National Post (National Edition)
HEROES AND SAVIOURS
The day after a devastating fire destroyed large parts of notre dame Cathedral, france was praising those who saved priceless artifacts and the businessmen donating money to restore the gothic gem.
THE HEROES OF NOTRE DAME
There was little time to waste. The wood-and-lead roof was a crackling inferno overhead. The flames were now snaking down though the majestic woodwork inside the Notre Dame cathedral. Very soon — just minutes maybe — the fire would begin threatening the artwork, liturgical items and priceless religious relics tucked throughout the warrens and alcoves of the cathedral. Firefighters rushed in, looking for whatever they could grab and carry to safety. The fire department chaplain — his glasses reflecting the orange flames — demanded to join them. Then a human chain took shape. It included Parisian officials, church caretakers, and the Rev. Jean-marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade who, just hours earlier, had been preparing events for Easter week. “We made a human chain, with our friends from the church … to get, as quick as possible, to get all the relics,” Paris’s deputy mayor for tourism and sports, Jean-francois Martins, told CBS This Morning.
Among the items they salvaged, said French Culture Minister Franck Riester, was the Crown of Thorns followers believe was worn by Jesus before his crucifixion and a tunic once donned by Saint Louis in the 13th century — while Notre Dame was being built. Both of those items are now in safekeeping at Paris city hall, and would ultimately join a convoy of others soon to be taken to the Louvre Museum, Riester announced. Etienne Loraillère, the editor of France’s KTO Catholic television network, said Fournier had a key role in saving the Crown of Thorns. Fournier was previously a military chaplain who served in Afghanistan and survived an ambush that killed 10 troops. And in 2015, he comforted victims of the terrorist assault on the Bataclan theatre in Paris after attacks across the city that claimed 130 lives.
THE CAUSE
French detectives investigating the Notre Dame fire Tuesday questioned workers who had been restoring the cathedral and left the site minutes before the blaze broke out. The inferno that consumed most of the roof was probably started accidentally, said Remy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, possibly as a result of restoration work on crumbling upper sections of the cathedral and the spire. “Nothing indicates a deliberate act,” he said. Some 50 investigators from the Paris police criminal division — half of its detectives — have been assigned to the case. Among those they have interviewed are 12 employees of the firm leading the four-year restoration.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES
On Twitter, conspiracy theories spread rapidly. An account impersonating CNN with the handle @Cnnpolitics2020 tweeted that “CNN can now confirm the Notre Dame fire was caused by an act of terrorism.” The tweet gained dozens of retweets and likes. The account is now suspended. Another tweet said the fire was intentionally set. It was deleted, but website Infowars wrote a story based on it. Meanwhile, on Youtube, an automated system attached background information about the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York to livestream videos of the fire. The note was supposed to combat wellknown conspiracies but may have had the opposite effect.
WORLDWIDE REACTION
Pope Francis phoned French President Emmanuel Macron to express his solidarity over the fire. Vatican Culture Minister Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi also suggested that experts from the Vatican Museum could offer their services as the French begin to rebuild.
He stressed, though, that Notre Dame is owned by the French government and has autonomous sources of funding. In England, bells at London’s landmark Westminster Abbey rang Tuesday afternoon to mark 24 hours since the fire broke out at the cathedral.
Czech President Milos Zeman offered France the expertise and assistance of leading Czech specialists to help restoration efforts. The Czech Republic, as well as Greece, Britain and Germany, have also offered financial assistance to France in restoring the cathedral.
Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, offered sympathy and help to rebuild the cathedral, while tabloids under his control called the disaster “God’s punishment.” Many in Serbia are angry at France for reportedly displaying a flag of Kosovo outside Notre Dame for First World War centennial commemorations last year, and for taking part in the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia.
HUNCHBACK
Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame has rocketed to the top of the bestseller list of Amazon in France in its original version.
Meanwhile, the English translation of the 1831 novel is also No. 1 in sales in the category of historical fiction.
REBUILDING CAMPAIGN
France’s luxury-goods tycoons are among the country’s wealthiest individuals and companies to pledge at least $905 million to help in the reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral.
Kicking off a wave of donations in response to a call for a fundraising campaign, François-henri Pinault, the chairman and chief executive officer of Kering, and his father, François Pinault, said Tuesday they would donate $150 million from their Artemis investment company. Their archrival, the Arnault family, responded minutes later with a pledge of $300 million and the architectural and design resources of their LVMH fashion conglomerate. Cosmetics company L’oreal and its principal shareholder, the Bettencourt Meyers family, will give $150 million, while the family’s charitable foundation will chip in another $150 million, the company said. Oil producer Total, France’s biggest company by sales, will contribute $150 million to the private non-profit Fondation du Patrimoine for the project, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said. Martin Bouygues and Olivier Bouygues, the brothers who run construction and telecom company Bouygues SA, committed $15 million in personal funds and the company said it also would donate. Technology consulting firm Capgemini pledged $1.5 million. In the U.S., private-equity titan Henry Kravis and his wife, Marie-josée Kravis, will give $13 million. The president of the University of Notre Dame said the school will donate $133,000 toward the renovation of Notre Dame cathedral following the devastating fire.