Jacques Serais, edited by Gauthier Delomez
modified to
7:28 p.m., April 15, 2022
It is the president and not the candidate who entered Friday afternoon in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in works. Emmanuel Macron visited the Parisian building three years to the day after the fire which partly destroyed the building. He took stock of the progress of the restoration project, and discussed with the companions and the companies who put their know-how at the service of the reconstruction of the cathedral.
This is a symbolic visit, right in the middle of the interval between the two towers and on the eve of the Easter weekend. It was the services of the Elysée, and not its campaign team, which organized this visit. But nine days before the second round, Emmanuel Macron’s two costumes seem inseparable, as this trip is loaded with symbols.
A Catholic electorate that voted less for candidate Macron
This is a very clear signal sent to the Catholic electorate on Good Friday, on the eve of the Easter weekend. It must be said that the Catholic vote is far from leaving Macronie indifferent. An Ifop survey for the newspaper The cross indicates that regular practitioners voted a little less for the outgoing president than the national average: 25% instead of the nearly 28% granted to Emmanuel Macron on the evening of the first round. On the other hand, 16% of them slipped in an Éric Zemmour newsletter. A much higher proportion than the national average (7%).
Some of these voters are therefore today without a candidate. And they are not especially prone to vote Marine Le Pen because Catholics who go to mass regularly voted less for the RN candidate than the average French person. By making this wink, Emmanuel Macron may hope to convince them not to abstain.
“It is a testimony of hope in this difficult period”
Alongside his wife Brigitte, both in work coats, and protective helmet screwed on their heads, Emmanuel Macron and the first lady inside the building, at the foot of a gigantic scaffolding 100 meters high. above, followed the explanations of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who chairs the public establishment responsible for the restoration and conservation of Notre-Dame.
After the securing phase was completed last year, the immense restoration work is underway. Right in between rounds, the Head of State sees this visit as a parenthesis. “I want to thank all those who spend their day and their night because I am aware of the work and the general mobilization that we have sounded”, explains Emmanuel Macron. “It’s a bit in this difficult period, where we are coming out of the Covid, there is war in Europe, it is also a testimony of hope, and that makes a lot of sense”, adds the president-candidate.
If it is the president who speaks, it is difficult not to see an allusion to the election. The end of the restoration of Notre-Dame is scheduled for 2024, it remains to be seen who will be at the head of the state at that time.