Five years after a devastating fire, Notre-Dame de Paris celebrated its first mass this Sunday morning in front of an audience of leaders, representatives of the Church, volunteers and precarious people, the day after its official reopening.
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“ This morning, the sentence of April 15, 2019 is erased »: the Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich, celebrated the first mass of Notre-Dame of Paris since the devastating fire, in front of an emotional audience of leaders, ecclesiastics, volunteers and faithful, some of them precarious.
Mgr Ulrich was delighted to “ such a special day when the Paris Cathedral regains its splendor, such as no one has known it before », in front of some 2,500 people present in the renovated cathedral grounds. He greeted the faithful “ with intense emotion “, that they are ” present in this cathedral or in front of a screen, including perhaps in the rain “.
Presence of Macron and several heads of state
The mass, punctuated in particular by the blessing of the water, the consecration of the altar, the biblical readings, the deposition of the relics, the blessing of the tabernacle and the rite of peace, lasted more than two hours. It will be followed at 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. GMT) by a second mass planned this time for the general public, who will only be able to access it by reservation. The ticket office having been taken by storm, no more slots are available for Sunday or for the masses of the following week.
As the day before, several heads of state were present on Sunday morning, including Emmanuel Macron, alongside 150 people in precarious situations – then invited to a lunch -, 150 bishops from France and the world, as well as a priest from each of the 106 Parisian parishes and the seven Eastern Rite Catholic churches. The French president, who gave a speech inside the cathedral on Saturday evening, did not take communion, but shared peace with his neighbors, respecting the separation of Church and State in France.
After the reopening on mondovision on Saturday evening, the public, fewer in number, gathered on Sunday morning near the barriers and in front of the giant screens on the square to follow this first mass since the devastating fire which occurred on April 15, 2019, on this day celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
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