The pompous reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, five years after the fire that almost destroyed it, served as the pretext for a mini-summit meeting between the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Paris . Trump and Zelenski met at the Élysée Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron two hours before the ceremony.
The American was the first to arrive. After exchanging pleasantries with Macron, he hinted that global conflicts were on the agenda: “It seems like the world is going a little crazy at the moment, and we will talk about that.” Zelenski arrived an hour later. Upon leaving, he said that the triple meeting was “good and productive”. “We all want this war to end as soon as possible, and in a fair way,” he posted on the social network X. “We talk about our people, the situation on the ground and a fair peace,” he added.
Because of the meeting, Trump and Zelenski were among the last guests to arrive at Notre-Dame. Minutes later, South African billionaire Elon Musk arrived, an influential donor to Trump’s election campaign and one of those responsible for the future Government Efficiency Department of the new American administration.
The cathedral’s doors were formally opened at 7:20 pm (3:20 pm Brasília time), when the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, knocked on it three times with his staff. In practice, the public of guests and VIPs were already waiting inside. More than 30 heads of state responded to the French government’s invitation and attended the ceremony. Among them were Prince William, heir to the throne of the United Kingdom; Prince Albert of Monaco; and the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella. Brazil did not send a representative.
Upon entering the cathedral, Zelenski was widely applauded and greeted the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, one of his greatest allies. Around 20 global leaders were present. Although he formally does not yet hold public office, Trump was ceremoniously placed in the front row, between Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. Only the French first lady stood between the future American president and the current American president’s wife, Jill Biden, in a small diplomatic tight skirt.
The ceremony began with a tribute to the Paris firefighters, who put out the 2019 fire in time to prevent the cathedral from completely collapsing. The word “thank you” was projected in several languages, including Portuguese, on the Gothic facade, transformed into a huge screen. Speaking in the main nave, Macron expressed “the gratitude of the French nation to everyone who saved, helped and rebuilt Notre-Dame de Paris”.
At first, Macron would speak outside, so as not to offend the principle of separation between Church and State. Winds of 80 km/h justified the change of speech to the nave of the cathedral. The pulpit, however, was positioned below the altar and slightly off-center, symbolizing that, there, the politician was not the protagonist.
Pope Francis declined an invitation to attend the ceremony, and only a papal message was read. The absence was seen as a slight to Macron. After the reading, Archbishop Ulrich spoke the ceremonial words to “wake up” the pipe organ, which escaped the fire with severe damage. “I expected nothing less… They are improvising wonderfully!”, he told Sheet the Brazilian Luciana Lemes, one of those responsible for the restoration.
Another Brazilian with an important role in the renovation was museologist Carolina Ferreira, collection manager. “What’s happening looks like a movie,” he said. She took care of the cataloguing, conservation and transportation of more than 1,300 pieces, including a famous statue of the Virgin that stands on the southeast pillar of the central nave.
A plaque of thanks was installed in the cathedral with the names of the reform’s biggest donors, including billionaire Lily Safra, born in Brazil and well-known philanthropist, who died in 2022, aged 87.
