Notre Dame hosts first Mass since 2019 fire

Priest Olivier Ribadeau Dumas celebrates a second mass, open to the public, at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on the day of its re-opening, in Paris on December 8, 2024.

Notre Dame Cathedral, its air thick with the smell of incense, hosted its first Mass on Sunday since the catastrophic fire of 2019, a moment that transcended religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience.