I was awakened on April 15th with news that the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was burning and continued to get updates throughout the day on the continued disaster that was occuring. According to an article written for CNN, the first fire alarm in the cathedral rang at 6:20 pm local time in Paris during a scheduled mass. Many of the people who had gathered at Notre Dame for this mass did not leave when they heard the alarm go off because they did not see any sign of a fire. It was not until a police officer went up to the priest leading the mass saying “This is no joke. You’ve got to get out” that the people still in the cathedral were forced out.
Source: Church News
It was only about 20 minutes later at 6:43 pm local time that a second fire alarm went off and the fire became visible, according to the Paris fire department. Around 400 firefighters showed up to the scene in an attempt to put out the blaze. A little before 8 pm local time, the cathedral’s famous spire was burned to only a shell before it finally fell to the ground. At 11 pm local time, France’s President Emmanuel Macron announced that “The worst has been avoided. The facade and the two main towers did not collapse.” It was not until 9:30 local time on Tuesday morning that the flames from the Notre Dame cathedral had been completely extinguished. According to their announcement on Twitter, two police officers and one firefighter were injured in the fire, but no other injuries or casualties were sustained.
Source: NBC News
The majority of the focus has been on the famous spire atop the cathedral. Although a large portion of the cathedral was ruined in the fire, many artifacts inside survived the blaze. The bell towers that were featured in The Hunchback of Notre Dame survived, which means their beautiful stonework did too. The Crown of Thorns also survived. This crown is thought to be a remnant of the passion of the Christ. A tunic that belonged to Saint Louis also survived the fire. Notre Dame’s beautiful rose windows also survived, which is a good thing because they are practically irreplaceable.
Source: National Post
After this event happened, many political figures and others have pledged to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to repair the cathedral. As of Sunday, April 21, workers started to place a large net over the stained glass windows of the cathedral to prevent any future damage. According to an article written in MPR News, a few streets and restaurants around Notre Dame were opened back up to the public so they could see how severe the damage actually was. It is expected for the cathedral to remain closed to the public for many years to come. We can only hope for the speedy rebuild of this gorgeous church.
Source: ABC News
As of Easter Sunday, another tragedy sparked in a different place in the world. According to an article written in the New York Times (which you can get a free subscription to if you’re a CU student btw!), Christians in Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo as well as two other major cities were gathering for Easter Mass when churches and hotels were bombed, killing at least 200 people and injuring another 450. Local police have said that these attacks were coordinated by suicide bombers and hotels popular with tourists were also targeted. It is interesting to note that the Sri Lanka government have temporarily blocked the use of social media in order to prevent the spread of misinformation. I definitely have opinions on this, but that would make this article 10,000 times longer so I won’t.
Source: The Australian
It is very disheartening that our world seems like it’s falling apart sometimes, but that is all the more reason to help support our fellow humans. After all, we all live on the same planet and we all need to stick together, especially in times like these. If you’re feeling up to it, here’s the website for the Sri Lanka Red Cross. It’s so important, especially right now, to put any hate or biases we have toward anything and anyone and to just help each other out. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to survive in the best way we can.