Emmanuel Macron will give a speech on the square in front of Notre-Dame on December 7, just before attending the liturgical reopening ceremony in the cathedral, then will be present on December 8 for the first public mass since the 2019 fire, announced this Wednesday, November 13, the Elysée.
On November 29, the Head of State will first make a final visit to the restoration project, completed as promised in five years, and will deliver a speech, this time inside the Parisian cathedral, to thank in particular all those who contributed to it, added the presidency. This will be his seventh site visit, the last dating back to December 8, 2023. He must go to the framework and “will wander through the rebuilt cathedral whose splendor will be revealed in its entirety on this occasion”, offering “an image unpublished […] unknown until now, in living memory,” a presidential adviser told the press.
Emmanuel Macron’s entourage estimated that the feat of reconstruction in five years was “a French success for which all French people are called to rejoice”, “in the continuity of the success that were the Games Olympics”, going against the discourse “on French decline”.
Separation of Church and State
The Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich told AFP at the end of October that the head of state would speak “in the cathedral” during the ceremony on December 7, at the end of which, around 9 p.m., Notre -Lady will be considered reopened. But the Elysée assured Wednesday that it had finally been decided that he would deliver “a fairly short speech” rather “on the square”, during a “secular time” before the liturgy. The authorities “ensured that the principle of separation” between Church and State “is respected”, it was argued, brushing aside the “beginnings of controversy” which had arisen when a speech inside had been mentioned.
Foreign heads of state and government are invited to the ceremony on December 7, said the presidency, without providing a list and without wanting to comment on the announced absence of Pope Francis, although invited by Emmanuel Macron. Asked about this absence, Mgr Ulrich assured him that he had known about it for “a very long time” and explained that it “corresponds to the way the pope envisages his ministry”. The Pope in fact has the “habit of going rather where his predecessors did not come so much”, that is to say “in small countries, where there are few Christians, few Catholics, in countries where there are difficult situations of war or tension.” But “I really hope that we will have a message from him,” added the archbishop.
On December 8, during the first public mass, the head of state will also be present. “The President of the Republic is not prohibited, whether personally or as President of the Republic, from attending religious services” but he “never takes communion,” explained an advisor.
“Welcome the whole world back”
The building will reopen to the public on December 8 with entry possible “until 10 p.m. in the evening” the first week, the rector of the cathedral, Mgr Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas, explained this Wednesday during a press conference. , specifying that “on December 16, ordinary life will resume”. The inaugural mass and the consecration of the altar “will take place on Sunday 8 at 10:30 a.m., presided over by the Archbishop of Paris and always in the presence of the Head of State”, indicated Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas, specifying that ” At this mass, more than 150 bishops from France and the world, priests and faithful representing the parishes of the diocese of Paris will be present.
“Our thirst is great to welcome the whole world back under the vaults of the cathedral,” declared Mgr Ulrich, assuring that “15 million visitors” are expected “every year”. “It is now time to find Notre-Dame,” added Mgr Ribadeau Dumas. “My responsibility and my primary concern have been to guarantee that Notre-Dame retains its spiritual dimension for the faithful of this diocese,” insisted Mgr Ulrich, who underlined his desire “that faithful from Paris be present at all the ceremonies of December 7 and 8. Likewise, charitable associations with which we work will also be present at the mass on the 8th and at the “fraternal buffet” which will follow, insisted the Archbishop of Paris.
A free ticketing system will allow individuals to reserve entry “the day before, the day before or the same day” of the visit, said Sybille Bellamy-Brown, head of public management at the cathedral. Pilgrimages will be able to enter “from February 1” and, “from June 9, we will actually be able to bring in cultural groups” who will have registered in March, she added. The number of visitors in the building is between 1,900 and 3,000 people, according to Mgr Ribadeau Dumas.