Easter celebrations, one of the most important Christian holidays, will take place in a new format in Paris because of the coronavirus pandemic but also of the first anniversary of the fire of Notre-Dame cathedral, announced Tuesday April 7 the archbishop of the capital.

The confinement which prohibits all public gatherings in France will give a very special color to Holy Week, which commemorates for believers around the world the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In Paris, where confinement enters its fourth week, "we cannot celebrate with the crowd, with the people, whereas the Church precisely means 'the assembly'. We cannot come together", a Archbishop of the capital, Mgr Michel Aupetit, told the press by videoconference on Tuesday.

"The masses we will say during this holy week will be with a few priests, no more, and people will be able to follow us either on the radio or on television."

A very special holy week

A ceremony is scheduled for Friday inside Notre-Dame de Paris, devastated on April 15, 2019 by a fire that destroyed its roof and its spire. On this day when Christians celebrate the death of Jesus by crucifixion, the Archbishop of Paris will venerate the "Holy Crown of Thorns", a piece saved from the flames by firefighters.

Only seven people will attend the celebration, organized in the apse of the building, a secure place, which will give rise to the reading of texts signed Paul Claudel, Charles Peguy and Mother Teresa. This ceremony will be televised.

The consolidation work on the cathedral, which had already lagged behind, was interrupted at the start of the confinement so as not to take risks for the workers and companions mobilized on the site, which President Emmanuel Macron set as the objective of rebuild in five years.

In this difficult period, which the Archbishop of Paris placed under the sign of "hope", a ceremony of blessing of the capital is planned Thursday at the foot of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre.

Holy Saturday will be without fire or procession and the baptisms of adults traditionally celebrated that evening are postponed to Pentecost in late May.

Sunday, Easter day, Archbishop Aupetit will preside the mass in the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church. "Only about twenty people, representing the various states of life in the diocese, will be able to participate," said the diocese in a press release.

With Reuters

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR