Two months after a devastating fire tore through the French landmark, Notre Dame Cathedral held its first Mass.
On Saturday, June 15, exactly two months to the day that the Parisian landmark was engulfed in flames, Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit and about 30 others comprised mainly of priests, canons, and church employees entered the Cathedral for Mass wearing hard-hat helmets as a precautionary measure.
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According to the Associated Press, the Mass, which was also broadcast live on a religious TV station, took place in a chapel behind the choir, a section deemed safe by construction experts. The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral’s altar.
“This cathedral is a place of worship, it is its very own and unique purpose,” Aupetit said, according to Reuters. “It is a message of hope and thanks to all those who were moved by what happened to this cathedral.”
Speaking after the service, Father Pierre Vivares told the AP that the Mass was a “victory.”
“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 said. “Today it’s a small but a true victory against the disaster we have had.”
Often referred to as the heart of Paris, the landmark building was engulfed in flames during the evening of Monday, April 15, prompting the response of hundreds of firefighters to battle the blaze well into the following morning.
Although the flames were eventually extinguished, severe damage had already occurred. Along with injuries sustained by two police officers and one firefighter, three “holes” were left in the vaulted ceiling and the famous spiral collapsed as a result of the blaze.
In the aftermath, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to “rebuild” the heart of Paris.
“I’m telling you all tonight – we will rebuild this cathedral together,” he said. “This is probably part of the French destiny. And we will do it in the next years. Starting tomorrow, a national donation scheme will be started that will extend beyond our borders.”
In the days that followed, billionaires business leaders, and many others pledged millions of dollars to the rebuilding efforts, though the French government has said that they’ve so far received less than 10 percent of the $953 million in rebuilding funds, the New York Post reports. Instead, an estimated 90 percent of the rebuilding funds have come from American citizens, with small French donors also contributing to the rebuild.
