The Pope Leo XIV France visit reached its spiritual high point on Saturday, September 26, as the US-born pontiff prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes — just hours after leading an emotional open-air mass in Paris before hundreds of thousands of worshippers. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day trip to France, the first official papal visit to the country in nearly two decades, according to The Straits Times, citing AFP.
The visit is unfolding seven months before French voters choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with the far right surging and immigration high on the agenda — a political backdrop that has given the pontiff’s words on peace, migrants and leadership added weight.
A Monumental Mass at Place de la Concorde
The centerpiece of the Pope Leo XIV France visit so far was Saturday’s open-air mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy had been erected to serve as a makeshift altar. The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended — about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance — with crowds gathering all the way beyond the Arc de Triomphe.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue for the mass, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in what is now an officially secular country, the Associated Press reported. The turnout, the AP noted, testified to the church’s lasting influence in France despite declining attendance and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe.
The scale of the liturgy was enormous: the celebration included 2,400 priests and deacons, one hundred bishops, 1,000 choir singers and 400 altar servers, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. The 71-year-old pope, dressed in white liturgical vestments, told the crowd: “It is truly good and pleasant when brothers and sisters come together and glorify the greatness of God.”
In his homily, Leo urged the faithful not to keep their faith to themselves but to “let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied.” He added: “From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout France.” He singled out the young for special thanks: “I am thinking of you, dear young people, you are the Church of today. How beautiful it is to see your enthusiasm, your dynamism.”
The choice of the Place de la Concorde was not without controversy. The square was an execution site during the French Revolution — Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined there — and it embodies the French Republic, traditionally staging Bastille Day celebrations. Supporters of France’s strict form of secularism, rooted in a 1905 law separating church and state, argued the site was inappropriate and that a venue such as the Invalides — where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass with 240,000 people in 2008 — would have been better. Organizers said it was the only area in central Paris that could accommodate such crowds.
President Macron did not attend the mass but was represented by his wife Brigitte. The president said in a message on X that France was “proud to welcome Pope Leo XIV and this monumental mass in the heart of Paris.” A number of presidential hopefuls were present, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe.
Popemobile Ride Down the Champs-Élysées
The Pope Leo XIV France visit began on Friday with the pontiff’s arrival in Paris, and the capital gave him a rapturous welcome. Earlier on Saturday, Leo rode along the Champs-Élysées in the popemobile, greeting flag-waving, cheering throngs during a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) parade down the grand boulevard leading to the Place de la Concorde.
On Friday, an estimated 300,000 people turned out to see the pontiff as he waved from the popemobile on the way to the Notre Dame Cathedral — his first prayer at the restored landmark, and the first by a pope since its devastating 2019 fire. That evening, some 80,000 young people filled the Stade de France in Saint-Denis for a prayer vigil with fireworks and a theatrical retelling of French Catholic history. Speaking off the cuff in French, the pope told the raucous crowd: “Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!”
“There is a sense of fervour reminiscent of that experienced over 40 years ago with John Paul II,” François Mabille, director of the Geopolitical Observatory on Religion, told broadcaster RMC. Although a security blanket shut down central Paris to road traffic, the AP described a partylike atmosphere that drew people of multiple faiths and no faith at all — people brought dozens of babies and young children from the crowd for Leo to bless as he rode slowly past.
Prayer at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes
Later on Saturday, the pope flew to Lourdes, the southwestern pilgrimage town in the Pyrenees, landing in the early evening. The US pontiff prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle, where Catholic tradition holds that the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858 to a peasant girl — later Saint Bernadette. Leo is the third pope to visit Lourdes, after Benedict XVI in 2008 and John Paul II in 1983 and 2004.
AFP reporters saw him perform the rituals observed by the many pilgrims to the cave: touching the rock, lighting a candle and drinking spring water. Thousands of faithful watched his arrival at the site on giant screens.
With France heading toward a presidential election, the pope prayed to the Virgin Mary to “obtain for France wise and generous leaders… eager to serve the common good.” He continued: “May they make her (France’s) voice heard in promoting the defence of fundamental human rights and peace in the world, rejecting the mentality of war once and for all.” The sanctuary at Lourdes, one of the most important Catholic holy sites in the world, receives some three million pilgrims each year, and Catholics credit it with miraculous healings, according to AFP.
Earlier in the day, the pope had met migrants at Maison Bakhita, an association supporting refugees. Leo said it was “possible to encounter one another and to live together in dignity and peace,” and he stressed the “fundamental role of women in building a civilisation of love.” The association said the pope’s visit sent a “message” ahead of the April-May election.
What Comes Next: Abuse Victims Meeting and the Road Ahead
On Sunday, September 27, Leo will meet privately with seven victims of clerical sex abuse — a moment likely to be closely watched. A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as minors in France over seven decades. Some survivors’ groups have criticized the Vatican’s choice to meet with individuals rather than representatives of established advocacy organizations, according to reports.
The visit has also cast light on France’s complex religious picture. Adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016, hitting 13,000 this year, according to the AP — though statisticians caution the uptick doesn’t reverse the overall downward trend: there were 513,000 baptisms in France in 1980, compared with 186,000 in 2024. INSEE figures cited by Reuters put Catholic self-identification at around 25% among 18-to-49-year-olds, down from 43% a decade ago, with only 8% of Catholics attending church regularly.
On Sunday the pope will meet French bishops and celebrate an outdoor mass in the sanctuary’s Prairie, followed by the Angelus prayer, before the visit closes with a torchlight procession.
Pope Leo XIV France Visit: FAQs
Q: How many people attended Pope Leo XIV’s Paris mass?
A: The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended the open-air mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde on September 26, 2026 — about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance, according to the Associated Press.
Q: What did Pope Leo XIV do at Lourdes?
A: On the evening of September 26, the pope prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, where Catholic tradition holds the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858. AFP reporters saw him touch the rock, light a candle and drink spring water, and he prayed for France to have “wise and generous leaders.” He is the third pope to visit Lourdes.
Q: Why is Pope Leo XIV’s France visit significant?
A: It is the first official papal visit to France in nearly two decades, taking place in a deeply secular country with declining Catholic practice — and seven months before a presidential election in which the far right is surging and immigration is a top issue.
Q: What is scheduled for the rest of the pope’s France trip?
A: On September 27, Leo will meet privately with seven victims of clerical sex abuse, meet French bishops, and celebrate an outdoor mass in Lourdes’ Prairie, closing the day with a torchlight procession. The four-day visit continues into September 28.
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