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Notre Dame Cathedral Is Burning
This is a fast-moving story, and absolutely devastating development during Holy Week. The BBC reports:
A fire has broken out at the famous Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, firefighters say.
The cause is not yet clear, but officials say it could be linked to renovation work.
Images on social media show plumes of smoke billowing into the air above the the 850-year-old Gothic building.
BREAKING; a major fire has broken out at #NotreDame Cathedral #Paris pic.twitter.com/3VZjmGlO52 pic.twitter.com/Jj4OYAX5kR
— Global Independent News (@GlobalinNews) April 15, 2019
DEVELOPING: Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral is on fire, with roof and spire of the nearly 900-year-old cathedral engulfed in flames https://t.co/fqbTzjK6vp pic.twitter.com/GzHsMKh6TN
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 15, 2019
#NotreDame: 'The roof has entirely collapsed, there are flames coming out the back of the cathedral as if it was a torch'@charli, Journalist at France 24, at the scene of the fire. pic.twitter.com/2B0IrMiDcL
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) April 15, 2019
Update: 8:23PM in Paris
Shep Smith on Fox News just reported that Paris fire fighters are just now beginning to get water on Notre Dame nearly three hours after the blaze was first reported.
Update 8:26PM in Paris
Notre Dame Spokesman: “Entire wooden interior of cathedral is burning, likely to be destroyed. Everything is burning. Nothing will remain from the frame.”
Update 9:12PM in Paris
The fire has spread to one of the two iconic bell towers, according to reports.
Published in Culture, History
I like this idea immensely. May it come to pass.
Or if they could have started it, they would have started it.
Yep.
I was a wildland fire fighter. My experience with structures is “near zero.” @tigerlily’s link posted at #78 is right on the money.
Yes, this thought occurred to me the moment I heard about the fire. Unfortunately, as I understand it, the fire started in something like an attic area. Since the roof – and everything up there – has collapsed, it is entirely possible that the evidence we need to establish the cause is long gone. Since there was construction going on, fluids and other material that, under normal circumstances would immediately be recognized as accelerants, could have been in legitimate presence, in abundance.
Fire science and investigations, and investigators are incredible. We’ll just have to see what they find, if anything. Probably the only clue we’ll have is if some islamic group claims credit. Of course, that may well happen anyway. I’ll bet there are celebrations in some of Paris’ “no-go” zones.
Some good news (for now):
Only if I could be assured that not one cent would be siphoned off by my local Archdiocese (Cupich) or any of the funds funneled to some Alinskyite program hidden in Catholic Charities or the Campaign for Human Development.
Even amidst the destruction.
An outstanding photograph. Somehow the helmets look like the helmets the knights wore.
Perhaps God can turn this into good. Perhaps this will send a shock into the agnostic French and make them realize the treasure of faith and hear the words of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Maybe they turn back.
That was my first thought, too. It looks eerily medieval.
I disagree. The desire to restore this cathedral will inspire artisans to perfect their craft and work together to rebuild Notre Dame to her former glory.
G-d is greater than this fire. We will see this truth.
Mark Steyn talked tonight about the fire and the terrible decline of Christianity in Europe. https://www.steynonline.com/9306/the-heartbreak-of-notre-dame
The number of people who can manipulate 3D printers and generate designs for decoration probably exceeds the number of European artisans by 10,000X.
Aside from St. Peter, there wasn’t a church I visited in Europe that wasn’t a tenebrous husk. A few had services while the tourists milled on the margins, but the attendees were scant. In a fantastic church in Venice a priest was holding a service for six people off to the side. All Americans.
In the churches of Europe you don’t get the sense that something was banished. You sense that it fled. It left before indifference turned to animus, leaving a neutral ground where the contemplation of the divine could be easily converted to contemplation of art.
Possibly. But who’s view of her former glory? And in a currently secular French government, which is drifting inexorably toward Islam, will the temptation be too great to make the new Notre Dame even more glorious with a more pantheistic design? How many would recognize the irony of a prayer room for daily prayers, prayer rugs to rent, etc.? Even a small minaret in the sanctuary from which to announce the call to prayer.? Can a presently secular – and future Islamic – Europe tolerate a fully Catholic cathedral? I fear not.
Agreed. There are actually many artisans out there that are inspired by the old ways. They can easily be found to rebuild what was lost. Very little of what was lost was original anyway. Roofing is constantly being replaced and repaired in these cathedrals. Major renovations have been done in the past and more will be done in the future. Most of the great European cathedrals were blasted to smithereens during past wars. This damage looks like a frat party in comparison. This is a heart wrenching disaster. Yet this is a minor blip on what has been a catastrophic collapse of faith in Europe. Sadly, for the overwhelming majority of folks who are saddened by this, it is only on the level of a beloved relic and tourist attraction having been damaged. The thoughts of those who over hundreds of years, came to a saving knowledge of Christ the savior or brought the greatest issues of their lives before God the creator in prayer within those walls is the furthest thing from most minds. Today, most who are living in obedience to God in Paris and Europe do so in the shadows of the great Cathedrals not within them.
edit: sorry, I think I responded to the wrong post!
Yeah, you did. But every point is valid and critical – more so than the mere loss of a building, even one as great as this. So no apology necessary.
And the reports we’re getting, now that the smoke has cleared (both metaphorically and not), it seems the vault and some of the interior, including the organ, are little damaged.
I hope and pray that it happens, and everything is possible with God. But I’m realistic – and experienced. I remember well the Sunday following 9/11/01. Our church was packed. The next Sunday – not so much. The third Sunday – nobody who wasn’t a member. And this morning Luke 16:29-31 came to mind.
God and the soldier alike are adored
When danger’s at hand and not before.
Once danger is past both alike are requited.
God is forgotten and the soldier is slighted.
There are an awful lot of stone masons who have been working on St. John the Divine in NYC. I’m sure they would jump at the opportunity.
I’ve been thinking that there has been a good deal of negligence on the part of the caretakers and renovators of Notre Dame. If the fire started slowly and in a normal way, there should have been contingency procedures and equipment ready for that event such that they could have contained and extinguished the fire while it was small. It’s interesting in regulation-rich Europe that such plans were obviously not in place for this massive project.
I imagine that at this moment managers of building restoration construction sites around the globe are examining their sites with the possibility in mind that they could catch fire.
For those curious this is an extended thread from a structural firefighter on the issues involved in dealing with a fire of this type and why the Parisian firefighters had such difficulty extinguishing it.
Has atheism replaced it? Or agnosticism? Or do they have the same faith in God and the Bible they have always had but are walking away from the obligation of supporting an organized religion?
Your comment that no one who saw the cathedral considered that they would outlive it remains the most profound thing I have read about the event.
Good point. I think that’s more accurate.