Oh No - The Notre Dame

[Little Londoner]

I'm surprised this supposedly omnipotent all seeing God allows such a catastrophe especially to one of the most famous places of worship to him/her in the world.

No doubt some religious crank will enlighten us.

No takers ?

[Kafoozalum]

Grenfell Tower 72 dead
Notre Dame 0 dead

Money raised

Grenfell Tower 18 million ( but only 2.8 Million given to victims so far)
Notre Dame 700 million (in 24 hrs)

Is it just me that thinks there is something wrong somewhere?

[gsgsgs]

Grenfell Tower 72 dead
Notre Dame 0 dead

Money raised

Grenfell Tower 18 million ( but only 2.8 Million given to victims so far)
Notre Dame 700 million (in 24 hrs)

Is it just me that thinks there is something wrong somewhere?

There is something very wrong somewhere? a quick Google and the 3 richest catholic church areas (The Vatican, Australia & Germany) are worth $90 billion, throughout the world this must be many more times the value so why do they need public funding?

[Albion102]

There is something very wrong somewhere? a quick Google and the 3 richest catholic church areas (The Vatican, Australia & Germany) are worth $90 billion, throughout the world this must be many more times the value so why do they need public funding?

The interesting thing about Notre Dame is that it is of much greater historic significance than religious significance. It's a place to visit rather than to worship in. The Catholics I know were much more bothered about a couple of (undoubtedly fake) relics than the place itself. There was no great art in there, but undoubtedly plenty of vulgar tat*.

It has been restored a number of times, and there will be a few who will be glad to see the architectural dog's dinner that was the 19th century restoration.

*Go to the Mesquite in Cordoba (day trip from Torremolinos for the uninitiated) which is combines the vulgar tat of a southern european cathedral with the sublime beauty of a medieval mosque. The contrast is unbelievably stark.

[*concerned*]

What I can't get my head round is this :

Upto the moment the fire alarm was sounded, the organist was playing and a Mass was taking place, yet a few days before the fire many valuable historic relics were removed from the Cathedral, that was lucky wasn't it !

[said]

What I can't get my head round is this :

Upto the moment the fire alarm was sounded, the organist was playing and a Mass was taking place, yet a few days before the fire many valuable historic relics were removed from the Cathedral, that was lucky wasn't it !

As were several ornamental masonry parts of the building.

Also - believe it or not, according to the news in the Connexion, a French publication - the Cathedral was NOT insured.
"A document published by an official government agency, La Documentation Française, confirms there is a general rule that ‘the state is its own insurer’, meaning that rather than pay out each year to insure all its buildings, it simply foots the bill itself when damage occurs."

[seivad]

What I can't get my head round is this :

Upto the moment the fire alarm was sounded, the organist was playing and a Mass was taking place, yet a few days before the fire many valuable historic relics were removed from the Cathedral, that was lucky wasn't it !

Conspiracy King!

16 copper statues removed from the spire 4 days earlier & shipped to Dordogne for restoration. They're not even that old, they were installed during the dreadful 1859-60 restoration by the gargoyle crazy architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. If the fire was planned , surely there would have been more valuable historic relics worth saving.

[Alikado]

Conspiracy King!

16 copper statues removed from the spire 4 days earlier & shipped to Dordogne for restoration. They're not even that old, they were installed during the dreadful 1859-60 restoration by the gargoyle crazy architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. If the fire was planned , surely there would have been more valuable historic relics worth saving.

The most valuable bits had probably been removed years ago and replaced by copies.
Nobody has said anything about Quasi since the fire, I would have thought all the press would have been interviewing him, maybe an exclusive serialisation in the Sunday papers or is he keeping a low profile because he caused it?

[seivad]

The most valuable bits had probably been removed years ago and replaced by copies.
Nobody has said anything about Quasi since the fire, I would have thought all the press would have been interviewing him, maybe an exclusive serialisation in the Sunday papers or is he keeping a low profile because he caused it?

Please DON'T mention Quasi. My hunchbrained husband has been driving me crazy the last couple of days doing his Quasi thing... "Sanctuary, Sanctuary" He's never been quite the same since we went to a Halloween party as Quasi & Esmeralda about 30 years ago.

[Hamble]

The most valuable bits had probably been removed years ago and replaced by copies.
Nobody has said anything about Quasi since the fire, I would have thought all the press would have been interviewing him, maybe an exclusive serialisation in the Sunday papers or is he keeping a low profile because he caused it?

Perhaps because it is no longer wise to link a "creation of the Devil" with an ethnic minority.

[Albion102]

As were several ornamental masonry parts of the building.

Also - believe it or not, according to the news in the Connexion, a French publication - the Cathedral was NOT insured.
"A document published by an official government agency, La Documentation Française, confirms there is a general rule that ‘the state is its own insurer’, meaning that rather than pay out each year to insure all its buildings, it simply foots the bill itself when damage occurs."

I believe it. You only need to insure what you are legally obliged to insure and against risks that you can't afford to retain. To insure the whole state property portfolio would be a costly bureaucratic process to no great end as the state has enough money to rebuild anything it wants. There is am argument that it could insure against catastrophe risk, but there wouldn't be sufficient capacity in the insurance market for a state level catastrophe.

[said]

The interesting thing about Notre Dame is that it is of much greater historic significance than religious significance. It's a place to visit rather than to worship in. The Catholics I know were much more bothered about a couple of (undoubtedly fake) relics than the place itself. There was no great art in there, but undoubtedly plenty of vulgar tat*.

It has been restored a number of times, and there will be a few who will be glad to see the architectural dog's dinner that was the 19th century restoration.

*Go to the Mesquite in Cordoba (day trip from Torremolinos for the uninitiated) which is combines the vulgar tat of a southern european cathedral with the sublime beauty of a medieval mosque. The contrast is unbelievably stark.

There are far better Cathedrals in France than the Notre Dame, the Cathedral of Reims for instance - that one is also Gothic and Chartres Cathedral

(1194–1220) but quite honestly I think in Europe it would be hard to beat Salisbury Cathedral.