Saving Notre Dame Cathedral

W hen the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris caught fire in 2019, the whole world was aghast. Atheists and Christians alike were horrified to see an iconic symbol of Western civilization engulfed in flames. Writers in these pages described the destruction as a symbolic “eclipse of the ancient marriage of European Christian belief and scientific brilliance,” as well as “a distressing message” for our times — “what prior generations so carefully and faithfully built, we are losing.”

Last week, the Telegraph reported that the interior of the cathedral may be renovated to resemble a “politically correct Disneyland.” According to these new plans, the revamped Notre Dame will feature a geography-themed “discovery trail,” the final stage of which will have a “strong environmental emphasis.” Provisionally, art murals will replace confessionals and religious sculptures, and there will be “emotional spaces” with special sound and lighting effects. The justification for these updates, according to Father Gilles Drouin, is to make the trickier parts of Catholicism more accessible to non-religious tourists. This makes no sense. Throughout the centuries, millions have flocked to Notre Dame precisely because of its religiosity. Even those who see it as belonging to an earlier era — with no real connection to the transcendent — are able to recognize its cultural worth. Those who prefer Disneyland are free to go to Disneyland.

Just as there was symbolism in the burning cathedral, perhaps these gimmicky new plans also say something about our culture. A Gothic masterpiece in flames was an unmissable horror, yet it’s all too easy to overlook what has been subtly lost — or ruined — over time.

Consider how ugly most modern cities have become. The late conservative philosopher Roger Scruton observed that even in Europe many post-war buildings are now “ugly deposits of concrete and steel,” made by a “nation that had celebrated its victory over Hitler by committing aesthetic suicide.” Then there’s the terrible dumbing down of the arts. Part of this has been driven by the postmodern ethic of favoring disorder, discord, and deconstructionism. But it has also been driven in part by the increasing political pressure of demands for “inclusivity,” “diversity,” and “equity.” In classical music, for instance, the complaint is that the great composers of the past were all straight white males and so their works of genius ought to make way for the voices of women, people of color, and the so-called LGBTQ+ community.

Historical figures, once recognized for their significant contributions, are viewed through anachronistic moral standards: New York City Hall recently removed a statue of Thomas Jefferson from the City Council because of Jefferson’s involvement in slavery. Eccentricity and exceptionalism have made way for conformity: A recent sculpture honoring Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the greatest female thinkers in British history, took the form of a tiny naked woman atop a mesh of scrambled metal — the justification being that she ought to represent “every woman.”

Worse still is the slow erosion of the cultural institutions that bind us together. In family life, marriage continues to decline, while the fertility rate is at an all-time low. Patriotism is continually being undermined by critical race theory, now prevalent across the nation’s schools. Even a shared acceptance of objective truth — an agreement on biological sex, for instance — is slipping from our grasp.

Often, it’s the loudest and most persistent voices that advance the culture in their preferred direction. Conservatives have always struggled to articulate what it is that we seek to conserve — what connects us with our ancestors and roots us in the present. Yet the reaction of millions around the world to seeing Notre Dame being destroyed is a powerful example of the conservative instinct at work. At heart, most people know what is worth preserving. Given the ferocity of the opposition, such an instinct needs encouragement.

Some 340,000 donors around the world gave over $930 million toward the renovation costs of Notre Dame cathedral, a renovation scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2024, just in time for the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. The question now is whether anyone will muster enough energy to conserve the spirit of Notre Dame and all she represents.