all procedures,”
Julien Le Bras, a representative of family firm Le Bras Freres. Many relics and artworks were saved. At one
point, firefighters, policemen and municipal workers formed a human chain to
remove the treasures, including a centuries-old crown of thorns made from reeds
and gold, and the tunic believed to have been worn by Saint Louis, a 13th
century king of France. Gold, silver and
gem-inlaid chalices, candelabras and many other artefacts survived the blaze.
^ It is one thing for Government
officials to announce things like “We will rebuild” and another for that
rebuilding to actually take place. Long before the fire there was a major “fight”
between the French Government and the Catholic Church on who was going to pay
what for the restoration work. I only hope this time there isn’t the same petty
fighting. ^
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