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Notre-Dame marks Good Friday one year after devastating blaze
PARIS, April 10, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The archbishop of Paris led a small
prayer ceremony Friday at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, marking the start of
the Catholic Easter weekend one year after a fire that nearly destroyed the
world heritage monument.
“There is still life here,” Archbishop Michel Aupetit said after he and a
handful of priests entered the church wearing white hard hats for Good Friday
prayers.
However there will be no Easter celebrations held at Notre-Dame nor any
other church in France, after large gatherings were banned last month as part
of France’s lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Restoration work at the cathedral was also halted, adding to doubts about
the government’s ambitious plans to rebuild the 13th-century landmark by
2024.
“In this Holy Week, the entire world has been stunned by a pandemic that
is spreading death and paralysing us,” Aupetit said.
After a moment of silence before a crown of thorns, which many Christians
believe was placed on Jesus’ head during his crucifixion, Aupetit offered
thanks for the “global movement” that followed the blaze to ensure the
cathedral “is rebuilt and restored”.
Star French classical violinist Renaud Capucon — wearing a plastic suit
and boots to protect against the toxic lead from the molten roof that still
contaminates the site — then played Bach sonatas.
Prominent French actors Judith Chemla and Philippe Torreton — similary
clad — also read texts from Mother Theresa, Paul Claudel and others.
The cathedral’s structure remains at risk as workers try to consolidate
walls weakened by the collapse of the oak beams supporting the roof as well
as the steeple, which were undergoing restoration when the fire broke out on
April 15, 2019.
They must still carefully remove a tangled web of molten steel scaffolding
before being able to fully cover the gaping hole in the roof and protect the
site from rain — an operation that was set for this spring before being
halted by the coronavirus crisis.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1954hrs