When Notre Dame burned before our eyes in 2019, the world was stunned and deeply saddened. Even non-believers understood that something great and beautiful had been lost, perhaps forever. Almost immediately, there were vows to rebuild, but the task was daunting and to many seemed impossible. There was serious structural damage, and it was even a possibility that the remnants of the cathedral would collapse.
Five years later, the doors of Notre Dame were opened, and the world was again stunned, but this time with wonder. The great cathedral had indeed been reborn and was even more beautiful than before.
Bringing Notre Dame back to life
This past Friday evening, Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect behind the restoration efforts, explained how he and his team were able to bring the cathedral back to life in just five years despite serious challenges.
Villeneuve was the opening speaker at the 2025 New York Encounter, an annual event where Catholics and seekers of all kinds gather to explore and discuss some of the most pressing and striking events and questions facing our world. Thousands attended the event in the Encounter’s main hall to hear Villeneuve speak about the complex efforts to rebuild Notre Dame.
With energy and humor, Villeneuve reviewed some of the major challenges and achievements of the five-year project. It was a “family” effort, he explained, requiring a team of architects, engineers, and craftspeople who worked closely together and often had to learn on the job.
The restoration efforts were full of problems — beginning with a serious uncertainty if the cathedral remnants would remain upright. Showing slides taken by his team, Villeneuve walked the audience through the arduous process, from heartbreaking images showing the aftermath of the fire to glorious photos of restored and redecorated sacred spaces.
Three miracles
The architect also spoke about three “miracles” that happened during the restoration process. The first was the survival of the statue of the Virgin of Paris. It was returned to the cathedral in a procession last November.
The second miracle that Villeneuve related occurred at the choir behind the cathedral's high altar, where statues of Louis XIII and Louis XIV flank a representation of the Pieta, representing Mary holding the body of Jesus after he has been taken from the cross. According to Villeneuve, during the fire, drops of molten lead fell from the roof onto the pierced hand of Christ. “I imagined the symbol — or perhaps not a symbol — of Mary’s cathedral crying tears of lead onto the hand of her son. It’s beautiful. And to me it was evidence that we have to keep these traces (of the fire) in his hand.” He said that today it is the only sign of the fire inside the cathedral.
A final miracle occurred on April 16, 2019, when Villeneuve was inspecting the cathedral from its north tower. There he spotted the rooster that had once topped the cathedral's collapsed spire. It was a moment of consolation and hope, because the rooster contained three valuable relics: a small piece believed to be from the Crown of Thorns, a relic of St. Denis, and a relic of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.
Villeneuve subsequently designed a new rooster that also represents a phoenix rising from a fire. In addition to the sacred relics, this new rooster also contains the names of the members of the “family” who helped restore Notre Dame.
Falling in love with Notre Dame
Riro Maniscalco, President of the New York Encounter, moderated the event. After Villeneuve finished his presentation, Maniscalco asked him what the work meant to him personally. “You were entrusted with something extremely precious in your hands,” he said. “Didn’t you ever feel intimidated by the task?”
“I am completely, as you can see, a little crazy,” Villeneuve joked. “But seriously, I loved this cathedral since I was a little, little, little kid of five years old.”
He was first attracted to the music from the cathedral, even asking his parents to take him to Notre Dame to hear the famed musician Pierre Cochereau, the cathedral’s titular organist. While there, he “saw the cathedral and it’s architecture, and, for me, Gothic architecture — and not only Gothic architecture — is music.” He “fell in love” with Notre Dame at that moment.
“I think that from my birth until now, it was written that I had to do what I did,” Villeneuve added. The events of April 2019 spurred him to action. “I said that I was like St. Jean D’Arc, completely determined. I saw my cathedral burning. For me it was evident that I had to rebuild this cathedral. And so, I quickly went ahead.”
Whenever he met an obstacle, he would simply keep forging ahead. “I didn’t recognize myself,” he insisted. “I often say that I didn’t know the man who drove this project.”
“Now I think I’m ready to go to the psychiatric hospital,” he added to laughter and applause.
You can view Philippe Villeneuve's presentation in its entirety below, beginning at the 35-minute mark:
