Notre-Dame reopening: Trump to attend and how to watch first ceremony

The Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris reopens this Saturday evening (December 7) followed by two Masses on Sunday (December 8). It is the first time the cathedral will be open to the public since the devastating fire in 2019. 

The first Mass will be at 10:30 on Sunday, welcoming around 3,000 people, but cannot be attended by the public.

Around 50 heads of state have been invited to the reopening festivities, including President-elect of the United States Donald Trump, who has confirmed he will attend.

"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" he said in a post on social media site Truth social. He also praised the "remarkable work" of the restoration. 

It is not known how many of the invited guests will attend the first Mass inside the cathedral.

Measures including longer opening hours and a ticketing system are being employed to allow as many people as possible to visit the cathedral in the opening week.

Read more: Paris Notre-Dame cathedral to open on December 8 with first Mass

A security plan including over 6,000 police officers has also been drawn up, with officers creating a protective perimeter around the site for the weekend.

Paris’ chief of police Laurent Nunez said he had not been aware of any particular threat to the event, however France remains “at a very high threat level of terrorist activity.”

Certain Metro and RER stations close to the site will be closed partially or totally on Saturday and Sunday, and access to the Ile de la Cité where the cathedral is located will be off-limits unless people have an invitation or pass to the reopening (or live or work nearby). 

Read more: Americans were biggest foreign donors to Notre-Dame restoration after fire

How can I see the first Mass?

The first Mass will be limited to invited guests, and it will not be possible to obtain tickets. 

However, members of the public will be able to view the cathedral from afar on one of five ‘viewing boxes’ that will be installed on the Left Bank of the River Seine from Saturday evening onwards. 

These boxes will accommodate up to 40,000 people, but spaces are expected to be taken up quickly. Wristbands and bracelets will be used to accommodate entry – once all have been given out, the access points will close.

If you want to watch the Mass via television, it will be shown on the France2 channel, with coverage from 09:00 onwards. The channel will also show the first public Mass (at 18:30 that day).

We have researched and it does not seem that any TV channel in the UK or US will be showing the event live, nor will there be official live stream online for all international viewers of the first Mass. 

However, a Connexion reader who purchased a ticket for one of the subsequent Masses told us their ticket contained information that Vesper masses from December 9 will be broadcast worldwide via 'KTO Télévision'. 

Tickets to attend one of the cathedral’s Masses during the first week (until December 15) including the first public Mass on Sunday evening will be available to book from this morning on the cathedral’s website or official app.

Read more: Comment: Notre-Dame reopening shows France’s bizarre religious contradiction

There will be two special Masses per day at 10:30 and 18:30, dedicated to those who helped rebuild the cathedral during the first week the cathedral is open.

Following this, Masses will run at their usual schedule: weekdays (08:00, 12:00 and 18:00) Saturdays (08.30, 12:00 and 18:00) and Sundays (08.30, 10:00am for the Latin Mass, 11.30 and 18:00). 

The cathedral will use a ticketing system allowing visitors to book a 30-minute or hour slot to visit the site up to 48 hours in advance. 

Tickets for these slots will initially be free, however France’s culture ministry has supported the idea of making tickets to visit the UNESCO site €5. 

It is unknown whether such a measure will be implemented by the cathedral in the future.

Read more: Minister wants €5 entrance fee for Notre-Dame visitors