Giving to the rich

Now, before I start, don't get me wrong. I think that the burning down of Notre Dame cathedral is a great loss despite my lack of religious gullibility.

But there is one thing that makes me queasy.

I have no idea how much it will cost to rebuild, restore or replace the building. But I note that already a fund raising campaign has been started. And I have no doubt that the French government will pitch in too.

But, correct me if I'm wrong, but the cathedral was(is) the property of the Roman Catholic Church. The total worth of this institution is impossible to calculate, but certainly runs into hundreds of billions of pounds.

So why is an organisation so hypocritically wealthy accepting charitable donations to rebuild something they could easily afford to fund themselves. It's a shame they couldn't have spared a few euros to at least insure the place.

Perhaps I'm being unfair. Maybe they are having to put aside huge sums of cash for other purposes.

Like compensating all the victims of their abuse over the years.