YOU DECIDE: Who Should Pay to Fix Notre Dame?

On April 15, the 800-year-old Notre Dame cathedral was partially destroyed by a fire. Built during medieval times, the cathedral is a quintessential symbol of France, with an interior filled with priceless art. While firefighters managed to save most of the structure and much of its interior, the building has been completely destabilized and is in need of major repair. The cathedral’s spire collapsed, and three large holes are now present in the wood-beamed vaulted ceiling.

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to completely rebuild the cathedral within the next five years. But the costs of this will likely be astronomical–in the billions of dollars–leading many to wonder if investing in rebuilding Notre Dame is a wise decision when there are so many other critical issues facing the world today.

Based on what you’ve heard and seen in the news . . . You Decide: Should the world spend billions of dollars refurbishing Notre Dame?

YES

• Within just a few days, nearly 900 million euros were already pledged by companies and billionaires from across the globe. This shows how important the cathedral is and how important it is to people that it be completely restored.
• Notre Dame is a major tourist attraction. Without it, the loss of tourism dollars could lead to an economic crisis in France.
• The building is a valuable piece of history. Losing it would be culturally devastating, not just for France, but for the world.

NO

• Some critics argue that so-called generosity from donors is really just a clever way to market their brand or receive a tax deduction. (In France, charitable donations receive a 60 percent tax deduction.) This “charity” winds up hurting average citizens because companies and billionaires will wind up paying less in taxes.
• It is the responsibility of the Catholic Church to pay to rebuild its own cathedral.
• If one of the missions of Christian faiths is to help the poor, then this money would be better spent that way. Even donating 1 percent of the money raised to the homeless would make a huge difference.
• No one died in the fire, but thousands could potentially die from the effects of climate change. Yet there is not nearly this level of global responsiveness to combating climate change. These massive donations prove that the money exists to solve supposedly “insurmountable” social problems.