Leo XIV closes Paris visit with Mass for 700'000 faithful

On Saturday, Leo XIV concluded the Paris leg of his trip to France with an open-air Mass on Place de la Concorde. According to a Vatican estimate, 700'000 people attended the celebration. It was the first time since 2008, when Benedict XVI celebrated the previous papal Mass in the French capital.

Before the Mass, the Pope rode in the popemobile along the route between the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde, greeting the faithful, many of whom had arrived hours earlier, and blessing some children along the way.

The homily on a thirst for meaning

The Mass was held on a temporary structure erected near the obelisk in the square, in front of a white altar topped with a four-metre-high cross. In his homily, Leo XIV spoke of the thirst for meaning, truth and fulfilment that everyone carries within, warning against settling for material goods and immediate gratification. Those standing furthest from the altar, along a route of more than two kilometres, followed the celebration on giant screens, and communion continued even after the Pope had left.

The Pope urged French Catholics not to keep their faith private, but to carry it to others, addressing a country that describes itself as secular.

Before Leo XIV's arrival, activists from the Catholic feminist association Magdala displayed a banner calling for greater space for women in the Church; a volunteer security worker asked them to fold it away quickly. Several French political figures were present; President Emmanuel Macron was represented by his wife, Brigitte.

The Pope's day had begun at Maison Bakhita, a diocesan centre supporting migrants in a working-class district of Paris, where Leo XIV listened to testimonies from people who had arrived from Afghanistan and Nigeria. He later said, at the Catholic Institute of Paris, that he was struck by the number of people returning to faith and by the number of adults requesting the sacraments of Christian initiation, in a country where baptism requests from young adults are sharply rising.

Leo XIV's visit to France will end on Monday in Metz. Before that, the Pope is due in Lourdes, where he arrived on Saturday evening for a prayer at the Massabielle grotto. On Sunday he will preside over a morning Mass and privately meet seven victims of sexual abuse committed within the Church.