The Soul of a Nation

"Notre Dame, by the fullest standards of human achievement, is remarkable. Longevity was at play even in its building, a common endeavour over 300 years, and its existence -- beyond time's decay or external ravaging -- near 900. Centuries cluster around that building, and thereby the motions of history, events great and small enacted so to speak within the great shadow of its long presence. People coming to view the cathedral are by it put in mind of the great flow of history, the accumulation of events, achievements, sorrows and joys of art and life, that played out around the magnificent towers, and within its vast ornamented spaces."
"We in the West are obliging amnesiacs of our greatest achievements. And it takes something like the jeopardy to Notre Dame to remind us of our common cultural and artistic heritage. That through literature, painting, sculpture, music and all the attendant arts the West has brightened and deepened the experience of life, and put in possession for generations past and to come creations that widen our souls. It is good, too, and of the essence of the near tragedy in Paris, to be reminded that from the power of religion in the so-called dim light of the Middle Ages, by the labour of hands and minds of a whole people, something as transcendent as the great vaults and towers of Notre Dame was given over to the world."
Rex Murphy, National Post

The Gallican French Church can assimilate all the vagaries of human nature; it is the ultimate worldly church. Some of its 20th-Century theologians, such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Jacques Maritain, were among the most influential in the world. And Notre Dame, beyond all other buildings in Europe, has been in the seminal moments of the history of Europe through most of the Middle Ages, and through all the complexities of the history of France as one of the world's greatest nation states, which it remains."
"When Henry IV won the civil war and in order to unite the country under him, became a Roman Catholic -famously saying: 'Paris is worth a mass'], it was in Notre Dame that the mass occurred. All the kings of France from Philip Augustus in the 12th Century were frequent communicants here."
Conrad Black, National Post

"A small number of specialized insurers, notably Lloyd's of London, are often willing to accept the risk of undertaking such valuations, but the resulting premiums are very high."
"The insurance business operates by spreading risk over a large number of similarly situated insured parties, and obviously in the case of unique assets, there is not a large pool!"
"The cost to them [France or any nation-state] of financing the occasional repair or replacement of unique asset, they may calculate, will be lower than the sum of the insurance premiums. Thus I would doubt that Egypt has purchased a comprehensive insurance policy for, e.g., the Pyramids of Egypt."
Bruce Huber, professor of law, University of Notre Dame, Indiana

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While it is beyond difficult to evaluate a priceless loss such as an incomparable work of art of ancient heritage, it is possible to imagine the price that the building and artistic professions such as architects historians and artisans' meticulous work involved in restoring the 850-year-old Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after the devastating and mysterious fire consumed its architectural integrity as a medieval-era landmark, to be in the neighbourhood of billions of dollars.

When catastrophic events cause untold damage, usually insurance can be relied upon to help defray most of the costs associated with reconstruction. But not in this case. The French state is the owner of Notre Dame and the artworks displayed within, and it and they were not insured, leaving the government of France responsible for restoration and rebuilding costs. National monuments are not generally insured; the cost would be monumental even if a valuation reflective of their inestimable worth were to be agreed upon.

Properties like monuments or religious relics defy valuation in any event since they are a product of not only great art but sentiment and heritage. These cultural artefacts are known the world over and become a magnet for pilgrimages. The choice when it comes to such priceless objects is to self-insure. Which is to say the unspoken but glaringly obvious esteem in which they are held bespeak their value, and the owners of such properties understand that they are obliged to history, culture and world heritage to protect and insure their existence.

The fire that destroyed much of the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris is a tragedy that is irreparable. Even if the cathedral is rebuilt, it will never be what it was before. (Photo by Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, and will continue for some time. That initially, that is directly upon the outbreak of the fire official assurances went the rounds through the news media that the cause was inadvertence, an unfortunate accident, ascribed to the relatively modest $6.75-million project to renovate and strengthen its roof. Since at this juncture the public hopes and the authorities promise that the cathedral in its former glory is to be restored, public figures of great celebrity and wealth have responded by pledging a billion dollars to date, as a start.

According to U.K.-based Ecclesiastical Insurance, in business for over a century, such structures as churches, owing to their age, are complicated to insure where buildings recognized for their great historical value must by law be restored in the very same manner as originally built. Sourcing appropriate materials and artisans to reproduce the work of medieval times is expensive because both are rare. According to specialist Paul Humphris of Ecclesiastical, if portions of Notre Dame appear physically insecure "a certain element of violence" will be required to eliminate the danger of collapse.

"If the fire really was an accident, it is almost impossible to explain how it started. Benjamin Mouton, Notre Dame's former chief architect, explained that the rules were exceptionally strict and that no electric cable or appliance, and no source of heat, could be placed in the attic. He added that an extremely sophisticated alarm system was in place. The company that installed the scaffolding did not use any welding and specialized in this type of work. The fire broke out more than an hour after the workers' departure and none of them was present. It spread so quickly that the firefighters who rushed to the spot as soon as they could get there were shocked. Remi Fromont, the chief architect of the French Historical Monuments said: "The fire could not start from any element present where it started. A real calorific load is necessary to launch such a disaster."
Dr. Guy Millière, professor, history, culture, University of Paris, author of 27 books on France and Europe

So, is there any reason to distrust or question the continued assertions made by French authorities respecting the cause of the fire, and their insistence of the disaster being the result of an unfortunate accident? None whatever, if there were no precedents in such declarations in the aftermath of horrific terrorist attacks in France. Distrust does not come from nowhere; it is the result of credible authorities deliberately steering the public away from the truth, motivated by a wish to have calm prevail by masking the truth.

Eventually, as on previous occasions, it is likely that the truth will prevail, that private investigative sources or enterprising investigative journalists seeking out the truth, whether it validates the official statements or contradicts them as it has in the past -- may unearth incriminating evidence of a malign source of the 'accident' that set about with great deliberation to torch and destroy a magnificent edifice of ancient heritage because of unreasoning hatred for symbols of the West, Christianity and the values of civilizational norms.

In this April 15, 2019 photo, flames and smoke rise from the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Thierry Mallet/The Associated Press