Paris Easter Mass honours firefighters who saved Notre Dame
PARIS — The archbishop of Paris and Catholics from around France and the world honoured the firefighters who saved Notre Dame Cathedral, praying Sunday at a special Easter Mass for a swift reconstruction of the beloved monument.
Some streets around the medieval cathedral also reopened six days after the blaze, allowing tourists to get a closer look and local restaurants to reopen, after firefighters declared the last hot points extinguished. Notre Dame itself is expected to remain closed for years.
The blaze that engulfed the cathedral on Monday night forced parish members and visitors who hoped to worship at Notre Dame on Easter to find other places to attend services. The Paris diocese invited them to join Sunday’s Mass at the grandiose Saint-Eustache Church on the Right Bank of the Seine River.
The firefighters, who struggled for nine hours to contain flames that consumed Notre Dame’s roof and collapsed its spire, held a place of honour at the Saint-Eustache. Police officers and a soldier guarded the 13th century church. Visitors stood in a long line to have their bags checked before they could enter.