Hundreds of Thousands in Paris Cheer Pope Leo in Largest Event of French Tour
- On Saturday, September 26, 2026, Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass for an estimated 800,000 people along the Champs-Élysées in Paris, urging Catholics to find happiness in faith rather than material things.
- This visit aims to repair the Catholic Church's standing after abuse scandals caused nationwide shock in France, a secular nation where Catholic affiliation has declined to 25% among 18-to-49-year-olds from 43% a decade earlier.
- During a visit to the Catholic University of Paris, Leo urged the church not to be "naively optimistic" about recent baptism increases. High-profile attendees included Brigitte Macron, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, and billionaire Bernard Arnault.
- Friday remarks at UNESCO warned that multilateral groups face crisis, while Leo cautioned that artificial intelligence could create "a paradise of machines" taking control of Earth, drawing a rebuke from President Donald Trump over his Iran war comments.
- Continuing his four-day tour, Leo travels to Lourdes on Saturday evening to visit a Catholic shrine, where he will meet seven French victims of clergy abuse on Sunday to address the ongoing scandal.
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32 Articles
leprogres.fr
The open-air Mass on the Place de la Concorde attracted 200,000 more people than expected, according to the Vatican. Leo XIV was greeted with immense fervour on the Champs Elysées.
Pope Leo XIV mobilized the French in great numbers.
The Mass of Pope Leo XIV brought together more than half a million people from all over France and the world, who participated in the fervour reigning in Paris. Report between the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la ConcordeA long time ago Paris had not trembled like this. Even the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games of 2024 had not drained so many people. Thousands of buses from the dioceses of four corners of France poured tens of thousands …
Pope Leo draws record-breaking crowd of 800K and rallies young people for historic Paris Mass
Pope Leo XIV drew an estimated 800,000 people to a historic outdoor Mass in Paris on Saturday, telling the massive crowd that only God can fill the emptiness within us and urging young Catholics to embrace their faith.
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