Pope Leo XIV today rode along the Champs-Elysees in the popemobile and held an open-air Mass in front of hundreds of thousands in Paris, before flying to the holy pilgrimage site of Lourdes in southern France.
The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots, on the first official papal visit there in nearly two decades.
In the highlight of the visit’s second day, the 71-year-old Pope led believers in a Mass at Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy had been erected to serve as a makeshift altar.
Amid worshippers’ visible enthusiasm, the Pope’s prayers were accompanied by choral and organ music as the sun broke through the grey skies.
“It is truly good and pleasant when brothers and sisters come together and glorify the greatness of God,” he said.
Over more than 2km, some 800,000 people had gathered all the way beyond the Arc de Triomphe, the Vatican said. The city centre was sealed off for the service, with helicopters circling overhead and snipers positioned on rooftops.
Aline Riziki, 41, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and who has lived in France for 11 years, said: “It’s one time in history to see the Pope. I dropped everything to come here and see him, to pray for peace.”
Jeanne de Montagnac, 29, with her husband and 2-year-old girl, said: “We’re happy that, even if she won’t remember it, we’re sharing this with her. It’s an important moment for us to be surrounded by other people who also have faith.”
The first United States Pontiff was visiting France seven months before voters choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with the anti-immigration far-right eyeing its best opportunity yet to capture the presidency.
A number of presidential hopefuls were present, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe.
Macron did not attend the Mass but was represented by his wife Brigitte.
Earlier in the day, the Pope 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”.
He also stressed the “fundamental role of women in building a civilisation of love”.
Yesterday, about 300,000 people turned out to see the Pontiff as he waved from his popemobile on the way to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Francois Mabille, director of the Geopolitical Observatory on Religion, told broadcaster RMC, said: “There is a sense of fervour reminiscent of that experienced over 40 years ago with John Paul II”.
At Lourdes, the Pope was scheduled to pray at the Grotto of Massabielle, a renowned pilgrimage site where Catholic tradition holds that the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858 to a peasant girl.
- AFP