I have found the images of the rioting in Paris and other French cities heartbreaking. I spent three wonderful years as a doctoral student in Paris, and I easily recognize many of the neighborhoods and streets that are now in flames. Though its roots go back to ancient Rome, Paris became a truly great city because of the University of Paris, which grew from the Cathedral school of Notre Dame. For centuries, scholars came from all over Europe to this center of learning where the Western intellectual tradition—born of the confluence of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome—was defended and developed. What seems clear is that the arsonists and rioters of the present day represent a farrago of forces inimical to the intellectual and moral values of the West. I had taken such encouragement from the demonstration of pride in Catholicism and Catholic history that was on display when Pope Leo visited France just a few weeks ago. May the French people rouse themselves to realize that they stand against a determined enemy and that they have the intellectual and spiritual resources to oppose that foe.