WEEKLY NEWS | Paris in Mourning over Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Paris, often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral is consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. On Monday, April 15th 2019, the Cathedral erupted on fire causing serious damage to the top of the Church.

At 6:00 pm there was an alarm that went off, but a computer bug showed the fire's location in the wrong place. Then at 6:20 pm a fire alarm was triggered but no fire. Then at 6:43 p.m., another alarm sounded and the fire spread quickly from the roof near the rear of Notre Dame. In less than an hour, the spire collapsed as people watched in disbelief.

A French judicial police official told the Associated Press that investigators think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire in the elevator.

President Emmanuel Macron pledged that France would rebuild the fire-devastated Church in 5 years,a nd asked for those to pledge to assist with it’s rebuilt.  So far they have about a billion dollars to the restoration of the Church. He said, “We will rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it… It is up to us to convert this disaster into an opportunity to come together, having deeply reflected on what we have been and what we have to be and become better than we are. It is up to us to find the thread of our national project.” Macron, President of Paris.