A message of hope at Notre Dame mass

A message of hope at Notre Dame mass

Nearly a year after fire devastated Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, the city's Archbishop held a small ceremony there to mark Good Friday, praying that Easter's message of rebirth might bring comfort to a country stricken by the coronavirus pandemic.

Emer McCarthy reports.

Nearly a year after fire devastated Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, the city's Archbishop held a small ceremony for Good Friday, praying that Easter's message of rebirth might bring comfort to a country in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wearing hard hats with their clerical robes, only seven people, including Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit, attended the solemn service, as many more watched on television at home.

It was only the second service to have been held in the iconic cathedral since the April 15 fire.

"We are in this half-fallen cathedral to say that life still exists," the Archbishop said in his homily.

President Emmanuel Macron has set a target of five years for restoring Notre-Dame.

But restoration work has been put on hold following the lockdown that began in France on March 17.