Notre-Dame Cathedral to miss first Christmas Mass

On Dec 23, 2019

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris will not hold a Christmas Mass for the first time in more than 200 years, as repair work continues following April’s fire.

Midnight Mass will still be celebrated on Christmas Eve, officials said, but it will take place at the nearby church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois.

The 850-year-old Gothic cathedral, a Unesco World Heritage site, lost its spire and roof during the blaze.

President Emmanuel Macron has set a five-year goal for its reconstruction.

In October, the French culture ministry said nearly €1bn (£850m; $1.1bn) had been raised or pledged for the work.

The iconic building has celebrated Christmas Mass through two centuries of often turbulent history, only closing during the French revolution when anti-Catholic forces turned it briefly into “a temple of reason”.

(Source: BBC News)