US churches called to ring bells for Notre Dame reopening

The doors of Notre Dame de Paris will open for the first time in five years and the US bishops are inviting all Catholic churches to join in the festivities.

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is inviting Catholic churches across the US to ring out their bells in celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris on December 7.

The iconic Parisian cathedral has been closed since 2019, when a devastating fire tore through the building. It destroyed much of the roof, leaving the city’s skyline to go without Viollet-le-duc’s famed spire, and left a mess of ash and lead that took nearly five full years to fully clean and repair.

Now, however, new pictures of the restored cathedral show it cleaner and more vibrant than ever – from the sparkle of the stained glass to the pristine white of the walls and ceiling.

The USCCB invited all churches to ring their bells in a series of social media posts on December 3. They indicated that the ringing of the bells will start at 2 p.m. EST, led by the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

Subsequent posts recognized that France has been without its most esteemed church since 2019, and referenced the “special place in the hearts of all believers and people of goodwill” that led Notre Dame lovers from around the world to donate nearly $1 billion to its restoration effort.

In one post, USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio wrote:

“This gesture of uniting our local Churches with the Cathedral of Paris would be one more sign of our union to the eldest daughter of the Church whose forefathers contributed so much to the U.S. struggle for Independence.”

The selected time for the bell ringing will coincide with the reopening of the doors of Notre Dame de Paris. The reopening will be broadcast on French news networks, with livestreams available in various places.

Look for the streams on December 7, 2024, and listen for your local church’s bells ringing in the return of Our Lady of Paris. Tune into Aleteia’s French edition for more.