Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday, marking the Vatican’s first state visit to the country in 18 years. High on the pontiff’s agenda are artificial intelligence, the engagement of young believers, and the future of Europe.
As the first American pope—whose paternal grandmother was French—touched down outside Paris just before 10:00 am (0800 GMT), church bells rang out across the nation to welcome him for a four-day visit.
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte were scheduled to greet the 71-year-old pontiff on the tarmac, in the first official papal trip to France since Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September 2008. Over a million people are expected to attend events in Paris during the first two days.
The highlight of Pope Leo’s apostolic journey will be a massive mass celebrated on Saturday at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Elysees. The pope will also travel to Lourdes, a renowned pilgrimage destination for Christians, and to Metz, a city near the German border with ties to Robert Schuman, a founding father of the European Union.
“The pope’s visit gives me a sense of peace in a troubled world,” said 76-year-old Andree Estienne, who looks forward to attending the mass on the Champs-Elysees. “I don’t think I’ll experience anything of this scale again in my lifetime.”
Seven months ahead of France’s presidential election, with the far right aiming for power, Pope Leo is expected to address a range of pressing issues, including the challenges of artificial intelligence, Europe’s migration crisis, clerical sexual abuse, and the pursuit of peace in Europe. On Friday, he will visit the presidential palace before delivering a speech at UNESCO headquarters focusing on the need to regulate AI.
A Papal Presence in Paris
Later that day, Pope Leo will greet crowds along a 2.5-kilometre (1.5-mile) popemobile route to Notre Dame cathedral, where he will be the first pope to view renovations since the devastating 2019 fire. His predecessor, Pope Francis—who visited France three times—did not attend the cathedral’s reopening in late 2024, an event that drew guests including then president-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
Among the crowds will be Carmen Quintana, a 71-year-old Peruvian, who said, “We’re very happy to be able to be near him.” The pope spent two decades as a missionary in Peru and holds Peruvian nationality as well.
The day will conclude with a mass prayer and hymns with 80,000 young Catholics, aged 17 to 35, at a stadium in Saint-Denis. A revered relic believed to be the tunic worn by Jesus during the Passion will be brought from the nearby Saint-Denis Cathedral for the occasion.
Catholicism in a Secular France
Only about five percent of France’s 69 million residents are regular churchgoers, according to a recent survey, in a nation known for its secularism, constitutional protection of abortion rights, and recent approval of assisted dying for some patients. While infant christenings have declined, adult baptisms are on the rise, with thousands choosing to join the faith each year.
President Macron will not attend Saturday’s mass, but several presidential hopefuls, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe, have announced they will be present.
A Focus on Healing and Peace
After Paris, Pope Leo will travel to Lourdes, where, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl in 1858. There, he will meet on Sunday with seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse—a subject that has cast a shadow over the French Church, with a 2021 inquiry estimating that clergy or lay members abused about 330,000 minors over seven decades. New allegations have emerged in recent years against prominent figures including charity icon Abbe Pierre and staff at a Catholic boarding school near Lourdes.
Pope Leo’s final stop will be Metz on Monday, where he is expected to deliver a speech centered on peace in Europe, as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
