Fire at Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral

[laPapessaGiovanna]

14 hours ago, tabitha2 said:

So? An historical tragedy is happening. That should be the focus and All world leaders will eventually comment. 

Yeah, but they avoided telling firefighters how to do their job. Especially considering that his tweets had a very different tone when Trump Tower burned killing a person because he was cheap with installing sprinklers.

12 hours ago, tabitha2 said:

But you would think the Vatican and Pope Francis would have said something by now.

They did. 

[Ozlsn]

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque was on fire at the same time as Notre Dame. Fortunately it seems to have been contained without too much damage but still not a great day for historical places of worship. 

[KnittingOwl]

Heartbroken. I visited Notre Dame when I was 11 and was struck by the incredible beauty and scale of the place. It is incredible to realize that parts of it are over 800 years old. I hoped to go back, so I look forward to seeing how reconstruction goes forward. Like everyone, I am particularly interested in the rose windows. They really are gorgeous. 

[ViolaSebastian]

Apparently a priest, Father Jean-Marc Fournier , who is also the chaplain of the Paris firefighters, personally went in with firefighters to rescue some of the relics and the blessed sacrament. I find that very touching and remarkable. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

2 hours ago, ViolaSebastian said:

Apparently a priest, Father Jean-Marc Fournier , who is also the chaplain of the Paris firefighters, personally went in with firefighters to rescue some of the relics and the blessed sacrament. I find that very touching and remarkable. 

I do as well - that people would risk their lives to save things for humanity is some of the best of human nature.

But I truly wish they wouldn’t. 

While I admire their bravery, people are more important than things.  Even priceless, treasured things.

 

[VelociRapture]

My grandparents used to love traveling and thought it was important to expose their three grandchildren to other cultures (I know how incredibly lucky I am to have them), so they took us to France in late 2001 and Italy the following year. I was 13 and didn’t fully grasp the significance of everything at the time, but I feel very fortunate to have been able to turn to my grandpa and ask him who let him out of his bell tower as we stood in Notre Dame.

(Ten bucks says that didn’t turn out the way you guys expected. I swear that’s actually a legitimately true story though. Teasing my grandpa had always been a favorite pastime of mine and he finds it hysterical, so win-win.)

In all seriousness though, it was a beautiful building filled with history and the French people have every right to be incredibly proud of it and to grieve now that it’s been damaged. I’m very glad to see people already stepping forward to help with the eventual rebuilding process and I hope to one day be able to take my own family to visit it.

[Destiny]

I do as well - that people would risk their lives to save things for humanity is some of the best of human nature.
But I truly wish they wouldn’t. 
While I admire their bravery, people are more important than things.  Even priceless, treasured things.
 

I would have gone in for the art or for people. No question. I look at it as someday I will be gone but these beautiful things have stood the test of time and future generations should have them. I look at things like that as being so much bigger than any one person. They belong to humanity.

Has there been any word of the organ?

[47of74]

I would have gone in for the art or for people. No question. I look at it as someday I will be gone but these beautiful things have stood the test of time and future generations should have them. I look at things like that as being so much bigger than any one person. They belong to humanity.

Has there been any word of the organ?

Last I heard it appears the organ survived but they have to figure out how much damage there was.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/notre-dame-fire-organ-music/

[tabitha2]

That old organ has lived many lives and It will be rebuilt , reconfigured as it has dozens of times before

[formergothardite]

Hillary Clinton's response. 

Spoiler

My heart goes out to Paris. Notre Dame is a symbol of our ability as human beings to unite for a higher purpose—to build breathtaking spaces for worship that no one person could have built on their own. I wish France strength and shared purpose as they grieve and rebuild.

Way more presidential than the Orange Idiot. 

At least the building is structurally sound so rebuilding can take place. It won't ever be the same, but it will still be there for future generations to see. 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/europe/inside-notre-dame-cathedral-photos-intl/index.html

 

[PennySycamore]

An exchange student we hosted in 2012 was from Paris.  She gave us a lovely book of views of Paris from the air.  Naturally, a picture of Notre Dame is both on the cover and is the lead photo.

I've always wanted to go to Paris with my middle daughter.  I think we need to start planning a trip for when Notre Dame is restored.  

[ViolaSebastian]

3 hours ago, Destiny said:

I would have gone in for the art or for people. No question. I look at it as someday I will be gone but these beautiful things have stood the test of time and future generations should have them. I look at things like that as being so much bigger than any one person. They belong to humanity.

Has there been any word of the organ?

I'm in the same group as you--there are certain pieces of art or historical artifacts I would risk my life trying to save, without a doubt--but that's a decision each person as to make for him or herself. Father Fournier also rushed into the Bataclan after the terrorist attack before the scene was secured and served in the armed forces diocese where he was in an ambush in Afghanistan, so I think he's just a man who is a serious badass in the face of danger.

[PennySycamore]

I just saw on CNN where they were interviewing an expert on historic preservation from the University of Notre Dame that the candles at the altar had not melted.  That is pretty amazing!  I remember going into our church 40 years ago on summer days and the candles in the church were all slumped over from the heat.  Of course, it's possible that they were modern fake candles which burn something other than wicks (alcohol perhaps) but I think that's unlikely in Notre Dame.

[adidas]

If it’s any consolation, the US president has been slammed around the world for his comments regarding the fire.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/us-president-donald-trump-lashed-for-ignorant-tweet-about-notre-dame/news-story/858a9a7133d0fdbc7fb3cd913862ac1f

And perhaps tellingly, he has left off the list in this article under ‘messages of support’ (scroll down). Disclaimer: it is 5.45am and my eyes are bleary so I could just have misread!

https://www.9news.com.au/world/notre-dame-fire-millions-of-euros-pledged-to-rebuild-cathedral/1a4d87be-d04c-4762-aacd-892430029797

[laPapessaGiovanna]

34 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

I just saw on CNN where they were interviewing an expert on historic preservation from the University of Notre Dame that the candles at the altar had not melted.  That is pretty amazing!  I remember going into our church 40 years ago on summer days and the candles in the church were all slumped over from the heat.  Of course, it's possible that they were modern fake candles which burn something other than wicks (alcohol perhaps) but I think that's unlikely in Notre Dame.

CNN has pictures of the candles. Those aren't the traditional candlesticks, the candle is bigger and is inside a sort of plastic cup.

[libgirl2]

3 hours ago, Destiny said:

I would have gone in for the art or for people. No question. I look at it as someday I will be gone but these beautiful things have stood the test of time and future generations should have them. I look at things like that as being so much bigger than any one person. They belong to humanity.

Has there been any word of the organ?

And as a Catholic (and he is a priest) the Holy Sacrament! 

[adidas]

19 hours ago, ViolaSebastian said:

I just realized (it's been awhile since I've been to church...) that it's Holy Week and almost Easter, which just magnifies the tragedy of all this. 

I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to see Notre Dame in 1996. It was more than twenty years ago, but I still feel very lucky to have seen it before this happened.

I saw a beautiful quote last night - it’s aimed at Christians with reference to Holy Week. 

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the New York Archbishop who often visited Notre Dame while studying in Europe, saw significance in the fact that the fire broke out at the beginning of Holy Week, when Christians there and around the world prepare to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“Just as the cross didn’t have the last word, neither — for people of faith in France — will this fire have the last word,” he said.

[adidas]

Lots of good information from the experts regarding the relics and artworks here. It seems accurate. 

Regarding the rose stained glass windows, the carefully worded statement is that they have “escaped catastrophic damage”. The human chain effort saw items transferred to the city town hall but they are now being moved to storage facilities owned by the Louvre to be  “dehumidified, protected, conserved and restored”.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/04/15/europe/notre-dame-artifacts/index.html

and

https://mercury.postlight.com/amp?url=http://news.trust.org/item/20190416141738-746ml

"We have avoided a complete disaster. But some five to 10 percent of the artwork has probably been destroyed, we have to face up to that," Cumunel said. Four of the largest-scale 17th and 18th century paintings depicting scenes from the lives of the apostles had been damaged, at least in part, he added.

Culture Minister Franck Riester said the paintings were mainly affected by smoke damage, rather than by flames.

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

17 minutes ago, adidas said:

I saw a beautiful quote last night - it’s aimed at Christians with reference to Holy Week. 

 

 

That was really beautiful.  Thanks so much for sharing that.

I am surprised how affected I am by this and oddly how it kind of put me in touch with my faith in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time.

[ViolaSebastian]

I hesitate to use this word, but it was a miracle that the windows--and so much of the artwork and the bones of the building--survived. 

[Destiny]

Amazing.

h/t to @hoipolloi for the link

[Alisamer]

I'm amazed at how good the inside looks, having had the roof fall in. Hopefully they can get it all cleaned up and protected from the weather as quickly as possible.

If it was up to me to rebuild, I'd be tempted not to try and replicate what it was, but preserve what is left. Make it usable again, and preserve the history that is there, but also let the new parts be obviously new. Kind of like the way the glass pyramid works with the Louvre - it complements the historical architecture without pretending to be original to the location.

[VelociRapture]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

That was really beautiful.  Thanks so much for sharing that.

I am surprised how affected I am by this and oddly how it kind of put me in touch with my faith in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time.

Same. I haven’t identified as Catholic for almost twenty years now, but this moved me for some reason. I don’t like a lot of what the Church does or how it handles things and I definitely don’t like how they insist on inserting themselves into politics here, but that was a genuinely beautiful statement by Dolan and I hope it brings comfort to Catholics and to the French people. 

[Destiny]

I'm not Catholic at all (though @HerNameIsBuffy and @choralcrusader8613 taught me a lot about why it mattered that they got the Sacraments out, which is a thing I now understand but still don't at the same time), and I was horrified at the idea of losing all those priceless things. They may not hold a religious significance to me, but they do show the best of mankind and what they can accomplish when they want to.

Losing our past, no matter if religious like the famous old churches, or palaces and castles, or things like Mesa Verde or Machu Pichu is an incalculable loss for future generations. I'm so glad that @VelociRapture's baby and VelociToddler will still have the choice to go see that piece the best of humanity. ❤️ 

(Picking on VR because she's the only person I know on fj who is pregnant right now.)

[Bethella]

27 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I'm amazed at how good the inside looks, having had the roof fall in. Hopefully they can get it all cleaned up and protected from the weather as quickly as possible.

If it was up to me to rebuild, I'd be tempted not to try and replicate what it was, but preserve what is left. Make it usable again, and preserve the history that is there, but also let the new parts be obviously new. Kind of like the way the glass pyramid works with the Louvre - it complements the historical architecture without pretending to be original to the location.

I’m hoping they’ll do something similar to what’s been done at the Parthenon/Acropolis where they’ve replaced missing pieces of stone with salvaged materials where possible and with new stone in other cases. It’s visibly clear what’s original and what’s new but it maintains the integrity of the original structure. 

http://www.greece-is.com/healing-parthenon-inside-mammoth-restoration-project/