Religious ceremony, message from the Pope, concert, speech from the president… The inauguration of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on Saturday, five years after the fire which ravaged it, is full of events. The celebrations, initially planned on the square but moved inside the cathedral due to the weather, must begin at 7 p.m., before a religious ceremony is held within it.
Only selected guests will be able to access it, while on the high quays near the cathedral, a “zone will be set up” to accommodate a maximum of 40,000 people.
- Opening of the ceremony Saturday at 7 p.m.
The inauguration will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday evening in the cathedral. Absent from these celebrations, Pope Francis transmitted a message “to the French”, which will be read at the start of the ceremony.
A film recounting the events since the fire of April 15, 2019, the causes of which have not been determined, will also be broadcast. The video will pay tribute to the rescuers of Notre-Dame, as well as the builders who renovated it. A text by the French poet Louis Aragon will then be read by Comédie-Française member Éric Ruf and a “musical moment” performed by the brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, violinist and cellist.
- Address by the President of the Republic
A speech by the President of the Republic is scheduled for 7:20 p.m., focusing in particular on “the art of being French”. It should last around fifteen minutes.
Around forty heads of state and government are expected to attend this ceremony. Among them: the American first lady Jill Biden and the future president of the United States Donald Trump, Prince William for the United Kingdom, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, but also the German presidents Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian Sergio Mattarella or the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Then will come the moment awaited for more than five years: the “religious” reopening of Notre-Dame by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich. The reopening service is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. The archbishop “will address the cathedral” and “knock on the doors with his crosier,” said his vice-rector, Father Guillaume Normand. Mgr Ulrich will then welcome the guests to the building.
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A religious ceremony will begin around 8:15 p.m., lasting around 45 minutes. The service will take place in three parts, specifies the Notre-Dame website, with a blessing of the organ, “the singing of the office” and a “final blessing by the archbishop and the singing of the God bless you. ” This entire service is accompanied by the choirs of the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris,” it is specified.
- A concert from 9:30 p.m., but not live
A concert will then take place from 9:30 p.m. on the square, which should last between two fifteen and two thirty hours. Weather obliges, once again, this concert organized by France Télévisions and co-broadcast by Radio France, finally had to be recorded this Friday evening to be broadcast the next day. The singers Clara Luciani, Vianney, Garou and Pharrell Williams will be present, but also the Chinese virtuoso pianist Lang Lang, the South African soprano Pretty Yende and the Franco-Swiss tenor Benjamin Bernheim.
- Inaugural Mass Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
The next day, “the inaugural mass, with the consecration of the high altar,” will take place at 10:30 a.m. It will be chaired by the Archbishop of Paris and will be in the presence of the President of the Republic, but also foreign heads of state. “Nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world” will also be present, as well as priests from the 106 parishes of the diocese of Paris and the seven Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, accompanied by faithful.
The first mass open to the public will also be held on Sunday, at 6:30 p.m. However, “all places available for this celebration have been reserved”, underlines the Notre-Dame de Paris website.
- First visit outside mass from Monday
The first places opened to access the cathedral concerned exclusively the evening masses of the octave, from December 8 to 15. They were sold out within minutes. Non-mass access slots will be open on Saturday for reservations from Monday, December 9. It will be possible to visit the monument from 3:30 p.m. until 8 or 10 p.m.
But “from Monday December 16, the Cathedral will return to its daily rhythm, open from 7:45 a.m. to 7 p.m.”, assures the monument website.
