(25 Dec 2019) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4246262 ANNOTATED SCRIPT:
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, CHRISTMAS EVE MASS COULD NOT BE HELD AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL.
INSTEAD, CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS WERE MOVED TO SAINT-GERMAIN L'AUXERROIS CHURCH ACROSS FROM THE LOUVRE MUSEUM.
SOUNDBITE (French) Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, Notre Dame rector:
"There is a heartache because we are used to Notre Dame and the midnight Mass at Notre Dame is extraordinary. At the same time, it is a celebration of Christmas, it is a celebration of hope."
SOUNDBITE (French) Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, Notre Dame rector:
"Today it is not out of danger. It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffoldings. There is still a risk. We can say that there is a 50% chance that it will be saved. But there is also a 50% chance the scaffolding could fall onto the three vaults. So, as you can see, the building is still very fragile."
AN ACCIDENTAL FIRE AS THE CATHEDRAL UNDERWENT RENOVATIONS LAST APRIL DESTROYED ITS ROOF AND CAUSED ITS SPIRE TO COLLAPSE.
WHILE CLEANUP EFFORTS ARE STILL UNDERWAY, RESTORATION WORK ISN'T EXPECTED TO BEGIN UNTIL 2021.
STORYLINE:
The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is still so fragile that there's a "50% chance" the structure might not be entirely saved, because scaffolding installed before this year's fire is threatening the vaults of the Gothic monument.
Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said restoration work isn't likely to begin until 2021 - and described his "heartache" at not being able to celebrate Christmas services inside Notre Dame this year, for the first time since the French Revolution.
"Today it is not out of danger," he told The Associated Press on the sidelines of Christmas Eve midnight Mass in a nearby church.
"It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding."
"Today we can say that there is maybe a 50% chance that it will be saved. There is also 50% chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults, so as you can see the building is still very fragile," he said.
The 12th-century cathedral was under renovation at the time of the accidental April fire, which destroyed its roof and collapsed its spire.
One of the toughest parts of the cleanup effort is cutting down the 50,000 tubes of old scaffolding that crisscrossed the back of the edifice.
"We need to remove completely the scaffolding in order to make the building safe so in 2021 we will probably start the restoration of the cathedral," Chauvet said.
"Once the scaffolding is removed we need to assess the state of the cathedral, the quantity of stones to be removed and replaced."
He estimated it would take another three years after that to make it safe enough for people to re-enter the cathedral, but that the full restoration will take longer.
President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants it rebuilt by 2024, when Paris hosts the Olympics, but experts have questioned whether that time frame is realistic.
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