Notre-Dame shines again. At the ceremony Mattarella, Trump and Musk

Notre-Dame reopens its doors five years after the fire on 15 April 2019: after the first images released in recent days from inside the restored cathedral in Paris, Saturday and Sunday will be the turn of the official reopening ceremony in the presence of numerous foreign and French dignitaries. Among them, guests of Emmanuel Macron, President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, who may also have a meeting on the sidelines. Also expected is the billionaire owner of X and Tesla, Elon Musk.

The celebrations begin on Saturday at 7pm with the screening of a film tracing the events following the fire and paying tribute to the emergency teams and those who participated in the reconstruction and renovation, the Elysée announced at a press conference. A poem by Louis Aragon will then be read by Eric Ruf, an honorary member of the Comédie-Française, and a 'musical moment' will be performed by the violinist and cellist brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon. For the occasion, only invited guests will have access to the square in front of the Gothic building. An area will be set up on the quays near the cathedral to accommodate a maximum of 40 thousand people. A total of 6,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilised to guarantee the security of the event, in a context of a 'very high level of terrorist threat', according to the Police Prefecture.

Afterwards, at 7.20pm, the French president will speak, who yesterday, in his address to the nation at the height of the political crisis, compared the process to rebuild the country to that for Notre-Dame: it seemed "impossible" and instead "succeeded" thanks to a "clear" project. Unlike his previous speech, during his final visit on 29 November, Macron will speak outside the cathedral, on the parvis, in accordance with the 1905 law on the separation of church and state. His speech will focus on the 'art of being French'. A 'short speech, addressed to all French people', explains the presidential palace, which speaks of 'a republican and secular moment'. The president will address dozens of heads of state and personalities, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Trump, US First Lady Jill Biden, Belgian King Philippe, Prince William, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Serbian President Milos Vucevic, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic and Bulgarian President Roumen Radev, the Presidents of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso and the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian and Albert II of Monaco. Thirty-five of them had already confirmed their presence on Thursday evening, according to the Elysée Palace, which expects the list to stretch to Saturday. And today is the confirmation of Zelensky's presence. Major donors and religious figures will also be present on the square, which has a capacity of 3,000 people. At the end of the President's speech, the Marseillaise will be sung.

The reopening ceremony will follow. At the beginning of the celebrations, the message sent to the Archbishop of Paris and addressed to the French people by Pope Francis will be read out, said the rector-archpriest of the cathedral, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, during a press briefing. The service will then begin at 8.15pm, and will last 45 minutes. It will be presided over by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich. The archbishop will begin by beating the pastoral staff on the closed doors of the cathedral, the Paris diocese explains. Psalm 121 will then be intoned three times in a cathedral that has been silent for five years. Then the doors will be opened. The other highlight of the religious ceremony will be the so-called 'revival of the great organ'. The instrument, restored after the fire, will be blessed by the archbishop and then played in the cathedral, according to the diocese. The religious service, accompanied by the choirs of the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame, will end with the archbishop's blessing and the singing of the Te Deum at around 9pm. At the conclusion of the religious ceremony, starting around 9.30 p.m., the evening will continue with music in the parvis. Clara Luciani, Vianney, Garou, the South African soprano Pretty Yende, the Chinese pianist Lang Lang and the French-Beninese star Angélique Kidjo are some of the participants in a big concert that is expected to last about two hours and 30 minutes. Some surprise guests may also make an appearance. Opera and classical music will also be on the menu, with the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris and the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel.

The first mass in the restored cathedral will take place on Sunday morning at 10.30am, presided over by Laurent Ulrich. It will be attended by Macron, as well as foreign heads of state and government. According to the diocese of Paris, 170 bishops and priests from the 106 Parisian parishes, as well as one priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic churches, will be present, accompanied by faithful from each of these communities. Sunday at 6.30 p.m. will also see the first mass open to the public after the completion of the restoration work. Around 2,500 people are expected to attend this event, for which prior registration was required. The mass will be broadcast by France Télévisions. Masses and religious ceremonies will then be able to resume in the building. Notre-Dame will even be open 'until 10 p.m.' during the first week, from 8 to 14 December, according to the rector of the cathedral, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas.