An official ceremony on December 7, attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and high-level guests, and a mass for the faithful on December 8 will reopen Notre Dame Cathedral. The opening is done after something more than five years of restorations due to the serious fire in April 2019.
“It is a French success, with which all French people are called to rejoice,” said Elysée sources when confirming the first official details of the reopening, which It will also include an evening with artists and cultural personalities.
Macron will give a speech on December 7 on the outer esplanade, in order to respect the principles of secularism of the State, and the ceremonies inside Notre Dame will be led by Laurent Ulrich, archbishop of Paris. Despite the religious aspect and the presence of the president at the mass on the 8th, the Elysée has influenced the republican nature of the initial ceremony and that is “addressed to all French people”, not just Catholics“whatever your philosophy or beliefs.”
“What the French know how to do best is build, they are a town of builders,” sources have maintained. Furthermore, they have highlighted that it will also be a moment of celebration at an international level, since the fire of April 15, 2019 not only shocked France, but also the world.
At the moment, the French Presidency has not confirmed the details about the personalities invited to the reopening on the 7th, but the diocese has announced that there will be heads of state. The Elysée also avoided commenting on the absence of Pope Francis and has left clarifications in the hands of the religious authorities in Paris and the Vatican.
Pope’s absence
Francis “has stated that he will not come to Paris,” the Archbishop of Paris officially announced, specifying that he had known about this decision “for a long time.” Ulrich explained that the Pope “wants to focus on difficult situations“that occur in the world, in countries that suffer serious problems or wars, or in which there are very few Christians. “It is the way in which he considers that he should exercise his ministry.”
As for the mass on the 8th, which will consecrate the cathedral and give continuity on a religious level to the more “republican” events on the 7th, Attendance will be open to faithful of religious associations in Paris. That same day the temple will also be partially opened to visitors, an event for which a telematic reservation application will be launched, according to the archbishopric.
Before all these events, Macron will visit the Notre Dame works for the last time on November 29 and that date will allow him to offer a first look at the new look of the temple, with stones of “dazzling whiteness”. That day the president will also thank all the participants in the restorations and the donors who financed them for their efforts.
It is a project that has had a budget of 700 million euros, although in subsequent years restoration work will continue to be carried out on some still fragile parts of the cathedral, such as the buttresses that decorate the nave. Other work is also still in progress, such as the placement of contemporary stained glass windows in the cathedral, a process launched by the archdiocese and supported by Macron that has been full of controversy, and even campaigns to ask that the old windows be respected.
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