Notre-Dame Cathedral to Hold Its First Mass Since the Fire
This Saturday, a small group will attend mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral-the first time anyone has been able to do so since the structure caught fire in April.
The 20 to 30 who will enter the cathedral are priests, canons, and other religious representatives. They'll have to wear hardhats as Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit performs the mass-the building is still "in a fragile state, namely the vault, which hasn’t yet been secured," according to French culture minister Franck Riester.
In a statement, the Archbishop offered his gratitude to those who had helped with the cathedral's reconstruction efforts, per CNN. "May all those who have mobilized since April 15 and all those who continue to work every day for Notre-Dame, be they donors, architects, construction workers, political leaders, be warmly thanked for their efforts."
A total of €850 million ($955.5 million) in donations have been pledged, but less than 10 percent of this sum has been received at this point. Immediately after the fire, French billionaires like François-Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault had pledged many millions of euros, but according to the Washington Post, that money has yet to be seen.
"The big donors haven’t paid," a Notre-Dame press official told the Post. "Not a cent."
It seems that the big donors are waiting to see plans for how the structure will be restored before paying up. As Celia Verot, director general of the Heritage Foundation explained, "It’s a voluntary donation so the companies are waiting for the government’s vision to see what precisely they want to fund."
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