“Keep this lesson of fragility, humility and willpower as a treasure”: Notre-Dame now returned to the whole world

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris reopened its doors on Saturday, in the presence of many heads of state. The ceremonies continue this Sunday morning, with mass, which the head of state will attend.

Notre-Dame reopened its doors on Saturday, in the presence of some forty heads of state and the artisans of its renaissance, firefighters, companions and patrons, five years after the fire that ravaged this jewel of Gothic art, one of the emblems of the French capital, on April 15, 2019, arousing strong emotion throughout the world.

The Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Laurent Ulrich, officially marked the reopening of the cathedral by striking the doors of Notre-Dame three times with his crozier, which opened before him.
“I stand before you to express the gratitude of the French nation to all those who saved, helped and rebuilt the cathedral”, greeted Emmanuel Macron, finally speaking not on the forecourt but inside the building, due to unpredictable weather.

The Pope's message

“We must treasure this lesson of fragility, humility and will”, a stressed the President, before the great organ saved from the flames rang again.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

In a message read by the Apostolic Nuncio, the Pope, who was absent, said he hoped that“the rebirth of Notre-Dame is the prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France”. The sovereign pontiff also pleaded for visitors to be welcomed there “free of charge”, after the proposal by the resigning Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, to charge for visits. “It is a monument that speaks to the greatest number of people. Which no longer belongs only to Parisians and the French, but perhaps to the entire world”, explains historian Damien Berné.

“A point of reference”

“It is a milestone, an emblem, a point of reference that reassures in a globalized world where everything is constantly evolving”, he believes.

And, for Emmanuel Macron, who will also attend the mass for the consecration of the liturgical furniture this Sunday morning, the hope of making this resurrection of Notre-Dame a new enchanted interlude, after the Olympic Games, at a time when he is entangled in an inextricable political situation.

But also a diplomatic success, if the meeting organized on Saturday at the Élysée between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky can bear fruit.

Emmanuel Macron met Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Elysée Palace. MAXPPP – Presidential Press Service of Ukraine HANDOUT

Behind the scenes, a diplomatic summit

The meeting, hoped for by Emmanuel Macron, was only confirmed at the last minute after the green light was given by Donald Trump. At 5:43 p.m. on Saturday, shortly after his arrival at the Élysée, the President-elect of the United States accepted to meet Volodomyr Zelensky, in the presence of the French president. A first since the Republican's victory in the presidential election. What will remain of these thirty minutes of exchanges that ended with a handshake, a sequence that the Ukrainian president called “good and fruitful”, judging “strength through peace possible” ? A golden opportunity for the strongman of kyiv, who fears being pushed to capitulation by the future tenant of the White House, to assert his point of view, without however any guarantee that it will be taken into account. The promise to “continue to work together”. And a masterful diplomatic move, without a doubt, for the French president.