Priests in Hard Hats Celebrate First Mass at Notre Dame Since Fire

Burnt debris is still visible. The priests are wearing hard helmets and only a few dozen people are inside. But Notre Dame Cathedral held its first Mass in Paris last Saturday, two months after a fire devastated its roof and masterpiece spire on April 15.

The Mass was celebrated by Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit, in a place reportedly confirmed by construction experts as safe, who emphasized the purpose of Notre Dame as a house of Christian worship, and not an ornament of the state.

“We are happy to celebrate this Mass to render to God what is God’s and to Man his sublime vocation,” he concluded in his homily.

Originally built between the 12th through 14th centuries, the cathedral is one of the most recognizable churches in the world. It’s still not clear when it will reopen to the public.

Watch the mass:

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