By Thomas Wong, Daily Caller News Foundation | December 07, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump embarked on his first foreign trip since his November 2024 electoral victory, joining Saturday’s reopening ceremonies for Paris’s famous Notre Dame Cathedral.
The weekend’s celebration, which drew an estimated 50 world leaders and high security, kicks off an octave of events marking the restoration of the famous twelfth-century Gothic church to its place in Catholic liturgical life and French tourism following a devastating April 15, 2019 fire. Firefighters stood helpless as the blaze — believed to have been accidentally ignited by an electrical failure or a lit cigarette — consumed the roof and spire of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Seemingly thwarting their efforts to douse the flames with water was a centuries’ old waterproofing technique involving covering the roof with a lead sheet.
Nearly $1 billion in pledges from 150 countries was raised within days of the devastation to launch the ambitious five-year rebuilding effort, itself a point of national pride. Approximately $148 million of the funds remained unspent as of November 2024, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Notre Dame was expected to be restored as closely to its design from before the fire as possible; one exception was a golden rooster, reimagined as a phoenix rising from the ashes, adorning the spire.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace prior to departing for the events at Notre Dame.
The reopening service was presided over by the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, and observed by French government officials, world leaders, donors and representatives of Parisian clergy and laity, according to Notre Dame’s announcement of the ceremonies. During the rite of the opening of the cathedral’s doors, the archbishop struck the closed door with his liturgical staff — the crosier — crafted from charred remains of the roof, prompting attendees to respond with the thrice singing of Psalm 121:
How joyful it was when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem, built as a city, that is bound firmly together.
After the doors’ opening and before an address by Macron, those who responded to the 2019 fire and assisted with the restoration were honored. The archbishop then blessed the 8,000-pipe Great Organ of Notre Dame to symbolically end the silence imposed upon the cathedral. In addition to the singing of hymns, a series of prayers was offered for the world and in thanksgiving to God for the successful rebuilding effort. A star-studded concert was also scheduled for Saturday evening.
Following the events at Notre Dame, Trump met with William, the Prince of Wales, at the British ambassador’s residence in Paris.
The inaugural Mass will occur Sunday with the consecration of the cathedral’s high altar. A “fraternal buffet” will then be offered “to welcome the most disadvantaged and those who support them daily.” Notre Dame expects to welcome 15 million visitors annually following the reopening, three million more than before the disaster, according to AP.
Trump announced his intention to join Notre Dame’s reopening celebration in a Truth Social post Monday.
“It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago,” the president-elect wrote. “President Emmanuel Macron has done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”
President Macron, whose government collapsed Wednesday, extended the invitation to attend to Trump, sources told Fox News. First lady Jill Biden, joined by her daughter, Ashley, attended as part of her final solo foreign trip which included stops in Italy, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. President Joe Biden was also invited but did not attend due to a “scheduling conflict,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
Trump spoke with Macron as well as Pope Francis in the aftermath of the “horrible and destructive fire” and “offered the help of our great experts on renovation and construction,” according to a pair of April 17, 2019 social media posts. He suggested the utilization of “water tankers” to stop the fire from above, a method a French civil agency which deals with disasters dismissed.
Macron was the first U.S. ally to congratulate Trump on his successful bid to return to the White House, according to Politico.
Pope Francis, who suffered a facial injury Friday morning, did not attend Saturday’s service — attributed to a scheduling conflict — but sent a message acknowledging the occasion.
Catholics, an estimated 22% of the 2024 electorate, broke for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris 58%-40%, according to a CNN exit poll. Among Latino Catholics, Trump secured a seven-point lead, 53%-46%. He performed better among white Catholics, whose support he drew 61%-35%, a 26-point lead.
The reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, which translates to “Our Lady of Paris,” coincides with the Dec. 8 Catholic feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception which honors Mary, the mother of Jesus and serves as the patronal feast day for the United States. While Notre Dame honors Mary’s role in the Christian religion, Catholics do not worship her.
France was estimated to have a self-identifying Catholic population of 37.9 million, or 60% of the 2010 national population, 65 million, according to Pew Research. While that figure has significantly decreased with the rise in both secularism and Islam, the country seemingly retains some of its identity as “the eldest daughter of the Church.”
The Daily Caller reached out to Notre-Dame de Paris, the Archdiocese of Paris, the Apostolic Nunciature in the United States, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Embassy of France in the United States, and the Office of Melania Trump for comment but received no response before publication.
Thomas Wong is an associate weekend editor at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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