2 weeks Ago
To the editor: Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, restored and more beautiful than ever, is a testament to what can be accomplished in the face of adversity when we come together to realize a shared goal. (“ An archbishop’s knock restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and dignitaries look on ,” Dec. 7) Several times humanity has mobilized to accomplish remarkable things — for example, this restoration after the fire of 2019, the defeat of Adolf Hitler, putting a man on the moon and tackling global diseases.
Today we face the need for an unprecedented restoration: that of the Earth’s health and controlling the climate crisis, a fire now burning the cathedral of our planet. Let the magnificent success of Notre Dame’s revival inspire us to quell the flames of this crisis and restore our world to ever more beauty and health. Surely this is a moment that warrants a response equal to the resources, urgency and loving care that went into Notre Dame’s resurrection.
Kent Strumpell, Los Angeles .. To the editor: I was both gratified and thrilled to read about the reopening of Paris’ beloved Notre Dame Cathedral — until I saw that President-elect Donald Trump accepted French President Emanuel Macron’s invitation to the ceremony.
What? Trump is already being treated as the U.S. president, while we still have a sitting one? Sorry, but whatever the motivation behind Macron’s decision to invite Trump might have been (an attempt to gain favor?), I find this a very poor way to restart France’s heart.
Anneke Mendiola, Santa Ana.
