Three thousand faithful thronged the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris on Sunday, 20 February to participate in the last Sunday mass celebrated by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger after the Pope accepting his resignation – had appointed Msgr. Andrè Vingt-Trois to succeed him as the new archbishop of Paris. Cardinal Lustiger was greeted in the cathedral by a burst of applause. Many civil authorities of the country were also present. Lustiger who has headed the archdiocese of Paris for 24 years began the mass by saying: “when I think of all the faces I have met during these years, of all the difficult and sorrowful moments, of all the great and joyful ones we have shared together, this past turns towards the future, your future”. “With everything I have in my heart and in my eyes at this time, I think he added of the years to come”. “Many challenges await you in this city, in this country and in this continent. But what I know with absolute certainty is that all who have worked for Christ and their fellowmen represent a reserve of love that will produce a new spring of genuine charity”. Before the final blessing, four members of the congregation paid public tribute to Cardinal Lustiger, interrupted and accompanied by the applause of the faithful, and presented to him, on behalf of the whole diocese of Paris, an air ticket with which he can travel as he likes through the world for two years. “If I have understood you aright, you are inviting me to go away”, joked the archbishop, who ended by saying: “I ask forgiveness for all the injuries I may have involuntarily caused”.
