Notre-Dame Reopens: A Restoration of Tradition?

As all Catholics no doubt recall vividly, on April 15, 2019, the Gothic 12th-century icon of Catholicism dominating the Île de la Cité in the middle of the Seine River, Notre-Dame de Paris, was ravaged by flames accidentally caused by renovation work. 

As the roof, famously comprised of a “forest” of oak beams, blazed and the flèche spire collapsed, the world watched in helpless sorrow. Notre-Dame burned like St. Joan of Arc. In the immediate and heartbreaking aftermath, the nave and sanctuary choked with charred debris, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to restore the cathedral. After five years of continuous labor, the first public Mass will be celebrated in Notre-Dame on its grand reopening weekend—the Second Sunday of Advent (and the technical feast of the Immaculate Conception).

Thanks be to God, Notre-Dame dodged the fate of being rebuilt according to ghastly futuristic concepts in glass with greenhouse gardens and swooping steel ribs. The ancient Catholic cathedral was repaired according to its original form by hundreds of artisans and engineers from around the world. Together, they successfully brought the 850-year-old icon back to its pre-fire glory and have even made Notre-Dame more beautiful than she was before with a thorough restoration of the interior stone which had been blackened by smoke and centuries.

The magnificent medieval Paris cathedral is a symbol and center of the transcendence and constancy of the Church through tumultuous and traumatic moments in history. It survived the fire as it survived Huguenot riots and the French Revolution, when it was desecrated as the Temple of Reason. Notre-Dame endured the coronations of England’s Henry VI as king of France and the despotic Emperor Napoleon. Though damaged, she resisted destruction during the liberation from Nazi control during World War II. 

Notre-Dame has stood the test of time, and she will stand still as a tremendous monument from man to the mysterious glory of God. The precious relics of the Passion—the Holy Crown of Thorns, one of the Holy Nails, and a fragment of the True Cross—which were rescued from the destruction, will be venerated once again within the soaring walls of this sacred bastion of Catholic culture.

With the reopening of Notre-Dame this weekend, the heart of Paris, capital city of France, Eldest Daughter of the Church, resumes its beat of bells. And there is something in this event that strikes a tone of hope for the Catholic Church, especially in the United States. In the five years since the Notre-Dame fire, the Catholic Church has suffered from hatred, as seen in the rise of vandalism against her churches and holy images and a liberal hostility toward her ancient traditions promoting human fulfillment. Marking the restoration of Notre-Dame, Catholics might pray for a new period of peace and prosperity for the Church. 

American Catholics especially should be encouraged in the symbolic quality of this moment as the United States emerges from the shadow of a progressive government and its anti-Catholic, woke agenda. Though Joe Biden claims Catholic membership, his falsehood and refusal to uphold fundamental Church teaching in his language and policies are a scandal and a travesty. Of course, Kamala Harris was no friend to the Church, given her history of suspecting Catholics of ideological extremism, her total dedication to the “convenient” and “constitutional” murder of children by abortion, and, finally, her snub of the Al Smith Catholic Charity Dinner. America was spared a Harris presidency, and Catholics can breathe easier as a result. 

Amid his preparations to take back the reins with a Republican Congress, President-elect Donald Trump is heading to God’s famous house in Paris. Mr. Trump will attend the grand reopening of Notre-Dame with hundreds of dignitaries, but his presence there signals a fresh hope for the Church in America and beyond—hope for the humanity that the Church was established to succor and save. Of course, Donald Trump and his cabinet are far from perfect, but he is setting the stage for a return to far more common sense and traditional principles than what Catholics have become used to.

Should Catholics dare to anticipate that brighter, bolder days lie ahead, evoked by the glorious reopening of Notre-Dame in all her ancient glory? The Democrat’s thumping loss invites the happy, hopeful thought that they don’t hold as much power over the gears of government as many feared. Given enough rope, they will hang themselves, as it turns out, and make room for a new era of conservative leadership. Again, the Republicans are their own breed of swamp things, and filthy lucre is still too great a motivator in Washington; but the liberal lament is undeniable, and that is heartening.

With all good wishes and prayers for the Holy Father, Pope Francis’ health is in decline, which poses another expectation for a return to old good things. He recently revealed his desire to forgo the centuries-old papal tradition of the triple interlocking casket, opting for a simple zinc-lined wooden coffin instead. Just as he began his papacy without the mozzetta and red shoes, he will close his papacy with a simplicity that breaks with tradition. But when that moment comes to pass, perhaps Catholics can look for a dawn of a more traditional time, a time of restoration of things Latin and life-giving and liturgical. The doors of Notre-Dame reopen on a prospect of positive possibility.

But the Left is rousing as they wring their hands. The Oscar-buzzing film Conclave, for instance, is a sign of the times that opposes the symbol of Notre-Dame reopening in its former splendor. It is an artistic cry against what Pope Francis called the “disease of nostalgia,” and as such is a propaganda piece against the Catholic Church which is built on tradition. As mainstream entertainment, it is fascinating to see how concerned the men behind the curtain are about the effect of the Catholic Church on culture. Conclave is an apologia for the spirit of the Francis papacy as the worldly powers-that-be fear to lose his presence in the Vatican even as they fear Donald Trump’s return to the White House. It is a warning to liberals to remember the influence of the papacy and the power of Catholics in the world.

Donald Trump’s presence at Notre-Dame is a testament to the hope that Catholics who voted for him have for the country and the Church. In a very real way, they do want to “make America great again”—but, at bottom, that only can mean one thing: the United States must be united in order to be great. And the only way Catholics should pray and publicize the nature of that unity is through conversion to the one true Faith, as captured in the leaders of nations assembling in Notre-Dame. Donald Trump’s presence at Notre-Dame is a testament to the hope that Catholics who voted for him have for the country and the Church.Tweet This

Whether Republican or Democrat, all Americans are made in the image and likeness of God and were made to secure salvation in the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The mindset of American Christians should be, therefore, to establish and promote conversion to Christianity, and not put their eggs in secular baskets. The only true path to peace on anything approaching a national (or global) scale lies in conversion. Conversion is the only answer, and unimaginable though it may seem, it should be the solid and stated Catholic position through prayer and promotion in the public square.

St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians calls for the “union of all,” inviting us to pray for the spiritual unity of all the people of God—that all people may be Catholics, united within the Mystical Body of Christ. In this unity, we pray for a correctness in the lives of all, for true charity and true adherence to the will of God. The Catholic mission in the United States is to pray and pursue a way of faith and life and love that is shared and embraced by all and must be shared if there is ever to be a true and lasting peace.

Catholics in the United States should understand that being Republican shouldn’t mean simply being against Democrats. It means being Catholic and called to be united with all. Disagreement is different than disparagement. The surest and most sacred prayer for American Catholics is that the grace of God effects the miracle required to bring about the union of all beneath the one true Faith: the truth that will make this land free as it never has been before. 

It may seem like an impossible position to propose, but in this time of Advent especially, we believe that with God nothing is impossible. The American people have spoken against the woke identity politics of the Left, and the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in all its ancient glory is reflective of the spirit that many American Catholics have for the future. Pray, then, on this weekend when the bosom of Notre-Dame reopens to the world, that all Americans may be united in the peace of Christ by maintaining truth as their common standard, closing the divide of political polarization, and finding a path back to the traditions that ennoble the ends of mankind. 

[Photo Credit: POOL/AFP via Getty Images]