Next Saturday, December 7, the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral will take place in Paris. Five years after being ravaged by flames, the fully restored building will once again welcome the public. The next day, at 10:30 a.m., the Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich, will preside over the inaugural mass during which the consecration of the altar will take place. For two days, all eyes will be on the venerable building. All, except that of Pope Francis. That weekend, the sovereign pontiff has other obligations. He organized a public ordinary consistory for the creation of new cardinals. After hammering “ I won't go to Paris “, he found an escape.
Its absence raises questions. Especially since Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral is not a church like any other, it is emblematic of European Catholicism. The fact that the Pope does not travel for the occasion appears inexplicable and incomprehensible. At the Élysée, this was also a source of tension. At the highest level of the State, we did not expect such a refusal.
Diplomatic incident
Once the shock of the announcement passed, Emmanuel Macron, like the bishops of France, ended up making up his mind. His frustration was rekindled by the announcement of the possible arrival of the head of the Church in Corsica on December 15, just one week after the Paris event. According to several sources close to the President relayed by The Worldthe latter would have taken very badly the fact that the pope was planning a visit to Corsica. He even reportedly expressed his annoyance to Cardinal Bustillo.
What does this very surprising papal approach mean? Should we understand that in his eyes, the conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean organized by Monseigneur François-Xavier Bustillo, the Archbishop of Ajaccio newly made cardinal, has more value than the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris? Not exactly.
According to The PointPope Francis would see the inauguration of the cathedral as a worldly and political event, more than as a religious event. He wouldn't want to be associated with that. A cardinal close to the sovereign pontiff also entrusted to our colleagues at Figaro that the pope did not want to be the “ guest-star » of the President of the French Republic. For the Pope, Emmanuel Macron would use the event for political purposes, to make France shine internationally, but above all to draw light to his own person.
How can we prove him wrong when Emmanuel Macron went out of his way to speak inside the religious building and it took a lot of insistence to make him give up? As a reminder, he had also imagined a very symbolic and telegenic sequence where he would hand over the key of Notre-Dame to Monseigneur Laurent Ulrich. A request also refused by the prelate. For five years, the Head of State has made this his major project. The day after the fire, he placed himself as the savior of the cathedral by announcing that it would be rebuilt in record time. Now that the challenge has been met, he seems to want to take all the glory from it. The sovereign pontiff obviously does not wish to witness this, nor for his presence to serve as a guarantee.
Religious visit, yes; state, no
This is apparently not the only thing that offends the pope. Although Emmanuel Macron likes to speak informally to the sovereign pontiff and to express their closeness, the two men seem less and less in phase. The inclusion of abortion in the Constitution and the opening of the debate on the end of life are not to the pope's taste. Its absence could be a way of emphasizing this. During his visit to Marseille, on the occasion of the Mediterranean Meetings, in September 2023, the Holy Father also emphasized these two themes in his homily, speaking of “ tragic rejection of human life ».
In every way, Pope Francis remains in his line. As during his last trip to our lands, he does not honor Emmanuel Macron's France with his presence. He refuses the eldest daughter of the Church a state visit and only responds to invitations from cardinals he created: to Monsignor Jean-Marc Aveline, for his trip to Marseille, and to Monsignor François-Xavier Bustillo , for the trip to Corsica. Some will see it as a way of putting the church in the center of the village and Emmanuel Macron in his place.
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