The excitement is mounting in Paris ahead of the 8 December reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral with only a few cranes remaining on the outside of the iconic French church.
As scaffolding has largely been removed from the outside structure, the inside renovation work continues at full speed to finish it on time for the most anticipated church event of the decade in the French capital.
What has electrified France in the final months leading to reopening is the question of whether Pope Francis himself will come for the occasion—an invitation has been extended to the pope by President Emmanuel Macron in December 2023.
At the beginning of the pope’s 12-day trip to Asia, a French writer started a rumour that the pope would travel to Paris 8 December for the reopening and consecration of the cathedral’s altar. But on his flight 13 September from Singapore to Rome, he was asked about this and he simply responded, “I will not go to Paris.”
The work being finalised inside the cathedral includes finishing the liturgical platform, made of stone steps and black and white marble slabs, with an internal metal structure to accommodate electrical and digital cables.
The liturgical furniture is composed of five elements: the altar as a natural centrepiece, the cathedra and the associated seats, the ambo, the tabernacle and the baptistery. Each of the pieces was designed in sculpted bronze.