Paris:

French President Emmanuel Macron extended an invitation to Pope Francis to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame de Paris commonly known as Notre Dame. The much-anticipated reopening of the Cathedral is scheduled for December 8, 2024. President Macron on his visit to the cathedral exactly a year before the reopening pledged that the restoration works will be completed on schedule. He said that since April 2019, the entire nation has been rebuilding. Ever since the fire accident, it has become Macron’s tradition to visit the cathedral to supervise the progress of rebuilding.

The President, on his recent visit to the Cathedral along with the French first lady Brigitte Macron, remarked about “the extraordinary progress of the work on this nave, the choir and the frames and the spire." A rooster and cross would crown the 96-meter tall spire that was reconstructed from its previous design by the famous 19th-century French architect Viollet-le-Duc. 

Macron paid homage to General Jean-Louis Georgelin who died in August. The General was instrumental in the Cathedral reconstruction works, and his name was inscribed into the spire’s wood by an artisan to memorialize his contribution.

During the visit, Macron also announced the opening of a museum to commemorate the restoration period after the fire. A devastating fire consumed the Cathedral during its renovation and restoration works in April 2019. The fleche and the lead-covered wooden roof above the stone-vaulted ceiling were also destroyed in the fire.

Notre-Dame de Paris which means "Our Lady of Paris" is a Catholic cathedral built during the 13th century on an Island in the Seine River. The cathedral built in the French Gothic style contains 17th and 18th-century altarpieces, several 19th-century sculptures, along with certain important relics of Christendom.