Notre Dame cathedral holds first mass since April fire
French President Macron hopes the cathedral will by fully restored within five years.
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was forced to skip Christmas Mass this week for the first time in over two centuries after a devastating fire gutted the building in April.
The 855-year-old landmark has been closed to the public since the massive blaze ripped through the medieval cathedral destroying its iconic spire and noticeably altering the Paris skyline.
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“This is the first time since the French Revolution that there will be no midnight Mass (at Notre Dame),” cathedral rector Patrick Chauvet told The Associated Press.
He said that to his knowledge, it was only closed for Christmas in the period after 1789, when the anti-Catholic French revolutionaries turned the monument into “a temple of reason.”
Chauvet also revealed that the landmark remains so fragile that there's a "50 percent chance" the structure might not be entirely saved, because scaffolding installed before this year's fire is threatening the vaults of the Gothic monument.
"Today we can say that there is maybe a 50 percent chance that it will be saved. There is also 50 percent chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults," he said.
A target if five years has been set for the restoration of the cathedral. (Associated Press)
Notre Dame even held Christmas Masses during two world wars as a symbol of hope amid the bloodshed. The faithful are looking to keep that spirit alive outside the historic walls this Christmas.
Chauvet instead led a midnight Christmas Mass on Dec. 24 at Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois across from the Louvre Museum.
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“We have the opportunity to celebrate the Mass outside the walls, so to speak... but with some indicators that Notre Dame is connected to us,” Chauvet said.
Parishioners at Christmas Eve Mass shared sorrow about the fire, but also a feeling of solidarity.
"We are French, we are going to try to rebuild Notre Dame as it was before, because it is a symbol," Jean-Luc Bodam, a Parisian engineer, told The Associated Press.
A wooden liturgical platform that resembles Notre Dame’s own has been constructed in the Saint-Germain church. The Notre Dame choir will also perform a song to the crowd of faithful.
It took a fire to stop Notre Dame from celebrating Christmas Mass for the first time in more than two centuries. (Associated Press)
Since the destruction, donations small and large have poured in to help restore the historic cathedral.
In October, French billionaires Francois-Henri Pinault and his father, Francois Pinault, officially signed over $109 million toward rebuilding the church. Rival French billionaire Bernard Arnault pledged $218 million. Others have donated as little as one euro.
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French President Emmanuel Macron set a target of five years – which will be when France is set to host the 2024 Summer Olympics – for the completion of Notre-Dame restoration efforts.
Fox News' Lucia I. Suarez Sang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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