Bishop invites churches to ring bells at moment of Notre Dame Cathedral reopening

By OSV News, The Catholic Free Press

As Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris officially reopens Dec. 7-8, bells will ring in churches an ocean away in the United States to celebrate the historic moment. Bishop McManus has invited all churches with bells in the Diocese of Worcester to join Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris by ringing them tomorrow at 2 p.m., when the two-day reopening ceremonies will begin.

The ceremonies will be led by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris, and attended by dozens of dignitaries, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. first lady Jill Biden, and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

 “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,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a Dec. 3 post to the USCCB’s X (formerly Twitter) account.

The USCCB in a Nov. 29 post on X had invited all local churches to join in ringing their bells in celebration. Indiana’s University of Notre Dame confirmed to OSV News in an email Dec. 3 that its Basilica of the Sacred Heart “will join other Churches across the United States in ringing our bells” that day at “the exact time the doors of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral will be formally reopened.”