Notre Dame fire, one year later

FILE - In this April 15 2019, file photo, flames illuminate the night sky as Notre Dame Cathedral burns in Paris. The cathedral stands crippled, locked in a dangerous web of twisted metal scaffolding one year after a cataclysmic fire gutted its interior, toppled its famous spire and horrified the world.

Credit: Thibault Camus/AP

Credit: Thibault Camus/AP

FILE - In this April 15 2019, file photo, flames illuminate the night sky as Notre Dame Cathedral burns in Paris. The cathedral stands crippled, locked in a dangerous web of twisted metal scaffolding one year after a cataclysmic fire gutted its interior, toppled its famous spire and horrified the world.
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By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
April 16, 2020
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One year ago, the city of Paris, and the world, came together to mourn the destruction of history.

Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire on April 15, 2019.

But over the past 12 months, the world has changed. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, people cannot come together to show the strength they did as the church burned before their eyes.

There were tributes planned, but are now canceled as France battles COVID-19.

Still, despite the silence instead of a choir filling a planned ceremony with song and hope, French President Emmanuel Macron addressed his nation with a video message in which he said, according to The New York Times, "Our days, our thoughts, our lives today are monopolized by this terrible crisis that we are going through." Macron thanked "those who yesterday saved" Notre Dame and "those who today are rebuilding."

A woman wearing a mask to protect against coronavirus walks past people stopped in front of Notre Dame Cathedral as the bells ring to mark one year of blaze Wednesday, April 15, 2020 in Paris. A year after a devastating fire, the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral has been halted by a lockdown in Paris to battle the coronavirus. The April 15, 2019, blaze gutted its interior, toppled its famous spire and horrified the world.

Credit: Christophe Ena/AP

icon to expand image

Credit: Christophe Ena/AP

Repairs to the fire-damaged church were stopped last month when the country shut down, CNN reported. The church has been closed to visitors since last year, with only two religious services being held inside the building.

More than 17,000 people have died in France since the coronavirus outbreak, the Times reported.

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About the Author

Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk