• Statement on the fire at Notre Dame

    The fire at Notre Dame Cathedral is a tragedy not only for Paris and the people of France but for the world.

    Those who know the building will be unable to see the pictures of the fire without feeling heartbroken.

    So many different things that make up the building are priceless – the medieval roof, the woodwork, the organ, the stained glass, the relics. But this tragedy is more than the loss of them all. It is the loss of the heart of Paris, the loss of a place of pilgrimage and the loss of a place of romance.

    Every day this week, Christians will be reflecting on the heartbreak of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to whom Notre Dame was dedicated. Every day as we do so, we will be praying for the Paris its people as they face their own heartbreak.

    Notre Dame means Our Lady. Notre Dame doesn’t just belong to Paris, it belongs to us all.

    This was a building that is utterly associated with Paris. But it was an utterly priceless treasure for the world.

    It was truly ours, and this tragedy is our tragedy.

    Our Lady of Paris, pray for us and for all affected locally.

    Our Lady of Paris, we pray for you.

3 responses to “So out of touch”

  1. Tim Avatar

    The *other* half of that `presbyterian model’ quote is truly barf-worthy especially given several unpleasant incidents hitting the press in the past 6 months.

    I think `Whenever there are progressive values around’ might be happening at the level of society as a whole, not just in churches, though.

  2. kelvin Avatar

    I’d rather like to think that it would be obvious to people in the various churches that no one system owns a “reflection, consultation, debate and discernment” model. Such ways of working can be found in different churches. Failures to work in such ways call also be found in different church systems.

  3. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    We are hijacked by people who scream and scream until they are sick (they can, you know) and lack the guts to say ‘Here is the bucket’. The attempt to ‘keep all the balls in the holes’ shows a total lack of any grasp of what leadership means.

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