April 16, 2019. This day will forever be remembered by many as the day the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. The cathedral has been an international icon for the city of Paris since its completion in 1345. The construction of the beautiful building started in 1163 under the reign of King Louis VII and was finished nearly 200 years later. It was and will one day again be adored by all thanks to the over $1 billion donated to reconstruct it. But there have been unexpected backlashes due to this fundraising, and people are not happy.

A major idea brought up has been that they money donated by private millionaires could go to a better cause, particularly the great pacific garbage patch.

A collection of garbage about twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. Many people believe the money raised should have been used to help clean this up. However all of the donations made were from individuals and made directly to the cathedral, so it cannot be used for anything else. The reconstruction of the cathedral was more important to them than the trash island, which all being said should be the responsibility of the surrounding countries to clean up. Considering it is most likely their fault. Mrs.Bates, a pennridge science teacher believes that it, “would be hard pressed to question what other people do with their money”. Grace Digralamo, a student at Pennridge High School was actually there when the event was going on. She described the events as they happened from her perspective at the Eiffel Tower. She says that there was, “concern that it was a terrorist attack”, and described the, “smoke all through the air”.

It is still unknown why the cathedral burnt down but it is most likely ruled out that it was arson. However, there are always the few who have linked all of the recent church burnings together and believe it was intentional. The cathedral was under construction when it caught fire which is believed to be the cause of it, given it introduced new fire hazards.

The cathedral holds great significance for the people of France, and that is why it is so important for it to be rebuilt. The highest point was an icon in the skyline. It fell but was unharmed during the fire. It will most likely take many years for it to be rebuild due to the complexity of it, and the cleanup that needs to be done. The people of France endured a great amount of chaos. There are many videos of them gathering together and singing while the event unfolded. Catholics around the world were affected by this and have faith that the cathedral will be rebuilt to be just as beautiful, if not more than before.