Paris, France, Feb 22, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The outgoing Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, has received a peculiar gift from his close friends: he will be able to fly for free for two years on Air France.
Cardinal Lustiger, 78, thanked his friends and collaborators for the gift during one the last Masses he celebrated as Archbishop of Paris at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
The Cardinal, who was archbishop since 1981, will be succeeded by Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Tours, who was named to the post by Pope John Paul II on February 11. The French newspaper “Le Monde” said Cardinal Lustiger would leave the post in the same way in which he received it: “amidst much acclaim.”
The Mass was attended by some three thousand people, including the First Lady Bernadette Chirac and Primer Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.