Amen at work!
Notre-Dame reopens – but clergy and faithful don hard hats in case any debris falls from the heavens
THEIR heads protected by safety helmets in case of falling debris, the Archbishop of Paris and a priest celebrate mass at Notre-Dame in the first service since the devastating fire that shocked the world two months ago.
Dispensing with his mitre, Archbishop Michel Aupetit presided over the service with 30 other clerics and officials, the maximum number allowed under current conditions.
The mass took place in a chapel behind the choir, an area that construction experts consider to be safe.
Last week, France’s Culture Minister, Franck Riester, said the 850-year-old cathedral – one of the country’s most famous landmarks – remains in a ‘fragile’ state.
The annual Dedication Mass commemorated Notre-Dame’s consecration as a place of worship. Mr Aupetit said: ‘This cathedral is a place of worship, it is its very own and unique purpose.’
One French priest called the service ‘true happiness, full of hope’.
Father Pierre Vivares, another priest who attended the service, said after the mass: ‘We will rebuild this cathedral. It will take time of course – a lot of money, lot of time, lot of work – but we will succeed.’
He added: ‘Today it’s a small but a true victory against the disaster we have had.’
In April the world watched in horror as fire engulfed the majestic cathedral.
The blaze is feared to have been started accidentally in the scaffolding that had been erected for renovation work on the cathedral’s spire.
President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild Notre-Dame within the next five years, and donation pledges of £757million were made within days by wealthy French philanthropists and companies.
However, last week, Mr Riester, revealed that only ten per cent of the money pledged has been paid so far.