Five and a half years of intense work alongside the Seine They end this Saturday a feat that seemed impossible: reopen Notre Dame in record time and restore its splendor. The bad weather, however, has forced the celebrations to be adapted at the last minute and move all acts inside of the temple.
“By common agreement between the diocese of Paris and the Presidency of the Republic, the entire ceremony will take place inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,” these two institutions detailed late Friday in a joint statement, where They have specified that gusts of wind between 65 and 80 kilometers per hour in the region.
Initially, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, He was to speak on the esplanade of the cathedral a few minutes after the start of the ceremony, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT).
It was planned like this to have two very marked times: an official, political and secular ceremony, outside and another inside, more purely religious, with the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, as protagonist.
With adjustments due to bad weather, Macron will receive around 40 heads of state and government who will attend the ceremony starting at 6:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m. GMT).
The list includes the kings of the Belgians Felipe and Matilde; to the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier; to the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden; to the Paraguayan head of state, Santiago Penaor that of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi.
The Ukrainian president will also be among the guests, Volodymyr Zelenskyand the next tenant of the White House, donald trumpin what will be his first international trip after winning the US presidential elections last November.
Both will also be received by Macron successively at the Elysée just a few hours before, although the French Presidency has not indicated whether there will be an opportunity for both to take advantage of the visit to Paris to meet and talk about the uncertain future of the Washington’s support against the Russian invasion.
Trump is already in Paris, where he landed around 7:30 a.m. (6:30 GMT) at Orly airport, according to the French press, which also indicated that his convoy headed first to the Embassy. American, located in the area of Place de la Concorde and Avenue des Champs-Elysées.
Other personalities have had to decline the invitation to the reopening, like the Kings of Spain, Felipe VI and Letiziaand he won’t be at Notre Dame either. Pope Francis, although the archbishop of Paris will read a message from him.
After the official greetings, Ulrich will proceed to the official opening of the cathedral – reciting three psalms and knocking on the door with a cross – and then inside the political part of the ceremony, with Macron’s speech included.
The events will take place amidst a strong security deployment with 6,000 agents, an anti-drone surveillance device and businesses closed on the perimeter around the cathedral throughout the weekend, which has caused some complaints.
The reopening events will last until around 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. GMT) and, according to the original plan, were to give way to a large concert organized by French public television outside the cathedral, but that plan It will also depend on the time.
The one on the 8th It will be a more religious program with a mass at 10:30 a.m. (09:30 GMT), in which the altar will be consecrated, which will be attended by 150 bishops and other guests. In the afternoon another mass will be celebrated for 2,500 faithful and Parisian residents.
#Notre #Dame #Cathedral #reopens #Saturday #years #fire
