Within 24 hours of the fire, donations for its restoration came to over €700 million. By October 2019, the fund was one billion in total, but it has been far from easy.
Last Christmas was the first in 200 years that a Christmas Mass was not held at the Cathedral.
The plan for restoration or redesign has been the topic of lengthy debates.
Risk of lead-poisoning significantly delayed progress last year, followed by high winds posing too much danger for works in Autumn and now Covid-19 has brought the restoration to a complete halt.
An optimistic President Marcon set a 5 year goal for completion, which we all didn’t anticipate, even before Covid-19. However, French army general Jean-Louis Georgelin, who is in charge of returning Notre Dame to her glory, hasn’t lost faith.
“If everyone rolls up their sleeves and the work is well planned, it is conceivable that returning the cathedral to a place of worship within five years will not be an impossible feat,” he told The Guardian. “Obviously, the area around the cathedral will be far from finished, and perhaps the spire will not be completed, but the cathedral will once again be a place of worship and this is our aim.”