Utah Catholics helped rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral after 2019 fire
Dec 8, 2024, 12:32 PM | Updated: 5:22 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Catholics in Utah helped play a small part in the rebuilding of France’s Notre Dame Cathedral. Nearly destroyed by fire in 2019, Notre Dame underwent costly construction and finally reopened on Dec. 7 in Paris. Utah’s contribution may not have been much, but it helped make the reopening happen.
It’s the sound of a new day in Paris, echoed here in Salt Lake City.
“Our bells rang here at Noon to be in sync with them,” Pastor/Rector of Salt Lake’s Cathedral of the Madeleine Father Martin Diaz.
“I would’ve loved to have been there today, to see the opening,” Diaz said.
Father Diaz is thrilled to see the rebirth of Notre Dame in Paris. “And now today, it’s just, ya know… joy, it’s complete joy,” Diaz said.
When the fire-ravaged France’s famed Cathedral in 2019, Father Diaz said the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City raised money statewide to help rebuild it, including downtown at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.
“We raised about $5,000, which for us to take up a collection on Sunday is a very substantial amount,” Diaz said.
Though small, like the widow’s mite from the Bible, Diaz feels proud they now have a piece of Notre Dame.
“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,” Diaz said.
Father Diaz also knows how much each contribution, like Utah’s, meant to Notre Dame’s then-Rector Patrick Chauvet, who Diaz met shortly after the fire.
“What he talked about is we’d been there for 800 years, and we’re going for another 8,” Diaz said.
Those next 800 years start today.
“Write down this in history, it’s history in the making,” Diaz said.
The Cathedral of the Madeleine had its own restoration work done recently. It just finished up a two-year project in February to restore the floors, so they know how much each little bit helps.
