The crown of thorns’ exciting return to Notre Dame cathedral

A reliquary containing what tradition holds is Jesus' crown of thorns is displayed during a ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris March 21, 2014. The crown, the most precious of the relics in Notre Dame's treasury, was saved from the flames of the April 15, 2019, fire. (OSV News photo/Philippe Wojazer, Reuters)

It will be big. On Dec. 8, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, one of the glories of Catholicism, will reopen in Paris, fully restored after the disastrous fire of 2019.

On behalf of the French nation, President Emmanuel Macron invited Pope Francis to officiate. Dec. 8, an international holy day of obligation, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is for the French their special feast day.

World media will focus on the reopening of the historic cathedral, especially if the pope is present. An important moment will occur when what is said to be the crown of thorns, worn by Jesus on Good Friday, is solemnly and majestically returned to the cathedral where it was kept for many years and where millions of believers venerated it.

(A very determined priest, and a few brave firefighters, rescued the crown during the fire. It has been kept in the vault of the Louvre, the great Parisian museum, since the fire.)

What are the credentials of this relic? Did it once rest upon the brow of Jesus? “Proof” for the authenticity of the relic in Paris is the unbroken regard for it by fervent Christians for many hundreds of years and the fact that nothing reliably questions its connection with Jesus.

The surprising history of the crown​

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