Americans, frequent visitors to Notre-Dame, begin fundraising efforts

[webfact]

Americans, frequent visitors to Notre-Dame, begin fundraising efforts

By Alex Dobuzinskis

 

Firefighters douse flames from the burning Notre Dame Cathedral as people look on in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The fire that devastated Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday prompted fund-raising appeals in the United States, as people horrified by the blaze began making commitments to restore a global landmark even before the flames were extinguished.

 

The New York-based French Heritage Society and the Go Fund Me crowdsourcing platform were among the first to offer help for a cathedral that is a must-see destination for visitors to Paris from all over the world.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron said an international campaign would be launched to raise funds for the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

 

The French Heritage Society, an American non-profit group dedicated to preserving French architectural and cultural treasures, launched a web page on Monday to raise money for the cathedral's restoration.

 

"Notre-Dame is obviously an architectural marvel and most certainly a monument that should be restored," Jennifer Herlein, the executive director of the society, said by phone.

 

Herlein could not immediately say how much her organisation had raised for Notre-Dame on Monday. Eventually, the funds raised will go directly to the cathedral, she said.

 

The organisation, which was founded in 1982, gave two grants last year totalling more than $430,000 for restoration projects at France's national library, she said.

 

50 CAMPAIGNS

At the website GoFundMe, more than 50 campaigns related to the cathedral fire had been launched globally on Monday, John Coventry, a spokesman for Go Fund Me, said by email.

 

"In the coming hours we'll be working with the authorities to find the best way of making sure funds get to the place where they will do the most good," Coventry said.

 

Some of the Go Fund Me campaigns had not listed any money raised by late Monday, and several joke campaigns were created through Go Fund Me to help Quasimodo, the fictional character in Victor Hugo's 19th century novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame."

 

"I think the challenge will be whether or not people who give the money agree with those who are doing the rebuilding about how the cathedral should be rebuilt," said Lisa Bitel, a professor of religion and history at the University of Southern California.

 

"This is a national monument in France and they will not spare money to rebuild," Bitel said. "I don't think the Americans will get much of a say in how to do it."

 

Notre-Dame Cathedral has looked to international donors for past renovation efforts.

 

In 2017, Michel Picaud, president of Friends of Notre-Dame De Paris, told the New York Times his group planned to organise gala dinners, concerts and other events to raise funds in France and the United States for restoration work at the cathedral.

 

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-16

[SammyT]

The Catholic church is worth billions, and the French government has profited from tourism to attractions like this for decades. Those should be the places the rebuild money comes from.  

 

I'd almost rather donate to the GoFundMe of some British chav who doesnt take travel insurance and winds up in thai hospital. Almost. 

[Lucius verus]

If people want to donate money to heritage groups OK,  but don't give it to Go FundMe <deleted>!.  A % of every donation goes into the pockets of the millionaire founders in USA.

Let the Pope fix it anyway. Tell him to sell a couple of Raphael paintings.

They've got heaps of them.

The French gov will cry poor and get all the gullible Catholics to shell out the money.

[Ulic]

Why give?  It would rob the French of warm fuzzy feeling you get when you give to a good cause. 

[observer90210]

Time to copy the Thai's at the entrance of the church in the collective effort and to start dual pricing for entering the ruins.

 

I do not see why a country like France,  with a multi billion dollar military budget, enough probably to rebuild many Notre Dames, needs any donations ? 

[TBWG]

The story the French are pushing is that it was accidentally caused by the renovations company. If so surely they have insurance coverage. Otherwise why not the French tourism industry or the Vatican can fund it out of loose change!

 

But no it will be the poor and the faithful who pick up the tab.

 

Strange that this is one of many French Catholic churches that have been torched in the last few months. Who wants us to take our eye off the ball?

 

TBWG

 

 

[Orton Rd]

4 hours ago, SammyT said:

The Catholic church is worth billions, and the French government has profited from tourism to attractions like this for decades. Those should be the places the rebuild money comes from.  

 

I'd almost rather donate to the GoFundMe of some British chav who doesnt take travel insurance and winds up in thai hospital. Almost. 

The Church do not own it, the French state does.

[samsensam]

 

according to news reports two millionaires have pledged a 100 million euros each

[SammyT]

3 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

The Church do not own it, the French state does.

Even still, it's an important place for Catholics worldwide. It wouldn't even make a dent in the bank balance of the Catholic Church to throw some money at it. Better than spending it on QCs to defend nonces like Cardinal Pell.

[cbtstorm]

April 4th article, the French Gov got this

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190404-the-massive-cost-of-saving-notre-dame?fbclid=IwAR0jJ62EwLZ-Ue8dLpDYFcrKE8EVys6DE44RWpJpC6WjroKN9ISJxPfltjw

[IAMHERE]

Why rush to rebuild? Let's wait a few years to see if tourism really is affected. 

[katana]

4 hours ago, TBWG said:

Strange that this is one of many French Catholic churches that have been torched in the last few months. Who wants us to take our eye off the ball?

...Catholic churches in France are being targeted with arson attacks, vandalism, desecration of holy statues, and the destruction of the Eucharist. The attacks have been happening since the start of the year...

Continued:

https://www.rt.com/news/454472-arson-vandal-french-catholic-church/

[Odysseus123]

Well done the Yanks!

 

First foreign nationals of the mark.

 

There will be many more.

 

The wondrous webs we weave..

[Opl]

The Images That Could Help Rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral

And the young, brilliant professor who made them before he died

"A cathedral calls us to consider time beyond the boundaries of one life, enclosing us in a grand view of what humanity can do that humans cannot. Andrew Tallon will not reappear among the living, but the work he put into recording stone and wood as it was built by countless hands over time may restore that creation—and embed the man into the place he venerated.."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/04/laser-scans-could-help-rebuild-notre-dame-cathedral/587230/

 

 

[Basil B]

I hope her Majesty invites Macron to Windsor and York Minster to show how Notre Dame can be restored.

[Trouble]

It's amazing to me that the majority of the posts on funding are so negative. The world has lost an 850 year old cultural treasure. It's my understanding that the building itself is actually owned by the French Government not the Catholic Church and that the Catholic Church uses the building. Whatever the arrangements are the building had survived much over the centuries and is irreplaceable for it's beauty and architecture. It is/was a magnificent structure.  Whatever views one may have of the Catholic Church or French Government there is nothing wrong with getting one with beginning the organization to fund rebuilding. Surely both the church and the government will be allocating funds in helping to rebuild. I'm proud that some Americans may lead in the effort.  Hopefully organization for funding will be well organized and transparent. If one looks around wherever they live they will see that most likely there will be no structure that will be around 8 centuries from now. Preserving the surviving structures of past eras is all we have in this consumer world we live in today.  

[Bluespunk]

23 hours ago, webfact said:

I think the challenge will be whether or not people who give the money agree with those who are doing the rebuilding about how the cathedral should be rebuilt," said Lisa Bitel, a professor of religion and history at the University of Southern California.

 

"This is a national monument in France and they will not spare money to rebuild," Bitel said. "I don't think the Americans will get much of a say in how to do it."

Why would they? 

 

Odd to suggest any Americans donating would expect a say in how it is rebuilt. 

[Opl]

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