According to the Archdiocese of Paris, free access to churches and cathedrals is rooted in a 1905 law separating church and state. Additionally, the church's mission is to welcome everyone, regardless of background, faith, ideology, or financial situation.

Notre Dame has always treated pilgrims and other visitors alike, allowing access even during services. Given the layout of the premises, restricting access would be difficult and would interfere with visitors expressing their "unshakeable attachment to Notre Dame."

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As the shell at the summit has been taken down in recent days, it has revealed the cathedral's new spire for the first time, adorned with a golden rooster and cross, offering a glimpse of the building's expected appearance upon completion.

A resident near the cathedral, Frederico Benani, who witnessed the 2019 blaze, felt emotional Tuesday at seeing the spire once more.

"I can open the window in the morning. I see Notre Dame. I see the spire — it's for me, beautiful, and it's much better (than) before," Benani said. "It gives us hope."

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The reopening period will include numerous celebrations and pilgrimages and will extend from December 8, 2024, to June 8, 2025, the feast of Pentecost, as the universal Church follows the rhythm of the 2025 Jubilee.

The Archbishop of Paris announced the initiatives in a pastoral letter published on 2 February, inviting the faithful to celebrate the Cathedral's re-inauguration after a fire gutted it on April 15, 2019.

Fifteen days before the church's reopening, a large procession will accompany the return of the image of Notre Dame to the Cathedral along the streets of Paris.

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"The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Paris, France, presented by Archbishop Michel Aupetit", according to a brief statement from the Holy See Press Office.

In an unusually swift move, the pope has appointed Archbishop Georges Pontier as apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the archdiocese.

Archbishop Aupetit said he chose to step down "to preserve the diocese from the division that suspicion and loss of trust are continuing to provoke."

The 70-year-old Aupetit had sent a letter to the pope offering to resign after the conservative, Paris-based newsweekly Le Point stated in November that it was investigating several complex issues that the archbishop had "brutally" handled in recent months.

Le Point also claimed Aupetit had inadvertently sent an email to his former secretary that proves he had had an affair with a "consenting adult woman".

"My behaviour towards her could have been ambiguous, implying the existence of an intimate relationship and sexual relations between us, which I strongly refute. I decided not to see her again, and I informed her of this," Aupetit had earlier admitted.

Aupetit issued a statement on the archdiocesan website following the Vatican announcement, saying his heart was "deeply at peace", although he admitted he was "greatly troubled by the attacks to which (he) was subjected".

"I ask forgiveness from those I might have hurt and assure you all of my deep friendship and prayer," the archbishop said.

He said he was "happy to have served this diocese with magnificent teams" of clergy and laity.

"I thank the many people who have shown me their trust and affection over the past eight days," he continued.

His statement was posted under the title, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!".

Aupetit's resignation ends the former physician's meteoric rise within the Catholic hierarchy.

Ordained in 1995 at the age of 44, Aupetit was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Paris after only 11 years of parish responsibility.

In 2013 Pope Benedict XVI named him auxiliary bishop of Paris. He was appointed Bishop of Nanterre 2014 by Pope Francis.

In 2017 Aupetit was named Archbishop of Paris, a role he held for just under four years. However, he has been relieved of his duties five years earlier than the normal retirement age of 75.

Sources

La Croix International

La Croix International

The 70-year-old archbishop, who was installed in the French capital in 2018 says he wrote to the pope out of a concern to preserve the unity of his archdiocese.

"The word ‘resignation' is not the one I used," he says.

"Resignation would mean that I am abandoning my office. In reality, I am handing it over to the Holy Father because it is he who gave it to me."

In its article, Le Point magazine alleged Aupetit had a consensual, intimate relationship with a woman. Its report relied on several anonymous sources who said they had seen a 2012 email Aupetit sent by mistake to his secretary.

Aupetit denied being the author of the email and told Le Point that he didn't have intimate and sexual relations with the woman.

Calling it a "mistake," he said he decided not to see the woman any more after speaking with Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the then-Paris archbishop, at the beginning of 2012.

"My behavior towards her may have been ambiguous, thus suggesting the existence between us of an intimate relationship and sexual relations, which I strongly refute … I decided not to see her again and I informed her.

"Those who knew me at the time and who shared my daily life would certainly tell that I was not living a double life, as the article suggests," he said.

"I recognize, as I have said before, that handled the situation poorly with a person who was in contact many times with me."

Aupetit says he has also spoken to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, about his situation and to Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the apostolic nuncio to France.

"This is not because of what I should or should not have done in the past — otherwise I would have left a long time ago — but to avoid division, if I myself am a source of division," he said.

Source

• The Globe and Mail
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

This rule will apply even if the victims do not file a complaint.

Archbishop Michel Aupetit has signed a protocol with agreed with Paris's judicial authorities as an experiment for a year.

The agreement mirrors others the prosecutor's office has signed with the city's public schools and hospitals.

"We can trust French justice," the archbishop said when he signed the agreement.

Aupetit said when he was the bishop of Nanterre, he saw "by collaborating with the law, we got results that were much faster, safer and more respectful to people (and could) make the most appropriate decision.

"It's not about protecting the institution nor me ... we do not have the means to investigate," he said.

"The Church has made errors in the past, such as suspending an accused priest who was later acquitted."

The agreement came at a time when ever more people in France are coming forward about past sexual wrongdoing by priests, and after repeated scandals have pushed the French Catholic Church to step up efforts to address abuse.

Paris public prosecutor Remy Heitz said the agreement meant the legal system would "not leave the Church alone to judge complex situations".

The archdiocese will now immediately report any accusations of wrongdoing to prosecutors. In the past, the church would conduct an internal investigation first.

The lack of clear guidelines available to the Church has led to cases being covered up in the past. These include the the one for which Lyon's Cardinal Philippe Barbarin was convicted last March because he did not denounce a crime.

Heitz said his office was currently investigating 12 cases of alleged sexual abuse by clerics.

Several other dioceses in France are said to be considering a similar agreement with their local legal officials.

Source

• The Tablet
• Crux Now
• Image: Crux Now