불란서 파리의 자랑이자, 전세계인들로부터 사랑을 받아오던 Norte-Dame성당이 지난 4월의 화제로 불탄이후, 이번 크리스마스에는,200년만에 처음으로, 성탄 미사가 없이 지나게 됐다. 불란서 수도 Paris 소재 Notre-Dame성당이 화재로 불타서 황폐화 된이후, 재건축중에 있어서, 이번 크리스마스 미사가 없었는데, 공교롭게도 재건축이 더디게 진행된것도 원인중의 하나라고한다.
일을 시작한지 3일밖에 안된 신참보안관이 노틀담 성당안의 화재경보 판넬의 작동상황을 점검한것은 4월 15일로 판넬의 표시등에 경고불빛이 반짝거리는 것을 확인 했던 순간에 불이 난 것이었다. 그때가 월요일로 오후 6시 18분경, 바로 부활절 일주일전이었었다. Jean-Pierre Caveau 신부님께서 수백명의 신자들과 방문객들과 함께 미사를 집전하고 있었다. 그때 성당의 직원이 미사드리는 제단에서 불과 몇피트 떨어져 있었던 보안관에게 무전을 친것이다. "빨리가서 화재점검하세요."라고. 보안관은 바로 Fire 판넬을 점검했으나 별이상을 발견하지 못했었다.
그로부터, 그들이 뭔가 잘못되여가고 있다는것을 발견한것은 30분이 채 지나지 않아서였다. 바로 신참 보안관이 점검한것은 본당빌딩이 아니고 옆의 다른 빌딩이었었다. 화재가 발생한곳은 본당 빌딩의 돔아래 쪽이었었다. 바로, 성당속의 "숲속"으로 널리 알려진, 목재로 만들어진 유명한 격자형( Latticework) 작품이었었다.
나는 이 Notre Dame성당을 처음이자 마지막으로 본것은 1974년 겨울이었었다. 독일에 기술훈련 갔다가 주말을 맞아, 이곳에서 불문학 박사학위 취득을 위해 솔본느 대학에서 연구하고 있었던 Lunar의 언니를 만나러 갔을때 였었다. 성당의 빌딩에 대한 개념도 아직 잘 모르고 있을때, 광장에서 처다본 지붕은 위엄 그자체로 나의 시선을 한참동안이나 붙잡아 둘만큼 웅장 했었던 기억이 지금도 뇌리에 꽉차있다.
200년만에, 크리스마스 성탄미사가 없이, 일반인들의 출입이 금지된채로 울타리가 두러쳐진, 흉칙스런 모습을 보여줬다니.... 이것도 하나님의 뜻이 계서서 라고 할수있겠지만, 너무도 황량한 기분이다.
Credit...Ludovic Marin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
There will be no Christmas at Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, the headlines read, the first such lapse in two centuries.
In
ordinary terms, that was not really news. Yawning holes in the roof
still open the Gothic nave to winter rain eight months after the great fire,
and not even workers are allowed in the middle because of the damaged
roof beams precariously dangling above. The head of the task force
charged with repairing the cathedral has promised that a religious
service will be held on April 16, 2024, a day after the fifth
anniversary of the blaze, which would fulfill a pledge by President
Emmanuel Macron to repair Notre-Dame within five years. But that’s optimistic — debates still swirl over how to rebuild the roof and spire that burned and collapsed.
But there will be Christmas for the faithful of Notre-Dame. The clergymen of the cathedral have been using the nearby church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois,
a landmark only a couple of centuries younger than Notre-Dame that once
ministered to the royalty of the nearby Louvre Palace, and all the
services of Christmas are being celebrated there. A liturgical platform
resembling Notre-Dame’s has been constructed there, and the cathedral’s
great 14th-century “Virgin of Paris” sculpture, untouched by the inferno, has been temporarily placed in Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois.
Still,
even if there is no surprise, and no gap in religious observance, it is
terribly sad for anyone who has ever been to Paris in winter to think
that this year — and next year, and the year after that and for God
knows how many more years — there will be no children gazing spellbound
at the large, detailed crèche, no candles flickering at midnight to the
thunder of the great organ for the “Messe de la Nuit,” no sea of
awe-struck tourists looking forward to recounting how they celebrated
Christmas at one of Europe’s most familiar and wonderful landmarks.
It is a reminder
of how great an emptiness the fire left in the heart of Paris and far
beyond. Notre-Dame is more than a church, more than a masterpiece of
medieval architecture, more even than a symbol of one of the great
cities of the world. Like many of the earth’s great cultural landmarks,
it has a life of its own; it is a living character in art, literature,
music and legend, and a place where a tired passer-by can drop in for
some rest and quiet thought. It carries a message that every visitor can
interpret in his or her own way.
There
is nothing symbolic or spiritual, however, about the turbulent
aftermath of the fire that broke out among the oak rafters of the roof
on April 15. To this day it remains unclear how the fire started or why the response was slow, and there is still a risk of further collapse. The 460 tons of lead
that were engulfed in flames created a major health threat in central
Paris. And though more than $1 billion has been raised or pledged, controversy rages over how to restore the roof.
Proposals range from a faithful reproduction of the old roof and spire
to a glass roof, a “spire” of light and even a rooftop swimming pool.
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The
debate has divided the two houses of Parliament, with the lower house
opting to consider all options and the Senate insisting on a straight
reconstruction. The chief architect, Philippe Villeneuve, has insisted on keeping to the original but has been told to “shut his mouth” by Jean-Louis Georgelin, a retired general tapped by President Macron to head the project.
But
then Paris has always been a battleground of past and present. The
haunting beauty of the city is in part a product of a program of urban
renewal in the 19th century led by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann at the
behest of Emperor Napoleon III, which included wholesale razing of old
neighborhoods to create the now-beloved boulevards, parks and delicate
facades. The Eiffel Tower, the premier icon of France, was initially
spurned by artists and intellectuals when it was raised for the 1889
World’s Fair. Another Parisian landmark, the glass-and-metal pyramid in
the courtyard of the Louvre designed by I.M. Pei, likewise came under withering criticism when it was first proposed.
So in what form Notre-Dame will be reborn, and when, remain a mystery.
But the very facts that the venerable church is so missed and its future
so debated ensure that there will come a day when the Virgin of Paris,
holding her newborn son, returns to her ancient pedestal and the great
organ pipes tremble once again for the midnight celebration of a new
beginning.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/opinion/notre-dame-cathedral-christmas.html
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