I am not a Catholic and this is not a religious review.
Pope John Paul II gave the church the status of Basilica during a visit to the city in 1982.
Notre-Dame is an active house of worship though I did not go for worship but just a tour. It's 12-ton bass bell is the largest in North America, and also has a 7,000-pipe Casavant organ. It has less of a circus like atmosphere than St.Patrick's here in NY and has more of a solemn feel. It is a major work of art and though I have been to a few Cathedrals in cities such as DC , Cathedral touring is not really my thing. I have a special interest in Notre-Dame because as a child my grandmother had a sketch of it in her apartment that was beautiful and realistic I thought it was a black and white photograph but she drew it. I am sure there is a fascinating story behind the sketch but I never heard it. She did not have any other art hanging in her apartment just this sketch! The sketch hung on her walls for my entire child hood. I just went there to imagine what her secret life as an artist was like. As a child I just took the sketch for granted that grandma drew like Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon. Too bad she did not pass her talent onto me! 5 stars.