The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France
December 7, 2024 - President-elect Donald J. Trump (R) joined French President Emanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The historic cathedral was largely destroyed by a Muslim arsonist in 2019.
Rebuilding the historic cathedral in Paris has been a major effort on the part of the French government.
"It is a great honor for French people to welcome you five years later and you were at that time president the first time," said President Macron. "I remember the solidarity and the great action. Welcome back again."
"We accomplished a lot together," said President Trump. "It is an honor to be here. We had good time together and we had great success working together on defense and offense too. It seems like the world is going a little bit crazy right now and we will be talking about that."
President Joseph R. Biden (D), who was touring Africa this week, was invited but he elected not to come.
First Lady Jill Biden will attend the ceremony, but not the meeting wit the world leaders.
Trump, Macron, and Zelensky sat down for a meeting prior to the ceremony. The likely discussion is about the end of the war between Ukraine and Russia. What can Ukraine accept and how that war winds down.
The reopening ceremony will be led by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
Ulrich will knock on the doors of the 861-year-old Cathedral with his staff and a psalm will be sung three times before the doors open.
Pope Francis will not be in attendance because the celebration of the restoration of France's cathedral is the same weekend as a consistory of new cardinals at the Vatican.
The Pope will preside over the meeting at the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican.
Archbishop Ulrich, under the circumstances, is excused from attending the event in Rome.
ted the red hat to Paris, neither to Archbishop Ulrich nor his predecessor. Nevertheless, scheduling a consistory for the same date as the previously planned reopening of Notre Dame does mean a division of attention.
Under French law, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and every other Catholic Church built before 1905, are owned by the secular French government. During the French Revolution the revolutionaries seized all of the Church's property in France in 1790. The great Napoleon then negotiated with the Pope an agreement that returned some of that property back to the Church. Napoleon also agreed to restore some freedom of worship after the increasingly brutal directorate had replaced traditional Christian worship with a more revolution friendly religion that they had created and replaced most of the French clergy in the process. Later the Republic of France and the Church clashed over Church and state relations. An agreement was reached in 1901 where the French state owns all churches built before 1905, but is responsible for maintaining the buildings. The Church received freedom of worship in exchange without interference from the state.
Saturday's rededication includes many world dignitaries; but the first Mass in the restored Cathedral will be Sunday morning. Bishops from across France will join the archbishop there.
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