“A man of great culture, a man of service, a man of faith too, a military genius”. This is how the rector of Notre-Dame de Paris paid tribute to the memory of General Georgelin, who died on Friday evening. His “sudden death leaves us in pain”, lamented Bishop Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas during Sunday mass in the church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, in Paris.
Former chief of staff of the armies and orchestra of the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris, General Georgelin died Friday evening at the age of 74 during a hike in the Pyrenees. He “lived his life with the concern to serve others, the Nation, animated by a deep faith”, depicted the current rector of Notre-Dame on Sunday. The last of the “missions he accepted throughout his life” was “this complex, gigantic project of rebuilding Notre-Dame, for love of France and for love of the Church”, said he said. And “we had with him this sole purpose of returning the cathedral to visitors and to worship”, underlined Bishop Ribadeau-Dumas.
Notre-Dame loses “the architect of its rebirth”
After the shock of the “brutal death” of General Georgelin, who “led this project with authority and a great sense of service”, the secretary general of the Conference of Bishops of France Hugues de Woillemont told AFP “not to have of concern” about the rest of the reconstruction.
“I am confident in the future, there will be a call from someone to continue this mission, which General Georgelin has started well”, he added, with the memory of a visit in May to the site alongside the general.
General Georgelin was chosen in the wake of the fire that ravaged this world-famous monument in April 2019 to lead the restoration project, to be completed in five years according to Emmanuel Macron’s objective. Notre-Dame loses “the architect of its rebirth”, reacted the President of the Republic on Saturday.