Notre Dame fire: Anger at billionaires and visions

Latest

Billionaires from around the world pledged over $1 billion overnight to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Although most people favor rebuilding the historic cathedral, they are angry at the reality that there’s plenty of money—but not to take care of things like basic human needs, refugees or climate change.
Some comments from the U.S.:
“While I appreciate the beauty of the symbolic and iconic Cathedrals, having visited Italy and seen its beautiful Cathedrals, including the Vatican … it does not compare to the importance of standing in solidarity with the Cathedral of the oppressed and poor, with groups such as Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, with the homeless and hungry, who are the Church, who are the Body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12 and Matthew 25, Isaiah 58) … It also should not be lost on people of Faith and people of good conscience that the sacred Cathedral of the deep ecology of planet earth, the Cathedral of the planet, mother earth is being destroyed and we face extinction.”
• Rev. Bruce Wright
“And why is this loss deemed more valuable to white Europeans than the loss of a mountain, a stream, people’s livelihood, health, and well-being for cheap coal? … Why does the media drag on and on about Notre Dame in the blatant absence of reporting about mountain top removal, or historic Black churches burning or mosques destroyed … or countless other losses … often with actual human suffering? Maybe this moment is a way to reach people and help them understand [our] loss is universal, and that the media is a reflection of dominant culture, not human values. Maybe then we can have empathy and action.”
—Excerpted from a Facebook user

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Cities from Chicago to Newark Resist Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

Immigration activists in Chicago and Newark, NJ, describe how the government's assault on immigrants violates the Constitution and threatens everyone's rights.

Pledge to Keep Organizing, Pledge to Keep Marching: People’s March 2025

Dozens of organizations came together here and worldwide to create the People’s March 2025. Hundreds of thousands of people came to protest the policy promises of President Donald Trump and to convey a loud message of resistance to his promised policies and ultimate dictatorship. 

Doctor Sees People Deferring Life-Saving Care, Fearing Deportation and Family Separation

Emergency Room doctor asks how many people will defer life saving care because of their immigration status, fearing deportations and family separation.

Chicagoans Vow to Fight Trump’s Attack on Immigrant Workers

Chicagoans are showing that they plan to resist President Trump’s plans to mount attacks on immigrants.

A Mass Movement Will Rise to Defend Immigrants, Says Activist

Right now there is no coordinated national mass movement to defend immigrants, but there will be, says human rights activist Camilo Pérez-Bustillo in this interview with the People's Tribune.

More from the People's Tribune