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By David K. Li
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday to rebuild the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris within five years, saying an “even more beautiful” landmark is possible.
The iconic house of worship was almost destroyed by flames Monday and the French leader said his country would spare no money or effort to make Notre Dame Cathedral whole again.
“We are rebuilders, there’s a great deal to be rebuilt,” Macron said in a nationally televised address. “We will make the Cathedral of Notre Dame even more beautiful. We can do this.”
Macron set a five-year target of completion, and asked his nation to think deeply about, “what we are and what we are to become, to become better than we are today.”
He urged the public to unite and turn this national “catastrophe” into a moment of French unity. He said the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral will be a “passionately French” project.
“I believe very deeply that we can change this catastrophe into an occasion to come together,” Macron implored.
“It is our duty to find our national project, the one that made us, that united us, a human project that’s passionately French.”
Monday night’s blaze collapsed the historic cathedral’s roof and toppled its spire, and might have burned priceless art.
So far, the fire is being investigated as an accident, possibly connected to a massive renovation project.
The Paris prosecutor has already launched an investigation into the devastating blaze, that brought everyday Parisians and people around the world to tears.
“We are favoring the theory of an accident,” prosecutor Remy Heitz told reporters outside Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday, promising a “long” and “complex” probe into what caused the fire.