International hacktivist group Anonymous have addressed the billionaires who donated to Notre Dame, saying their true colours have been exposed.
After the cathedral caught fire on Monday afternoon (April 15), Parisians and tourists alike mourned the loss of massive parts of the building, including its famous spire as it succumbed to the flames.
Soon enough, people began rallying together with donations beginning to pour in from private businesses and local authorities, as well as wealthy individuals who could afford to donate large sums.
It is these billionaires Anonymous have called out in their most recent message, criticising such individuals for their ‘selective charity’ and asking them to re-evaluate their priorities.
The Notre Dame cathedral caught fire on Monday afternoon; most of the roof and its spire were destroyed in the blaze, although the majority of the relics and pieces of art kept inside were saved – including artifacts such as Christ’s Crown of Thorns and the cross.
After a televised address to the nation in which President Emmanuel Macron pledged to bring Notre Dame back to its former glory within five years, donations immediately began pouring in and had reached a massive one billion euros in just two days.
While many praised those raising money for the fund, others questioned why such fundraising efforts weren’t in place for incidents whereby human lives were lost – such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
And now Anonymous have had their say on the matter, stressing that the burning of Notre Dame pales in comparison to other tragedies and asking those who donated money to reassess.
In a statement posted to their website, the organisation wrote:
This selective charity has opened the eyes of the people of the world to the misplaced priorities of the ruling class. It is now obvious that you care more about symbols of your cultural power than you do about human lives or the very planet that we live on.
Anonymous then addresses the Pope directly, asking why the reconstruction money for the Notre Dame isn’t coming directly from the Vatican if its net worth is really in the hundreds of billions as estimates suggest.
Ending their statement by describing the organisations that claim to speak for God as having ‘greed’ and ‘vanity,’ the organisation asks everyone to unite and stand up and fight.
Such huge amounts of money mean it’s more likely President Macron’s pledge of the cathedral being restored to its former glory within five years will happen.
The money raised to restore Notre Dame Cathedral continues to grow each day, and it certainly doesn’t look set to stop any time soon.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).