BURNING TEARS

Notre Dame Misses First Christmas Eve Mass in 216 Years

And the rector says there’s only a 50 percent chance the fire-ravaged structure survives.

For the first time in 216 years, no Christmas Eve Mass was held in Notre-Dame Cathedral, the iconic Paris monument ravaged by fire last April 15. And in even worse news, the rector told the Associated Press there is only a 50 percent chance the structure survives because scaffolding installed before the blaze is in danger of collapsing onto the vaults. Repairs are likely to continue for four more years at least at an estimated cost upward of $1 billion. Services were held instead at the nearby church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. “We have been crying since April 15, and today even more,” a Parisian worshipper told Agence France Presse. Paris prosecutors suspect the fire, which toppled the cathedral's spectacular spire and destroyed much of the roof, was the result of criminal negligence. Theories include a stray cigarette butt or an electrical fault on scaffolding being used to restore parts of the 800-year-old structure, but the exact cause of the fire, if known, has not yet been made public.