Trump to attend Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening as church bells ring across US
The US president-elect has announced plans to travel to Paris this weekend to attend the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral, in what would be his first foreign visit since winning the presidential election at the start of November. The announcement to attend the special event on 7 December came on Donald Trump’s social media platform The post Trump to attend Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening as church bells ring across US appeared first on Catholic Herald.
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The US president-elect has announced plans to travel to Paris this weekend to attend the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral, in what would be his first foreign visit since winning the presidential election at the start of November.
The announcement to attend the special event on 7 December came on Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social:
“It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the reopening of the magnificent and historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” President-elect Donald Trump wrote.
He also said that French President Emmanuel Macron has done a “wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”
Macron was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Trump after his shock electoral win last month, in which he defeated Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.
Catholic churches throughout the US have been encouraged by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to ring their bells at 2 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on Dec. 7 “in a gesture of unity” with the reopening of the cathedral.
The restoration and reopening of the Parisian landmark is both a national and global affair, given the iconic status of the Catholic cathedral around the world.
About 6,000 police officers and members of the gendarmerie will be deployed over the weekend for the event, which is expected to be attended by about 50 heads of state and government, Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said at a press conference, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
After speculation that Pope Francis would attend the ceremony, it was later confirmed in September that he would not be doing so.
The reopening service, presided over by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, will be attended by Macron, various officials, donors and Parisian clergy. The service will include the singing of the Te Deum, the Magnificat, prayers for the world and the Lord’s Prayer, CNA notes.
The cathedral’s inaugural Mass will be celebrated the following day, Sunday, 8 December, during which the archbishop will consecrate the high altar. About 170 bishops and priests from around the world will participate, along with one priest from each of the 106 parishes in the Archdiocese of Paris.
Events throughout 8–15 December will then follow that involve both the faithful and those involved in the restoration. The cathedral will resume its daily schedule starting 16 December.
An iconic symbol of French history and Gothic architecture, Notre Dame suffered a near cataclysmic fire on 15 April 2019 when flames engulfed its roof and spire.
Its main structure and many of its priceless contents were managed to be saved. The subsequent five-year-long restoration project, which has cost around $760 million (£600 million), has proven “monumental, involving teams of architects, artisans, and engineers dedicated to preserving the cathedral’s historical integrity”, reports CNA.
It notes that before the fire and the cathedral’s closure, according to France’s Tourism Board it attracted between 14 million to 15 million visitors annually.
In the lead up to the reopening, voices within the Catholic Church in France expressed apprehension about how the ceremony for Notre-Dame would be conducted, and about the potential politicising of it by Macron. Such concerns followed the controversy during the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games during the summer.
RELATED: Will re-opening of Notre-Dame be given the Olympic treatment by Emmanuel Macron?
Photo collage: Then Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump, takes the stage for his last rally of the election year at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, 5 November 2024 (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) / Repairs and works at Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, 8 August 2024 (Photo by MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images).
The post Trump to attend Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening as church bells ring across US appeared first on Catholic Herald.
