The newly-restored Notre Dame Cathedral has been reopened to the public in an extravagant ceremony on Saturday, five years after a fire destroyed much of the church’s iconic roof, frame, and spire.
The ceremony was attended by more than 1,000 people including 40 heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron, US President-Elect Donald Trump, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. More than 40,000 people gathered outside the Cathedral for the occasion.
Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich led the ceremony, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai of Antioch, joining 170 bishops from France and around the world in attendance.
Breaking five years of silence, the bell of Notre-Dame, known as the “bourdon,” rang out across Paris. This was the first step in the reopening office, initiated by three knocks on the cathedral’s central portal, the Portal of the Last Judgment, by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
Pope Francis was unable to travel for the occasion but sent a letter, read by the Apostolic Nuncio of France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.
“May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France,” the Holy Father said.
The ceremony included a tribute to the firefighters who helped to save the 800-year-old Cathedral.
The consecration Mass for the Cathedral’s new main altar took place on Sunday, celebrated by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
"Whether you are here in person in the cathedral or in front of a screen, including perhaps under the rain, I greet you with intense emotion," Ulrich told the congregation. "This morning, the pain of April 15, 2019 has been erased.”
The Cathedral will fully open to visitors on December 16, however Masses are being celebrated each day until then.