PARIS — A small congregation in white hard hats attended mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, the first service since fire devastated the Gothic landmark two months ago. Church leaders are keen to show life goes on at the cathedral as donations for rebuilding trickle in. “It is a message of hope and thanks to all those who were moved by what happened to this cathedral,” he added, acknowledging afterwards it was “a bit strange” to celebrate mass with a helmet. On Friday, France’s Culture Minister Franck Riester said the cathedral was still in a fragile state, especially the vault. Among those who promised to donate to the rebuilding effort were luxury goods tycoons Bernard Arnault and François-Henri Pinault.

Source: National Post June 15, 2019 19:41 UTC