Pope Francis, who will not attend, sent a message that will be read on Saturday.
The Pope’s relationship with France is more cordial than friendly. He was reportedly angered by France’s policy of reducing immigration and Macron’s decision to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.
The French press claims that the Pope is more interested in the young and growing Christian communities of the southern hemisphere than in the medieval churches of Europe.
As a result of the fire on April 15, 2019, the medieval roofs, the spire and three sections of the stone vault were destroyed. A donor appeal raised €850m ($897m; £704m) and 2,000 masons, carpenters, restorers, engineers and architects worked on the project.
“The moment I looked inside the day after the fire, I knew everything was going to be fine. The damage was not as terrible as I had feared,” said the cathedral’s chief architect, Philippe Villeneuve, who disputed the widespread theory that , that Notre Dame was close to total collapse.
“Besides replacing the roof and spire, the main task was decontamination. Everything was covered with lead oxide powder. But it meant that we could restore and clean – which explains why the cathedral looks so beautiful today.”
Before the fire, the cathedral was already considered to be in a state of disrepair, and scaffolding was installed to reconstruct the spire and other exterior parts badly damaged by corrosion.
About 12 million people have visited the cathedral every year, and this number is expected to increase. The new route around the building has been designed to handle the 100 visitors per minute expected to arrive during the height of the tourist season.
