A Disappointing 200-Year First for Notre Dame

There will be no Christmas services this year
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 23, 2019 10:45 AM CST
Fire Has Done to Notre Dame What French Revolution Last Did
Notre Dame is pictured in Paris on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The Nazis didn't keep Notre Dame Cathedral from celebrating Christmas Mass. Fire will. CNN reports the blaze that ravaged the Paris cathedral in April will prevent it from holding Christmas services, marking the first time that's happened in two centuries. Cathedral rector Patrick Chauvet tells the AP he believes Notre Dame's single closure for Christmas began after 1789, when it was seized during the French Revolution and made "a temple of reason." The New York Times reports Christmas Mass resumed in 1803, when the monument was returned to Roman Catholic hands. The goal is for services in the cathedral to restart on April 16, 2024, which would be five years after the fire. Chauvet will celebrate midnight Mass at the nearby church of St.-Germain l'Auxerrois. (More Notre Dame stories.)

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