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Pope Leo XIV on Monday arrived in the northeastern city of Metz, where he is expected to discuss hopes for peace in Europe on the fourth and final day of his visit to France. He will also lead a Mass in the afternoon which is set to be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron. Follow our liveblog for all the latest.
Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Miles Pattenden, historian of the Catholic Church at the University of Oxford. For Pattenden, Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France is part of a broader recalibration of the papacy. While Pope Francis placed particular emphasis on the Catholic Church’s peripheries and the needs of the Global South, Leo is subtly bringing the Church’s historic European heartlands back into focus. France is especially significant in this regard, given its deep historical relationship with Catholicism and its evolving relationship with Christianity, European identity, secularism and contemporary geopolitical debates.
Pope Leo spoke to bishops before leading a service attended by thousands of worshippers in France.
Pope Leo XIV continued his visit to France in Lourdes, at the major Catholic pilgrimage site in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where he celebrated mass before around 150,000 people. Hendro Munstermann, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch newspaper Nederland Dagblad, joins us from Lourdes to share his impressions and tell us more about the Pope’s visit.
Pope Leo XIV celebrates an open-air mass for hundreds of thousands of believers on the Champs-Elysees.
Pope Leo XIV drew around 800,000 people to central Paris for an open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde
On his last day in Paris, Pope Leo XIV is set to celebrate an open-air Mass at the centrally located Place de la Concorde. Some 600,000 faithful are expected to attend Saturday’s enormous event, with crowds stretching all along the famed Champs-Élysées avenue. Follow our liveblog for all the latest on the pope's visit to France.
Pope Leo XIV drew huge crowds on the first Papal visit to France in 18 years.
Thousands gather in Paris as the pope warns against a 'paradise of machines' at the Elysee Palace.
"For the pope, for God, make some noise!": Blending gospel and contemporary Christian music, 80,000 young Catholics filled the Stade de France on Friday evening to proclaim their faith. They gave Pope Leo XIV a rock-star welcome as he arrived at the stadium in his 'popemobile'.
The French leader called on international oversight to ensure the most advanced systems mankind has ever created, are not controlled by a small number of powerful actors, or get used as instruments to oppress people.
Armed with paper fortune-tellers and pop worship songs, young French Catholics from the Anuncio movement fanned out into the crowds awaiting Pope Leo XIV's arrival in Paris on Friday, hoping to bring strangers closer to God in one of Europe's most secular countries.
On Friday, Pope Leo XIV praised the "splendor" of Notre-Dame de Paris, which has been restored following the devastating fire of 2019, saying "the heart of a people" beats within this place. He is the first pope to visit the cathedral since its reopening in 2024.
Enthused believers hailed Pope Leo XIV as he waved to the crowds from a 'popemobile' in the French capital on Friday, after speeches calling for peace and warning against losing humanity in an AI-driven "paradise of machines". “He’s extraordinary”, said one person in the crowd just after the pope passed by.
Pope Leo XIV has declined a state dinner, the Legion of Honour and a private meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, keeping his four-day France visit centred on its apostolic mission despite official talks at the Élysée. While the Vatican cited scheduling reasons, some observers see a desire to emphasise the trip's spiritual focus, even as the pontiff is set to address European security and peace during his stop in Metz.
Crowds have already begun gathering outside Notre-Dame Cathedral as Pope Leo XIV prepares for one of the highlights of his Paris visit. Before heading to the cathedral, the pontiff is expected to deliver another speech at UNESCO headquarters, where he is set to address global challenges including peace, culture and international cooperation, as FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin explains.
Pope Leo XIV used his address at the Élysée Palace to touch on some of France's biggest debates, from artificial intelligence and secularism to surrogacy, while calling for peace and solidarity. Our journalist Kethevane Gorjestani breaks down the key takeaways from his speech.
Watch the replay of Pope Leo XIV's address in french at the Élysée Palace on 25 September, where he spoke about peace, artificial intelligence, France's challenges and the importance of solidarity. The pontiff also condemned gestational surrogacy, calling for greater protection of human dignity during the first day of his four-day visit to France.
Pope Leo XIV has arrived in Paris, and was welcomed at the Élysée Palace by French president Emmanuel Macron. They are having closed-door talks on international geopolitics, artificial intelligence and peace. The pontiff is then set to deliver a speech at the Élysée Palace. FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago has more.
Pope Leo XIV on Friday arrives in France for a four-day visit – his fifth Apostolic journey since becoming pontiff last year – during which he hopes to repair the Catholic Church’s standing after sexual abuse scandals while also addressing issues such as the need to regulate AI. FRANCE 24 guides you through his visit.
Initially estimated at €12 million, the cost of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France has now risen to €27 million due to the immense excitement around his trip. But with France a firmly secular country, who is going to be footing the bill? Our journalist Sam Ball explains.
France 24's Antonia Kerrigan reports from Paris as the French capital prepares for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, where he is set to hold a huge open-air Mass.
As France prepares for Pope Leo XIV's visit, a surprising trend has emerged in recent years: the number of baptisms among teenagers and young adults has skyrocketed. More than 21,000 catechumens, those undergoing the period of preparation for baptism into the Christian Church, have been recorded so far in 2026. How can this renewed interest in the Catholic faith be explained? Florence Gaillard reports for France in Focus.
Pope Leo’s four-day visit to France, which kicks off on Friday, is something of a homecoming for the Chicago-born pontiff, a grandson of European immigrants with family roots in Normandy. His spiritual roots in French Catholicism run deeper still.
A giant wave now covers part of the Vatican Apostolic Library’s historic façade as the Vatican opens a new exhibition exploring the power of water.
Pope Leo XIV called for a renewed commitment to peace on Sunday as he marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on his home country.
Peru transferred S/63.2 million (about US$18.8 million) to fund Pope Leo XIV's November visit to Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa. The post Peru Funds Pope Leo XIV’s Homecoming Visit appeared first on The Rio Times.