Key events
Underscoring the role that diplomacy played in tonight’s ceremony, news agency AFP has a piece about how Brigitte Macron was seated strategically in order to keep Trump and the Bidens apart.
Joe Biden was invited tonight, but his office said he had a scheduling conflict. Instead the first lady, Jill Biden, as well as the couple’s daughter, Ashley, attended.
The presence of both Trump and the outgoing president’s family presented protocol planners with a headache after one of the most bitter election campaigns in US history.
Before the start of the ceremony, the US first lady and Trump ended up seated on their own briefly and could be seen exchanging pleasantries, AFP reported.
The liturgical ceremony has come to a close and attenders have begun filing out of the cathedral.
The bells of Notre Dame are again ringing, capping off a night in which the iconic Gothic masterpiece roared back to life, reclaiming its place in the city after more than five years of silence.
Tonight’s ceremony has been as much about diplomacy as it has been about celebrating the tremendous feat of rebuilding the Notre Dame cathedral.
Macron seized on the reopening ceremony to invite Trump, leading the US president-elect to make his first trip overseas since winning last month’s presidential election. Earlier tonight Macron managed to get Trump to meet briefly with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in what Reuters described as a coup for Macron after a week of political turmoil in France.
As Trump arrived at the Élysée, Macron was keen to project an image of their close ties, shaking hands and offering up plenty of back-patting for the cameras. Later on, cameras caught this moment of Macron speaking to Trump as he appeared to point towards Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
For those interested in visiting the rebuilt cathedral, Reuters reports that free tickets can now be booked online.
Saturday marked the first day the bookings could be made and all of the tickets available for the coming days were swiftly snapped up, according to the news agency.
The website notes that advance reservation is not necessary to visit the monument but is highly recommended to reduce wait times.
Group visits will be allowed next year, starting in February for religious groups, and as of 9 June for tourists with guides.
The Catholic church expects the cathedral to welcome 15 million visitors annually.
The ceremony also featured a message from Pope Francis, who declined to attend tonight’s ceremony.
Francis described it as a day of “joy, celebration and praise”. In his message, he said he hoped “the rebirth of this admirable church would constitute a prophetic sign of the renewal of the church in France”.
A small group of American expats gathered near Notre Dame on Saturday to protest the presence of Trump, the Associated Press reported.
Organised under the banner “Paris Against Trump”, the group criticised Macron for inviting Trump and said they had opted not to organise a larger demonstration in order to avoid disrupting tonight’s ceremony.
“We find this a bit shameful and sad that Trump is invited here, especially since he has gone against everything the church stands for,” said Ehlyr O’Rourke, 34, a spokesperson for the association. “We don’t understand why a criminal, a sex offender, a felon can actually be invited in here.”
One of the highlights of tonight’s ceremony so far was the minutes-long standing ovation for those who saved and rescued the towering Gothic masterpiece.
Here are a few pictures of the 160 firefighters and others as they paraded through the rebuilt structure:
Speaking at the reopening ceremony, Macron has stressed the “fraternity” that it took to rebuild Notre Dame.
“Every bit of it was necessary,” he said. “We have rediscovered what great nations could do: achieve the impossible.”
The cathedral is a reminder that we inherit a history that is bigger than us and that can disappear at any moment, Macron added. “We must treasure this lesson of fragility, humility and will, and never forget how much each person counts, and how the greatness of this cathedral is inseparable from the work of all.”
He ended his speech with “Long live Notre Dame de Paris, long live the French Republic, long live France.”
Earlier tonight, TV footage of guests inside the Notre Dame offered a quick glimpse of Elon Musk.
News agency AFP was among the first to report today that Musk, the world’s richest man and one of Donald Trump’s closest allies, would be among the 1,500 guests expected in Paris for the reopening ceremony.
Moments after the largest bell of Notre Dame, the 13-ton Emmanuel, rang out into the Paris night, Macron began his address to the opening ceremony.
“Tonight the bells of Notre Dame ring again,” he said, describing them as the “bells that have accompanied our history”.
He began by expressing the “gratitude” of the French nation to all those who saved and rebuilt the cathedral.
A minutes-long applause is ringing out as 160 firefighters and others who were instrumental in saving and rebuilding the iconic cathedral parade through Notre Dame.
Outside, on the facade of cathedral, one word is being projected: Merci.
Just before the reopening ceremony, among those who greeted Trump was Prince William:
A video is now playing, showing images of the devastating fire that raced through the iconic structure on 15 April 2019.
It’s a sharp contrast from the sweeping camera views we just saw of the renovated interiors of the cathedral. The herculean project saw 2,000 oak trees gathered from forests across France, hewn into beams with axes and pegged into great trusses by hand using medieval tools.
More than 1,000 cubic metres of limestone was hauled into place, chiselled into leaping arches and gurning gargoyles, as well as 4,000 square metres of lead, rolled, crimped and moulded into ornamental roofing.
The archbishop, Laurent Ulrich, has now entered the cathedral.
The rites and religious service tonight will be led by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
He has now begun the reopening ceremony, heading towards the cathedral’s heavy doors to knock on them with his crozier.
From within the cathedral, a psalm will be sung three times before the doors are opened. Ulrich will then bless the ancient organ before it starts playing and the religious service gets underway.
Zelenskyy said meeting with Trump was “good and productive”
Ahead of tonight’s ceremony, Macron seized on the moment to pull together a meeting with himself, Trump and Zelenskyy.
The meeting comes at a key moment. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that advisers to Trump are publicly and privately floating proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future.
Zelenskyy has said the meeting between the three was “good and productive”.
“We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way. We spoke about our people, the situation on the ground and a just peace,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Donald Trump has now arrived at the cathedral. The US president-elect was warmly hugged by Macron before greeting Brigitte with a kiss on each cheek.
Macron and his wife, Brigitte, are welcoming people outside Notre Dame:
