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Hard hats required at first Notre Dame mass since April fire

By Ben Hooper
Clerics attend a mass Saturday led by Michel Aupetit (R), Archbishop of Paris, marking the first church service at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral since it was damaged by a devastating fire exactly two months earlier. Pool Photo by Karine Perret/EPA-EFE
1 of 2 | Clerics attend a mass Saturday led by Michel Aupetit (R), Archbishop of Paris, marking the first church service at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral since it was damaged by a devastating fire exactly two months earlier. Pool Photo by Karine Perret/EPA-EFE

June 15 (UPI) -- Worshipers donned hard hats Saturday to attend the first mass at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral since the fire two months earlier.

Bishop Michel Aupetit, the Archbishop of Paris, led about 30 worshipers in the Catholic mass Saturday, exactly two months since the April 15 fire that lasted for nine hours and caused part of the landmark's roof to collapse.

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"This cathedral is born of Christian hope," Aupetit tweeted Saturday. "This cathedral was born also of charity."

All attendees at the service, which was broadcast live on on a French Catholic TV station, were required to wear hard hats while inside the building, although Aupetit briefly removed his during the consecration.

Nearly $1 billion was pledged for Notre Dame's reconstruction by wealthy individuals, business leaders and other donors, but the French government said that so far under 10 percent of the pledged funds have been received.

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