Of Jerome Bourbon
Editorial of the French weekly Rivarol, n° 3373 of the 17 April 2019
The images are impressive, shocking, terrifying: as we write and prepare to pass this issue to the press, Notre-Dame de Paris is on fire. The spire of the Cathedral has already collapsed, as well as the central bell tower. The left tower was also hit by the fire, whose gigantic size is astonishing and certainly raises questions.
All the carpentry of Notre-Dame de Paris “is on the verge of burning”, said the Cathedral spokesperson. «Everything burns. Of the structure, which dates back to the 19th century on one side and the 13th century on the other, nothing will remain", André Finot is deplored. “We'll have to see if we can, which protects the Cathedral, will it be touched or not", he added. The fire started around 18.50 in the attic of the Cathedral, most visited historical monument in Europe (circa 15 millions of tourists visit it every year).
Emmanuel Macron's television speech, which was supposed to announce measures and give its conclusions at the end of the pseudo-great national debate following the raising of the yellow vests, it was postponed today.
But the head of state still wanted to speak on television at the end of the evening to deplore the fire and state that Notre-Dame would be rebuilt. The President of the Republic announced the launch of a subscription. Obviously, it is easier for him to shine in this kind of compassionate exercise than to respond to the concerns of the French and heal the country! Politicians only excel at catastrophes: road accidents, earthquakes, fire, floods, attacks. Because then they just have to comment, with a haggard look, the events, benefiting from maximum publicity thanks to audiovisual media, and they do not have to account for or defend a budget. Chirac had no equal in showing this attitude as soon as a tragedy occurred: he arrived on the scene almost before the crime was committed or the disaster occurred!

It is a gigantic fire of criminal or accidental origin? A thesis that was put forward only forty minutes after the fire started. We repeat that the repair work inside the Cathedral was the cause of the fire, but for the moment it is not clear why and how. Some are also surprised that the water cannons shown to us on television were so few and arrived so late, while President Trump recommended mobilizing the Canadians, a way to criticize the fact that they were not used, although we were told that their use could be dangerous.
It should also be noted that this disaster occurred less than a month after the arson attack on the church of Saint-Sulpice and in a national context in which, for years, some churches burn across France while others have been looted and desecrated, in the midst of a frightening media silence and general indifference! While the media and politicians made a big fuss over two trees cut down in memory of Ilan Halimi and some insignificant plaques, dozens of churches were horribly looted, filthy, profanate. What's more, hundreds of Catholic buildings are demolished or transformed into cinemas every year, in places of residence, in tourist offices, in shops or left abandoned.
In September 2016, very close to Notre-Dame, a car bomb attack was foiled. Similarly, in April 2015, an attack on Parisian churches was narrowly avoided. A French-Algerian, known to the secret services for his "desire to leave for Syria" to join the jihadist ranks, he was about to intervene when he was arrested.
Not everyone mourns the destruction of Notre-Dame de Paris. They are on Twitter, as was to be expected, some dunces rejoice noisily. It would be Allah's revenge, and also of the ancestors, for alleged French abuses in Africa. A certain Hafsa, member of the UNEF country office (National Union of Students of France), he sees in the general consternation "a delirium of little white people" and claims that "he doesn't care about Notre-Dame" as well as the history of France. The damsel is actually used to insults, and calmly calls for the murder of whites, which, however, has not stopped his career at UNEF so far. For sure, it must have been a specific part of our history that disturbed this left-wing damsel. Likewise, always on social networks, of Benin natives welcomed these apocalyptic images: “We hope that all of France burns. It is the enemy of Africa".
This type of disaster at least has the merit of bringing internal enemies out into the open!
Questions remain: why this gigantic fire? And why now? And why Notre-Dame, which is the symbol of France par excellence, of Europe and Christianity?
You can't stop yourself from thinking about the date. Today is Holy Monday, the second day of the week that leads Christ to His Passion and Death on the Cross. All the texts of the Holy Monday Mass move and insistently invite us to be freed from persecutors. And how can you not think that in this month of April 2019 the fiftieth anniversary of the "new mass" of Paul VI is commemorated, «promulgated» on 3 April 1969; and we also commemorate the half century of the new invalid rite of episcopal consecrations and priestly ordinations, «enacted» the 18 June 1968, but made mandatory the 6 April 1969, Easter Sunday, only half a century ago!
Moreover, it was precisely during a "synaxis" of Paul VI at Notre-Dame that the fire broke out, il 15 April at 18,50 circa, that the fire sirens sounded and those who attended had time to leave the church – fortunately.
It's been around for half a century (and also for sixty years since the modernist revolution and since the whole enterprise of destruction began with and under John XXIII) that the true Church has been occupied, hidden, eclipsed and undermined by intruders who impose a false Mass, a false cult, of false sacraments, a false doctrine, a false morality, and who are relentless in obstructing the channels of grace!
And what about the millions of tourists among whom there are those who visit Notre-Dame with completely indecent clothes and behavior: in shorts, in an undershirt, sometimes smoking, or swallowing a sandwich or chewing "American gum", hugging and kissing voluptuously, without any respect for the sacred place?
This fire causes immense pain to everyone. It's a part of ourselves that goes up in smoke. Our eyes filled with tears and our heart is very sad. This gigantic fire that destroys everything in its passage is the symbol of the total and methodical destruction of our Christian civilization. But more profoundly it is also the punishment, the punishment for the apostasy of an entire nation, once so Catholic!
The destruction of a magnificent monument, eight centuries old, symbol of Christian France, it is obviously a national tragedy. But the general loss of faith is an even greater tragedy. The disguise or abandonment of the Catholic religion, of true worship, it is the only real catastrophe.
May we be understood, at this time of Easter, that a people, a nation, they cannot survive in irreligiosity and immorality.
And despite the sadness and even confusion that overwhelm us on this Holy Monday in the face of this spectacle of apocalypse and chaos, let's think about the Easter holidays that are approaching, when Life triumphs over death, hope over despair, faith over doubt.
Bernanos loved to write that hope is an overcome desperation. May our hearts burn, like those of the pilgrims of Emmaus, when Christ spoke to them along the way explaining the Scriptures to them!
Christ is risen forever and lives in our souls, this is the essential thing.