The bells, the bells……

The bells being removed last 20th February.
Photo: Delphine Goldszteijn, PhotoPQR,Le Parisien

And yes, it's Quasimodo's bells, or rather their successors. His bells were removed and melted down in the course of the French Revolution, and were replaced by four new ones afterwards. These bells, christened Angélique-Françoise (1915kg), Antoinette-Charlotte (1335kg), Hyacinthe-Jeanne (925kg) and Denise-David (767) have rung out from the towers of Notre-Dame ever since. The trouble is that the sound they make is not considered of high enough quality for their important location.

So the decision was made to replace them with some new, more euphonic, bells in time for the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame this year. Therefore, last February, the four bells were removed from the towers and sent to the bell-founders in Normandy to be melted down. The idea was to cast little model bells from them which could be sold to defray the cost of the new peal.

The news of this reached the ears of the little community of Sainte-Croix de Riaumont in the Pas-de-Calais. They were shocked that this act of vandalism would be perpetrated, all the more so since they are building a new priory and are in need of bells themselves. Their prior, Fr Alain Hoquemiller, (whom I remember meeting a few times when he was studying for the priesthood at Fontgombault Abbey) has made an offer of at least 24.000 euros for the bells (he must have good sponsors!) which is generally considered to be in the right ball-park. But the Archdiocese of Paris has indignantly refused the offer and wants to proceed to the destruction of the bells.

This community of Sainte-Croix is a remarkable one; following the rule of St Benedict, they have developed their own version of the life out of the strange circumstances of their foundation. They began when a priest commenced work with the disadvantaged boys of the industrial Arras region of northern France—there was much poverty and hardship, with all the usual accompanying social disorders. This priest, whose name I forget, thought that the scouting movement provided a sort of ideal for boys to live up to, and, not finding the existing scouting movements quite focussed enough, founded his own denomination of scouts to help with his work. Over the years, it became extraordinarily successful. Not only would these boys be taught the usual scouting things, but they would be taught their faith, given the sacraments that they lacked, and provided with a secure home-from-home where they could find affection and stability and some good food. The local social authorities and judiciary noticed the excellent work being done, and began to send boys to Riaumont for help.

The trouble was that when these first boys grew up, they didn't want to leave. And so the religious community grew out of the scouts. A man called something like Argouac'h (a Breton) was their first ordained priest, and now they have a trickle of young vocations continuing and expanding this remarkable work. Scouting remains at the heart of what they do—even the religious habit is khaki.

So why is the Archdiocese of Paris so reluctant to support this excellent project? It's the old story: the community of Sainte-Croix de Riaumont celebrate the traditional Mass. Of course the Archdiocese don't say that, but they are absolutely adamant nonetheless that the bells shall not go to the community, but shall be melted down, and it seems hard to understand otherwise why. The manufacture of the little souvenir bells will cost some two million euros, apparently, without any prospect of buyers. Here they have a more than adequate offer which they are refusing.

And now the bells have gone to law. For the Archdiocese, the difficulty is that, in French law, the bells aren't actually theirs. By a law of 1905, external features of ecclesiastical structures belong to the state, not to the Church. So, Fr Alain acted correctly in approaching not the Diocesan authorities, but the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles d'Ile de France, known as DRAC, who verbally accepted his offer for the bells in October. This has been contested by the Diocese, and until the dispute can be settled, the bells have had a 'do not touch' order slapped on them by the state.

And, as Fr Alain points out, a law of 15th July 2008 declares that anyone responsible for the destruction or even deterioration of historic religious objects faces seven years of imprisonment and a fine of 100.000 euros!

p.s. There's an online petition here to save the bells.