It has only been a week since a fire raged inside of Notre Dame Cathedral, causing monumental damage to the important Catholic landmark, but already Catholic communities the world over are donating towards the restoration efforts.
In just 8 days the total money raised has reached €900 million. A sizable portion of this has come from two wealthy French families, each of which put up €200 million, but the remaining half a billion has come from churches, organizations, companies, and private individuals. The International Olympic Committee, for example, is ready to contribute €500,000.
While this number sounds like it would be impossible to spend in one place, the restoration of the great French cathedral is estimated by some to cost upwards of the 1 billion euros. André Finot, the spokesperson of Notre-Dame de Paris, told Medievalist, “You can say it’s crazy to have a billion euros but we don’t know. Maybe the cost is two or three billion.”
The destruction of Notre Dame is an open wound in the French capital, one that only restoration will heal. If you are interested in donating aid to our French brothers and sisters in Christ, there are several officially-sanctioned options (all donations are Tax deductible in the US):
La Fondation du patrimoine – The French Heritage Foundation has decided to launch a national call to collect funds in order to rebuild Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral.
French Heritage Society – Protecting the architectural legacy of France is at the very heart of their mission, and they feel they must provide whatever aid they can to this cherished monument in a time of dire need.
Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris – The Archbishop of Paris, in concert with the Diocese of Paris, created the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris in order to raise funds for renovations to ease the burden from the state. Now they have begun a new donation campaign to help restore Notre Dame.
Centre des Monuments Nationaux – The Center of National Monuments is a French government body that conserves, restores, and manages historic buildings and sites which are the property of the French state. It is run by the Ministry for Culture and Communication.
Donations can also be made to the official government of France website: Let’s Rebuild Together
And today we celebrate...