News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

notre-dame-twitter_article_image.jpg
World News

Notre Dame opens its doors to worshipers for first time since fire

The diocese of Paris announced that a mass will be held on Saturday evening with only about 30 people, including clerics, worshipers and media in attendance.

Those attending the mass will be required to wear hard hats for safety.

Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit will deliver the mass, which will be televised live and streamed online.

Since the fire, two months ago, only a small fraction of the multi-million pound pledges to rebuild the cathedral have been paid.

Hundreds of millions was promised toward the restoration of the cathedral's roof and spire by some of France's richest and most powerful families and companies, however, according to officials, so far they have not yet paid a penny.

Instead, it has been mainly American citizens, through the charitable foundation Friends of Notre Dame, who have footed the bills and paid salaries for up to 150 workers employed since the fire.

 

This month the foundation is handing over the first payment for the cathedral's reconstruction of 3.6 million euros (£3.2m).

"The big donors haven't paid. Not a cent," said Andre Finot, senior press official at Notre Dame.

"They want to know what exactly their money is being spent on and if they agree to it before they hand it over, and not just to pay employees' salaries."

Fundraising groups say they have only had £50m of £570m officially promised.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate