site.btaBishop Christo Proykov: We Can Only Be Grateful that World Has Notre-Dame Again

"The world now has Notre-Dame again and we can only be grateful," Bishop Christo Proykov, who represented the Catholic Church in Bulgaria at the reopening ceremony of the restored cathedral, told BTA.

It is very important that on December 8, the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the altar of the cathedral has already been consecrated and the first Mass has been celebrated, he noted.  

Monsignor Proykov said that the ceremony on Saturday night was very precisely organized and with great solemnity, but last-minute changes were necessary because of the weather and the ceremony had to be held indoors.

It was very touching when the firemen and the people who had been involved in the rebuilding of the cathedral came in from the side entrances of Notre-Dame and the applause lasted for more than five minutes. They stood and received in silence the recognition of those who saw the cathedral after five years in its most original splendor, Monsignor Proykov said.  

He said that he had been to the cathedral years ago and had served there, but it had been gloomy because of the layers of candle smoke over the centuries. But now everything is brilliantly white or rather in white, bluish, grey and the stained-glass windows have been completely restored, Proykov said.

After the service Bishop Christo Proykov and President Rumen Radev managed to see and congratulate each other.

He said that the Cathedral had been restored to its state before the fire. The altar, which looks like the bottom of a water drop, is more modern, as is the Bishop's throne, which is in the same style.

Even the wood from which the roof was made is the same, he noted. He said that the roof was again cast with lead to make it stable and strong and to last for centuries to come, but with devices that can monitor for danger. 

“There are many things that have been preserved, on the one hand in a miraculous way, on the other hand by the actions and work of those more than 2,000 workers who over five years have managed to restore Notre-Dame to its original beauty and splendour," he said.

According to Monsignor Proykov, the resurrection of the Notre-Dame Cathedral after the fire is a symbol of the presence of God among people. "Notre-Dame is the cathedral of all mankind under the patronage of the Virgin Mary,” he said.