‘Long Live Notre Dame de Paris!’ By Caroline De Sury PARIS (OSV News) – The solemn reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral put Paris in the center of the Catholic world on the evening of Saturday, December 7, as the archbishop of France’s capital struck the magnificent door with his pastoral staff, marking the moment of the iconic Catholic church’s rebirth. The Gothic masterpiece answered with music as Archbishop Laurent Ulrich struck the cathedral’s doors three times – with the moment of door opening causing millions to hold their breath as the cathedral started breathing anew. “Today, sadness and mourning have given way to joy, celebration, and praise,” Pope Francis wrote to the archbishop of Paris – a message read in Notre Dame by the papal ambassador to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore. “May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France,” the pope said in his December 7 message. General view of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during a light show for its reopening service ceremony Dec. 7, 2024. (OSV News photo/Christian Hartmann, Reuters) The reopening marks the “rebirth of France as the eldest daughter of the Church,” one Catholic witnessing the ceremony noted. In the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, bells tolled at 2 p.m. on December 7 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend, and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, officials with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception invited cathedrals and basilicas across the country to ring their bells in solidarity with the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris. According to the invitation, “Through a special online collection established by the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 2019, the faithful of our nation contributed more than one half million dollars toward the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, which like Mary’s Shrine, is dedicated to Our Lady.  In support of this initiative, USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio, commented, “In addition to the funds donated, this gesture of uniting our local Churches with the cathedral of Paris would be one more sign of our union to the eldest daughter of the Church whose forefathers contributed so much to the U.S. struggle for Independence.” General view of the nave with clergy members and singers of the choir of the La Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris during the inaugural Mass, with the consecration of the main altar, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, five-and-a-half years after a fire ravaged the Gothic masterpiece, as part of ceremonies to mark the cathedral’s reopening after its restoration, in Paris, Dec. 8, 2024. (OSV News photo/Sarah Meyssonnier, Reuters) The city saw exceptional security services deployed for the Notre Dame celebration, mobilizing 6,000 police and gendarmes, as well as bomb disposal units, snipers and the river brigade on the Seine River. These in turn were further reinforced by the U.S. security contingent deployed for President-elect Donald Trump’s visit as well as the security for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Both leaders were in Paris for the celebration and met in the Elysee Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron. Bad weather forced the change of logistical plans. Macron, initially scheduled to speak on Notre Dame’s forecourt, spoke inside the cathedral due to howling winds. But nothing could overshadow the moment Parisians and tout le monde entier (“the whole world”) awaited for the last five years, since the inferno of April 15, 2019, that devastated the cathedral’s interior and collapsed the now-rebuilt spire. “I stand before you to express the gratitude of the French nation, our gratitude to all those who saved, helped, and rebuilt the cathedral,” Macron said, adding that France had “achieved the impossible,” renovating Notre Dame in five years – a feat some experts predicted would take decades. “Tonight, we can together share joy and pride. Long live Notre Dame de Paris, long live the Republic, and long live France,” he said. The cathedral, which for the last five years was home to hundreds of various trade workers, felt as if all the crowned heads and riches of the planet wanted to witness her resurrection, with Prince William, the heir to the British throne, and billionaire businessman Elon Musk present among many. But it was Archbishop Ulrich who opened the cathedral up for the world. “Notre Dame, model of faith, open your doors to gather in joy the scattered children of God,” Archbishop Ulrich called out in front of the central door, before striking it three times with the tip of his crosier. The pastoral staff itself was made from a beam from the cathedral’s roof structure that escaped the fire. It was pitch-dark when the bells of Parisian churches rang out across the capital, announcing the arrival on Notre Dame’s forecourt of the liturgical procession of bishops from the Paris region, their chasubles billowing in the wind – with Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York among them. The archbishop of Paris then entered the cathedral, followed by President Macron, his wife Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France, and Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris. At the entrance, the archbishop paused for a long moment as La Maîtrise Notre Dame de Paris choir sang the Marian hymn and President Macron took his place next to President-elect Trump. Firefighters, craftsmen, and representatives of the 250 companies and sponsors involved in the restoration then paraded through the nave of the cathedral to prolonged applause. Outside, illuminated “Thank you” messages in several languages appeared at the same time on the facade of the cathedral. “I salute all those, especially the firefighters, who worked so courageously to save this historic monument from catastrophe,” Pope Francis wrote in his message, which was released as he was at the Vatican for the consistory in which he created 21 new cardinals. “I salute the determined commitment of the public authorities, as well as the great outpouring of international generosity that contributed to the restoration. This moment is a sign not only to art and history, but even more – and how encouraging! – the sign that the symbolic and sacred value of such a building is still widely perceived by many, from those youngest to those oldest,” the pope said. “We return it to Catholics, to Paris, to France, to the whole world,” Macron said of Notre Dame, which is a state-owned building under French law on the separation of state and church from 1905. He evoked the sound of the cathedral’s bells ringing again, like “a music of hope, familiar to Parisians, to France, to the world,” which have “accompanied our history.” The post Bells Toll in Diocese as Iconic Catholic Cathedral Reopens appeared first on Today's Catholic.