Pope Leo XIV to Visit France, Addressing Half a Million in Paris

Pope Leo XIV will arrive in France on Friday for a four-day visit, highlighted by a large Mass expected to draw over half a million attendees to central Paris. An altar has been erected on the Place de la Concorde for the Saturday afternoon service, with a significant area around the Champs-Élysées closed off by police to accommodate an estimated 600,000 faithful. This anticipated enthusiasm is attributed by the Church to a growing spiritual interest among Europeans.

President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to greet the Pope upon his arrival and later engage in discussions at the Élysée Palace covering geopolitical matters and artificial intelligence. Macron will also participate in a speech with the Pope in Metz. However, the president will not attend any of the papal Masses, a move intended to uphold France's principle of strict separation between state and religion. Brigitte Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu are expected to attend the Champs-Élysées Mass, alongside several presidential candidates.

Reports indicated some friction between the Macron administration and the Vatican regarding the arrangements for the visit, though Élysée officials dismissed these claims, stating that it is customary to offer visiting heads of state various high-profile events. They confirmed that Pope Leo XIV declined an offer to meet artisans involved in the Notre-Dame cathedral restoration due to scheduling constraints.

Following a Popemobile procession to Notre-Dame cathedral on Friday afternoon, the Pope is set to join 80,000 young people for an evening gathering at the Stade de France. On Sunday, an additional 150,000 are expected for Mass at the Sanctuary of Lourdes.

The Pope's itinerary also includes a visit to Metz in northeastern France on Monday, where he will pay tribute to Robert Schuman, a key figure in the founding of the European Union and a candidate for beatification. In Paris, the Pope will meet with a group of migrants, and in Lourdes, he will engage with victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic clergy.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955, has French paternal ancestry. France has a historically intricate relationship with the Catholic Church, once known as the "Eldest Daughter of the Church." This history includes periods of papal exile in Avignon and French political interventions in papal affairs.

While France, like much of Europe, has become increasingly secularized, with less than half the population identifying as Catholic and a significant decline in regular worshippers and clergy numbers since the mid-20th century, there are indications of a renewed interest in religious traditions. The number of adult baptisms has more than doubled in recent years. Cardinal François Bustillo, Bishop of Ajaccio, noted that while France has secularized, a void remains, prompting people to search for meaning, sometimes through distant spiritual practices. He suggested the Pope's visit could serve as a reminder of people's own spiritual roots, likening it to John Paul II's impact on the East.