Rorate Caeli

No Pater, please: we're secular

News of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Reims, which took place last Friday:
According to the cultural assistant of the Mayor of Reims, Jacques Cohen, "we had to discuss with the archbishop [Abp. Thierry Jordan] so that the Our Father would not be sung or recited" during the ceremony for the eighth centennial of Reims Cathedral. "We [the staff of Socialist mayor Adeline Hazan] are secular [laïques]." They finally won their struggle. And if the Ave-Maria was tolerated, it was because the Cathedral is called Notre-Dame... "We had to negotiate, that took place directly between city hall and the archbishop. It was not simple," confirmed, outside the ceremony, auxiliary Bishop Joseph Boishu.