Notre Dame Cathedral Set to Re-open

April 19, 2024200 views0

Notre Dame Cathedral Set to Re-open

2024-04-19T10:42:51+01:00

By Church News

Five years after a devastating fire, the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral is nearing completion as the city is set to host the 2024 Olympics.According to Macron, “Only once in a century does one host Olympic and Paralympic Games, only once in a millennium does one rebuild a cathedral,” Macron said in his 2024 New Year speech.The fire damage has needed five years of intense stabilisation and restoration work.“This is the construction work of a lifetime, because restoring an entire monument in all its three-dimensionality, that’s quite exceptional,” Emma Roux, an artisan working on the iconic stained glass windows, said.The re-opening is scheduled for December and is currently running on schedule, according to the official leading the project.“We are on time and on budget,” Philippe Jost said last month at a Senate hearing.Jost told lawmakers that the project had so far cost 550 million euros (£471m), funded in part by massive donations, including from luxury sector billionaires Francois Henri Pinault and the Arnault family.So much money has been donated that there will even be funds left over for further investment in the building, he said.Also Read: Macau Catholics Donate to Victims of Israel-Hamas War