Currents News Staff
The Notre Dame cathedral celebrated its first Mass since the April 15 fire that badly damaged the building.
The ceremony, which took place in a chapel at the end of the cathedral, was led by the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, and attended by a small number of priests.
Aupetit said in his message that he wanted to celebrate Mass just two months to the day after the fire at Notre Dame in the cathedral itself because he wanted to give a sign of hope.
And later in his message Aupetit said “we hope that we can regain the spirit of those who built this cathedral in the first place.”
During the Mass, which was streamed live on Catholic television and was also streamed live on the website of the Catholic Church, you could see very clearly the devastation caused by the fire two months ago.
There were piles of debris in the middle of the Church of the main nave area and holes in the ceiling. You could see protective structures that were built along important treasures like statues and whatnot.
The church wanted to have a vesper service out in front of the cathedral, but that area is still too fragile because of what’s happened underground in the vaults area. Authorities wouldn’t allow them to take it out and let the public take part in any kind of ceremony like that.