Poland's first lady to visit Paris for Notre Dame ceremony

Poland’s first lady, Marta Nawrocka, will travel to Paris this week to attend a ceremony marking the reinstallation of a copy of the revered image of Our Lady of Częstochowa in the Polish Chapel at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Polish First Lady Marta Nawrocka.

Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

The ceremony, set for Saturday, is being organised by the Polish Catholic Mission in France and the Polish embassy in Paris.

The copy of the Black Madonna, along with relics of St. John Paul II, was rescued from the Polish Chapel during the 2019 fire that ravaged the cathedral.

Poland's Black Madonna icon is venerated by Roman Catholics and Christians around the world. Photo: Kancelaria Sejmu/Krzysztof Kurek, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Following years of restoration, Notre Dame reopened in December last year.

The famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopened to the public more than five years after a fire devastated the iconic landmark. Photo: EPA/TERESA SUAREZ

By the end of June, it had attracted more than 6 million worshippers and visitors, making it once again Paris’ most visited site.

(mk/gs)