The Heritage Foundation announced that it had raised 16.7 million euros in just over a year, an amount mobilized for the benefit of 100 buildings.
More than a year after a major national collection for the benefit of religious heritage, the announcement has mobilized 16.7 million euros. The subscription aims to support small municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants (less than 20,000 inhabitants in the Overseas Territories) in the preservation of their religious buildings. Its initial objective was to raise 200 million euros in four years, and to support, at the same time, at least 1,000 buildings, all religions combined.
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By this yardstick, 16.7 million is both a lot – many of the subscriptions managed by the Foundation do not exceed a few tens of thousands of euros – and a little. The sum is insufficient in relation to needs, since the Religious Heritage Observatory estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000 Catholic religious buildings, not to mention buildings of other religions, would be in danger. It also seems weak, when compared to the incredible outpouring of generosity for the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris alone.
Building on this in December, the Heritage Foundation announces that what it calls « a hundred little Notre-Dame » will be able to be helped thanks to the first 16.7 million collected. These 100 buildings all require major work, often urgently, and half of them are located in municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. 61% of these chapels, oratories or churches are not protected as historic monuments, and 55% are closed to the public or in danger.
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The list of 100 buildings was drawn up recently, taking into account the regions, but also the restoration projects in progress. It made it possible to relaunch the mobilization, with everyone preferring to help a particular church, rather than a cause in general, no matter how good it was.
It is therefore only a first step in the vast renovation project of village and small town churches. Guillaume Poitrinal, president of the heritage foundation, however, seems confident.
« The fire of Notre-Dame, which highlighted the fragility of heritage, constitutes a before and after in the history of donations. The taste for giving was given to the public and businesses understood that the cause of heritage was popular », he assures.
