The Pope invited by Emmanuel Macron for the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris in a yr | EUROtoday

Published on : 08/12/2023 – 15:31

4 minutes

French President Emmanuel Macron introduced on Friday December 8 that modern stained glass home windows could be produced to bear “the mark of the 21st^e century” at Notre-Dame de Paris after the hearth of 2019, one yr to the day earlier than the deliberate reopening of the cathedral to which he intends to ask the pope.

Asked on France 2 in regards to the attainable presence of Pope Francis on the ceremony scheduled for December 8, 2024, the pinnacle of state replied: “I hope so, in any case we will invite him.”

Emmanuel Macron went to the positioning to start out the countdown on D-365 for the reopening to worship and the general public. And particularly on the prime of the brand new spire which, at an altitude of 96 meters, has reappeared in current days underneath the scaffolding and has been topped since Wednesday with its cross, whereas awaiting its rooster which should quickly be blessed in response to Catholic custom.

“We are meeting the deadlines,” welcomed the President of the Republic, who had set an formidable timetable for reconstruction in 5 years. “It’s a fantastic image of hope and of a France that knows how to rebuild,” he added to the press. He spoke of “a moment that is both important and moving” which testifies to the “extraordinary progress” of “this project which seemed impossible”.

On April 15, 2019, a spectacular hearth ravaged the cathedral, together with the spire, designed by the nineteenth century architect^e century Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, had collapsed earlier than the eyes of Parisians and vacationers. Images of the flames have been broadcast stay, sparking world emotion. Before the catastrophe, it attracted 12 million guests on common annually.

Emmanuel Macron symbolically gave the final stroke of the chisel to the inscription, within the wooden of the arrow, of the title of “his general”, Jean-Louis Georgelin, whom he had initially entrusted with finishing up the titanic mission and who died final summer time. “The general (Jean-Louis Georgelin) was known and loved on this site and we know what we owe him,” mentioned his successor Philippe Jost, referring to a web site loaded with “symbols”.

Lead controversy

The President of the Republic, accompanied by his spouse Brigitte Macron, then went to the nave and choir of the cathedral that are starting to be cleared of their scaffolding.

In a letter despatched this week, Mgr Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, confirmed his “wish” to see the State order “a series of six stained glass windows for the south side chapels of the nave”.

“I fully subscribe to it,” Emmanuel Macron responded on Friday. “It is with my full agreement that we are going to launch a competition which will allow contemporary artists to submit, on the basis of an order that will be placed, a figurative work,” he added.

According to him, “the century which is ours will have its place among several others which appear in the works of this cathedral”, a jewel of Gothic artwork which he has additionally determined to have reconstructed “identically” .

The Head of State additionally introduced that the previous stained glass home windows, “which will be removed” and “which date from Viollet-le-Duc”, in addition to the rooster which fell on April 15, 2019 within the collapse of the spire, “will take place in a museum of the work of Notre-Dame de Paris” which can see the sunshine of day “in the premises of the Hôtel-Dieu”, close by on the Île de la Cité.

After the arrow, the following step ought to be its lead overlaying, in addition to that of the roof. A alternative that continues to create controversy. Environmentalist senator Anne Souyris, former well being deputy to the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, known as Tuesday on the social community X (previously Twitter) to “suspend the construction site while a health authority decides on the risks of its more than 400 tonnes of lead”.

“It’s a good decision”, “taking into account health constraints but also on an architectural level” due to its “coherence”, defended Emmanuel Macron on Friday, making certain that the prefect of the Ile-de-France area had “ carried out the research himself.

With AFP