Fire guts Notre Dame cathedral

The Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris will host its first mass, exactly two months after the devastating blaze that shocked France and the world.

For safety reasons, the mass led by Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit will be celebrated on a very small scale. Worshippers will be expected to don hard hats but priests will be wearing their ceremonial garb.

There will be just some 30 people -- half of them clergy -- although the mass will be broadcast live on Catholic TV channel KTO. — AFP

The popularity of French President Emmanuel Macron remains stuck at under 30 percent as he battles a series of political troubles, with no major change reported after the Notre-Dame fire, a poll said Sunday.

According to the Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche just 29 percent of people polled said they are satisfied with the job Macron is doing, with 69 percent dissatisfied.

This April reading was unchanged from the last poll in March, the newspaper said.

The poll, carried out up until April 20, was published at the end of a dramatic week for Macron which saw him address the nation over the damage to the Notre-Dame cathedral in Monday's devastating fire. -- Agence France-Presse

French President Emmanuel Macron hails as "exemplary" hundreds of firefighters who saved Notre-Dame in the devastating blaze, as efforts intensified to shore up the still fragile cathedral.

Some 600 firefighters worked throughout the night Monday to put out the fire at the Paris landmark and prevent an even worse disaster, in a blaze that felled the spire and destroyed two-thirds of its roof. — AFP

Catholic worshippers feeling orphaned by the fire that ravaged part of Notre-Dame will be welcomed in an "ephemeral cathedral" of wood in front of the Paris monument until it reopens, Notre-Dame's chief priest says Thursday.

Speaking to France's CNews television channel Monsignor Patrick Chauvet says: "We mustn't say 'the cathedral is closed for five years and that's it'.

To give the faithful somewhere to congregate next to Notre-Dame, he suggests: "Can I not build an ephemeral cathedral on the esplanade (in front of Notre-Dame)?"

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had backed the idea and agreed to give over part of the esplanade to the church for a wooden structure, he says.

Chauvet says the wooden "cathedral" would host priests who could address some of the millions of tourists who throng the original 850-year-old Gothic cathedral each year. -- Agence France-Presse

Fraudsters are taking advantage of the Notre-Dame fire to fool donors into handing over cash believing they are helping to rebuild the gutted Paris cathedral, officials warn.

The French Heritage Foundation, which has so far collected more than 13 million euros ($14.5 million) from individual donors to help restore the gothic landmark, says any phone or email appeals were fake. — AFP

France will invite architects from around the world to submit designs for rebuilding the spire of Notre-Dame cathedral that was destroyed in a devastating blaze, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Wednesday.

The goal is "to give Notre-Dame a new spire that is adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era," Philippe said at a press conference in Paris. -- Agence France-Presse

One of the architects who helped restore Windsor Castle after a devastating fire says a shortage of craftsmen could hold up the reconstruction of Notre-Dame.

"The supply of craftsmen with the skill to work so much stone, so much timber, so much lead, so much glass for the windows is something which the industry in the whole of Europe may well be challenged to meet at the present moment," Francis Maude, director at the Donald Insall Associates architect firm, says. — AFP

The Paris prosecutor says that investigators were treating the devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral as an accident not arson.

"Nothing suggests that it was a voluntary act," Remy Heitz tells reporters outside the Gothic cathedral, adding that workers employed at the site were being questioned over Monday's blaze. — AFP

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who controls the sprawling LVMH luxury conglomerate, says his family and the company would contribute a combined 200 million euros ($226 million) to help rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral after it was gutted by fire.

"The Arnault family and LVMH, in solidarity after this national tragedy, will participate in the reconstruction of this extraordinary cathedral, a symbol of France, its heritage and its unity," they say in a statement.

President Emmanuel Macron has vowed Notre-Dame will be restored after the massive blaze destroyed the spire and roof of the Gothic architectural masterpiece in Paris.

Pope Francis stands with France and is praying for Roman Catholics and Parisians alike after a devastating fire raged through the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral in the heart of the city, the Vatican says.

"The pope is close to France, he is praying for French Catholics and for the people of Paris in face of the terrible fire which has ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral," the head of the Vatican press office Alessandro Gisotti writes on Twitter.

Le Pape est proche de la France, il prie pour les catholiques français et pour la population parisienne sous le choc du terrible incendie qui a ravagé la cathédrale #NotreDame. Il assure de ses prières tous ceux qui s'efforcent de faire face à cette situation dramatique.

— Alessandro Gisotti (@AGisotti) April 16, 2019

"He offers his prayers to those trying to face up to this dramatic situation," he adds. — AFP

The Paris fire service says the Notre Dame cathedral fire is completely extinguished.

— AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild the cathedral described as the soul of the nation and expressed relief that "the worst had been avoided" in a blaze that had at one point threatened the entire edifice.

Thousands of Parisians and tourists watched in horror from nearby streets cordoned off by the police as flames engulfed the building and officials tried to save as much as they could of the cathedral's countless treasures, built up over centuries. — AFP

A huge fire that devastated Notre-Dame Cathedral is "under control," the Paris fire brigade says Tuesday after firefighters spent hours battling the flames.

"The fire is completely under control. It is partially extinguished, there are residual fires to put out," says spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Plus. — AFP

French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault pledged 100 million euros ($113 million) towards the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was partly gutted by a devastating fire on Tuesday (Manila time).

In a statement sent to AFP the CEO of the Kering group, which owns Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent fashion houses, said the money towards "the effort necessary to completely rebuild Notre-Dame" would be paid by the Pinault family's investment firm Artemis. 

— AFP

Follow updates on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire here.