Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah / Adobe Stock (Left), Notre Dame cathedral / Adobe Stock (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // The restoration project of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris after the 2019 fire garnered financial support from a number of donors, including Catholics about 5,000 miles away in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Fr. Martin Diaz, pastor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine told KSLTV 5, an NBC affiliate serving the Salt Lake City area, that a Sunday collection raised $5,000 for the project, which he said is remarkably high for a special collection.
Though the restoration is not fully completed, much has been accomplished since the 2019 fire that destroyed the majority of Notre-Dame’s roof. A new spire has been built, and, according to Architectural Record, all of the chapels have been cleaned, among a wide range of other accomplishments. France received roughly $900 million from donors to put toward the restoration project.
Fr. Diaz said of the Cathedral of the Madeleine’s donation, “I know that my very small collection, my very small gift is some part of that cathedral … you know that a little part of this floor belongs to you, a little part of this paint belongs to you.”
The joyous Dec. 7 ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral was started in part with the ringing of the bells. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had invited churches across the country to ring their bells alongside Notre-Dame in an expression of unity.
Fr. Diaz told KSLTV 5 that the Cathedral of the Madeleine rang its bells in sync with Notre-Dame. He described the day of the reopening as “complete joy.”
