# Pope Leo XIV Arrives in France for Historic Four-Day Apostolic Journey

# Pope Leo XIV Arrives in France for Historic Four-Day Apostolic Journey

**Paris, France** — Pope Leo XIV landed at Paris-Orly Airport on Friday morning, marking the first official papal state visit to France in 18 years. The four-day Apostolic Journey, running from September 25 to 28, will take the Holy Father to Paris, the pilgrimage site of Lourdes, and the eastern border city of Metz.

## A Historic Arrival

The papal plane departed Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 7:58 AM and touched down at Paris-Orly shortly before 10:00 AM local time. Church bells rang across France for seven minutes to mark the occasion.

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte greeted the 71-year-old pontiff on the tarmac, where the French Republican Guard played both the Vatican anthem and La Marseillaise. The welcome ceremony included children presenting flowers to the pope.

The visit is the first official papal state visit to France since Pope Benedict XVI in September 2008. Pope Francis visited Strasbourg in 2014, Marseille in 2023, and Corsica in 2024, but none of those trips carried official state visit status.

## Day One: Élysée Palace, UNESCO, and Notre-Dame

Following the airport ceremony, Pope Leo traveled to the Élysée Palace for a private meeting with President Macron that lasted approximately 50 minutes. He then addressed French authorities, civil society representatives, and the diplomatic corps in the palace's Salle des Fêtes.

In his first major speech of the trip, the pope emphasized the protection of human life as "the indispensable foundation of every other right". He expressed concern about "those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one's own death".

The pope also articulated a vision of "authentic secularity" (laïcité) that does not exclude religion from public life but values it as an educational resource. "An authentic secularity, then, consists not in excluding religion from the public sphere or from education, but in striving to ensure that the State and religious institutions maintain dialogue and join forces in the service of the common good," he said.

Friday afternoon, Pope Leo visited UNESCO headquarters, where he delivered a speech focused on the ethical regulation of artificial intelligence. The pontiff, who has made AI governance a signature issue of his papacy, emphasized the need for international rules to ensure technology serves human dignity rather than displacing or destroying humanity. A framework agreement between the Holy See and UNESCO was signed during the visit, marking 75 years of relations between the two entities.

Later in the afternoon, the pope traveled by popemobile along a 2.5-kilometer route to Notre-Dame Cathedral, becoming the first pope to visit the restored Gothic masterpiece since its reopening in December 2024 following the devastating 2019 fire. He presided over Vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and seminarians.

The day concluded with a prayer vigil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, where approximately 80,000 young believers aged 17 to 35 gathered. A relic believed to be the tunic worn by Jesus during the Passion was transported from the nearby Saint-Denis Cathedral for the occasion. The 80,000 available places for the vigil were reportedly claimed within one hour of becoming available.

## Day Two: Migrants, Mass, and Lourdes

Saturday's schedule began with a visit to Maison Bakhita, a center in Paris's 18th arrondissement that provides support and integration services for migrants and refugees. The pope then met with participants in the French Church's synodal process, catechumens, and recently baptized Catholics at the Institut Catholique de Paris.

The centerpiece of the Paris leg was an outdoor Mass at Place de la Concorde and the adjoining Champs-Élysées. More than 600,000 people registered to attend the celebration, which stretched along a three-kilometer axis toward Porte Maillot. The choice of location carried symbolic weight—Place de la Concorde represents France's monarchical past, the bloodshed of the Revolution, and the subsequent pursuit of national unity.

In the late afternoon, the pope departed for Lourdes in southwestern France, arriving in time for evening prayer at the grotto of the sanctuary, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

## Day Three: Lourdes and the Abuse Crisis

Sunday's schedule in Lourdes includes a meeting with the bishops of the French Episcopal Conference, followed by Mass at 11:00 AM on the prairie of the Sanctuary. Approximately 200,000 people were expected to attend.

The most closely watched moment of the entire trip will be Pope Leo's private meeting with seven victims of clerical sexual abuse. A 2021 independent commission (CIASE) estimated that approximately 216,000 minors had been sexually abused by clergy or religious order members in France since 1950, a figure that rose to approximately 330,000 when abuse by lay staff in Church institutions was included. In recent years, further accusations have emerged against charity icon Abbé Pierre and workers at a Catholic boarding school near Lourdes.

The sanctuary has taken the controversial step of covering mosaics by Slovene priest Marko Rupnik, who has been accused of sexual assault, on the façade of the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire basilica for the occasion.

## Day Four: Metz and the Future of Europe

The final leg of the journey takes Pope Leo to Metz, a city near the German border associated with Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union. EU heads of state and government have been invited to attend the closing events, according to French presidential sources.

The pope is expected to deliver a major address on "the roots of Europe, for peace and unity" as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues into its fifth year. The day concludes with an interreligious gathering and Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral.

## A Nation of Contrasting Realities

Pope Leo's visit unfolds against a complex religious and social landscape in France. While the country maintains deep Christian roots dating back to the baptism of Clovis and the intellectual contributions of figures like St. Irenaeus, formal religious participation has declined substantially. A 2019-2020 survey found that 51% of French people aged 18 to 59 reported having no religion, and among those identifying as Catholic, only 8% attended religious services at least monthly.

Yet adult baptisms are on the rise, with approximately 13,000 adults baptized at Easter 2026. The contrast between declining infant christenings and growing adult conversions suggests a evolving relationship with faith in one of Europe's most secular nations.

The visit also comes just over a month after France promulgated a law establishing a right to assisted dying for eligible adults with serious and incurable conditions. French bishops strongly opposed the measure, describing its adoption as a "grave rupture". The pope's emphasis on the protection of life at every stage has been interpreted as a direct response to this legislative development, though it remains unclear whether he will directly challenge the law in his private meeting with Macron.

## Economic and Logistical Scale

French officials estimate the papal visit will generate "several hundred million euros" in economic benefits, comparable in magnitude to the impact of Céline Dion's 26-concert residency in Paris. Approximately 1.3 million people are expected to attend events across Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.

Thousands of police officers, gendarmes, soldiers, and firefighters have been mobilized to secure the events. The visit is Pope Leo's fifth international apostolic journey since his election, following trips to Spain and other destinations.

The theme of the journey is "That the World May Have Life" (John 6:51), a scriptural reference that underscores the pontiff's focus on human dignity, the protection of life, and the ethical dimensions of technological advancement.