Good Friday, a Catholic day of fasting and penance, is the day that signifies the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. On this day, Catholics all around the world live in observance of the Passion- the beating and destruction of Jesus nailed to a cross- however, Good Friday is also remembered as a day of hope for the resurrection.
Tomorrow on Good Friday, Catholics will keep this hope that soon there will be a rising. Earlier this week, the City of Paris was also given this hope- there will be a revival.
“We will rebuild it. All together,” the President of France Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, April 15, 2019, following a destructive fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
On Monday it was confirmed that two-thirds of the cathedral’s roof was destroyed due to a damaging fire that burned for about five hours, according to the fire chief, Jean-Claude Gallet.
There was no reported death due to the cathedral fire, but a firefighter was seriously injured. About 500 firefighters battled the fire that began around 6:30 Monday afternoon and around 11 p.m. Paris time the fire was announced contained.
President Macron made a promise to the city that the Notre-Dame Cathedral would be rebuilt.
“This is the place where we have lived all of our great moments, the epicenter of our lives,” Macron said to the press on Monday night. “It is the cathedral of all the French.”
The Notre-Dame Cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and since its inception, the cathedral has become a landmark of Paris, royalty, celebration, worship and tourism. The Notre-Dame Cathedral was the home of royal weddings for centuries in Paris, and some of France’s Kings and Queens are buried there, according to historian Hubert Hitier.
Nearby citizens of Paris watched the flames engulf the cathedral’s wooden roof that ultimately caused the cathedral’s famous spire to collapse. The cathedral’s rector, Patrick Chauvet, said the fire appeared to have started inside the building within a series of wooden beams, “many dating back to the Middle Ages and nicknamed ‘the forest,’” according to the New York Times.
According to the same New York Times article, the cathedral was undergoing “extensive renovation work,” including updating the spire. From a 2017 New York Times report, the historical cathedral was falling to pieces, from broken gargoyles, erosion, beams held together by straps and even “in some places, limestone crumbled at a finger’s touch.”
Following the news of the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire, President Trump tweeted, “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.” A few hours later Trump added, “God bless the people of France!”
Many other U.S. prominent public figures took to Twitter to voice their sympathies for Paris on Monday, including former President Barack Obama. Along with his response, the former president tweeted an old photo of when he and his family visited the cathedral.
“Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief,” Obama said. “It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can.”
Like many victims of California’s recent fires know, the rebuilding process will take time and unfailing effort to restore a home and a community. Like the California fire victims also know, it will take not only the government’s help to re-build, but it will also take the strength of the community and the helping hand of a neighbor to truly restore all that was lost.
The City of Paris has mourned for the historical destruction of one of their monumental landmarks, but President Macron has vowed its revival to citizens and visitors. Catholics of Paris and Catholic visitors of the cathedral, especially during this Holy Week, may keep the faith that though it is destroyed, He will rebuild the temple.
This story was last updated on Monday, April 15, 2019, at 12:30 am.