Pope Leo XIV leads open-air Mass for 800,000 in central Paris

Pope Leo XIV rode the Champs-Élysées in the popemobile on Saturday before celebrating an open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde, where a large white canopy served as an altar for a crowd the Vatican estimated at around 800,000 people. Afterwards, the 71-year-old pontiff flew south to the pilgrimage town of Lourdes.

The Mass was the centrepiece of the second day of a four-day trip to France — an officially secular country with deep Catholic roots — the first official papal visit there in almost twenty years. Central Paris was closed off for the service, with helicopters overhead and snipers stationed on rooftops.

Several French presidential hopefuls attended, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe. President Emmanuel Macron did not attend but was represented by his wife, Brigitte. The visit comes seven months before France's presidential election.

Earlier in the day, the pope visited Maison Bakhita, an organisation supporting migrants, speaking of the possibility of living together in dignity and peace and of women's role in building society. On Sunday, Leo is due to meet seven victims of clerical sexual abuse; a 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay Church members had abused around 330,000 minors in France over seven decades.

On Friday, roughly 300,000 people had turned out to see the pope near Notre Dame Cathedral. Later on Saturday, Leo arrived in Lourdes and prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle, where Catholic tradition holds the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette in 1858. He prayed for wise and generous leadership for France and for peace in the world. Leo is the third pope to visit Lourdes, following Benedict XVI in 2008 and John Paul II in 1983 and 2004.