Stone tablet from the Cathedral of Notre Dame, measuring approximately 5 x 7.5 x .25, with crosses carved into each corner and the center of the stone. The elliptically shaped paper seal of Cardinal Suhard, Archbishop of Paris, is affixed near the bottom. Reverse bears an affixed tag stamped with the seal of Archbishopric of Paris, reading, in part (translated): "I…certify that this Stone Altar…consecrated to the Archbishopric of Paris," and dated Paris, May 26, 1946. Signed at the conclusion by the Secretary of the Archbishopric to certify the statement, though much of the tag and signature has worn off. In very good condition, with a few edge chips and heavy wear to affixed seal and tag.
Emmanuel Cardinal Suhard (1874-1949) was the Archbishop of Paris during the German occupation and supported the Nazi's Vichy regime. On August 26, 1944, a week after Paris was liberated, de Gaulle prevented Cardinal Suhard from attending the mass of liberation in his own Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Notre Dame Cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary which houses some of Catholicism's most important, first-class relics.
