The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris informs that the Catholic Church in France remains unchanged in its position regarding free admission to churches and cathedrals. Free admission to cathedrals and churches finds its justification both in the provisions of the law on the separation of Churches and State of 1905 and in the fundamental mission of churches: to welcome unconditionally and therefore necessarily free of charge all men and women from all over the world.
At Notre Dame, pilgrims and visitors have never been distinguished: religious services are celebrated during visits, and visits continue during services. Setting up access differently would result in different access conditions for some, as they are elsewhere in Europe, from a material separation that would deprive pilgrims and visitors of the communion between all that is the very essence of the place and that would in fact prevent them from living the overall experience of the monument in its infinite beauty.
Notre Dame Cathedral can accommodate up to three thousand people at a time
Finally, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris does not forget that among these same visitors, a certain number have already demonstrated their unshakable attachment to Notre-Dame by fully financing the building's restoration project. The preservation of religious heritage in France is a topic that is dear to many, believers or not, and deserves a concerted reflection whose solution cannot exist in a single solution. Other avenues can be explored besides the one consisting of taxing visitors to Notre-Dame, but that would inevitably lead many people to give up visiting a cathedral that is by its very nature open to all.
Notre-Dame will be open every day from 7 am to 45 pm. Masses will be celebrated at 19 am, 8 pm and 12 pm on weekdays; at 18 am, 8.30 pm and 12 pm on Saturdays; at 18 am, 8.30 am (in Latin), 10 am and 11.30 pm on Sundays and holidays.
