The Pope Leo XIV began a four-day tour of France on September 25, moving from the capital to the revered shrine of Lourdes and ending in Metz. His itinerary placed him at three emblematic sites – the newly restored Notre-Dame Cathedral the vast Place de la Concorde, and the Grotto of Massabielle – and attracted an estimated 800,000 faithful in central Paris alone. The blend of liturgical celebration, youth outreach, and Marian devotion marked a rare convergence of religious, cultural, and historic moments within a single papal visit.
Paris: historic masses and youth vigil
On September 25 the pontiff presided over solemn vespers inside Notre-Dame de Paris the first papal liturgy held there since the fire that devastated the cathedral’s roof and spire. The evening prayer, celebrated beneath the restored Gothic vaults, signaled a symbolic rebirth for the edifice and underscored France’s title as the “eldest daughter of the Church.” Later that day the pope led an open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde the city’s largest public square spanning more than 20 acres. Historically known as Place Louis XV and later Place de la Révolution, the site now served as a stage for a moment of national reconciliation, drawing a crowd estimated at 800,000 people.
Simultaneously, a youth prayer vigil was organized at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Over 80,000 French teenagers registered to participate, turning the 80,000-seat stadium—originally built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup final—into a temporary altar. The climax of the evening featured the first public exposition of the Holy Tunic a relic believed to be the garment worn by Christ during his Passion and normally displayed only every fifty years at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Security teams escorted the relic a short 3.7-mile journey from the basilica to the stadium, where it was venerated by the young pilgrims alongside the pope.
Lourdes: prayer at the Grotto and pilgrim outreach
The following day, September 26, Pope Leo XIV arrived at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Pyrenees. He joined worshippers before the Grotto of Massabielle the exact spot where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. In a prayer that emphasized “the gift of fraternal harmony,” the pontiff invoked the grotto’s centuries-old reputation as a place of healing and unity. A second-day ceremony was followed on September 27 by a rosary and torch-lit procession that circled the sanctuary, culminating in a Mass celebrated on the meadow—locally called the prairie—across the Gave River, rather than within the basilica itself.
Beyond public liturgies, Leo XIV paid a private visit to the staff and sick community of the Accueil Notre-Dame a hospitality wing that cares for ill or disabled pilgrims. His presence highlighted the church’s ongoing commitment to the most vulnerable faithful, a theme echoed by the sheer number of pilgrims who have trekked to Lourdes: over 200 million visitors since the mid-19th century, with 7,000 claimed cures and 72 officially recognized as miracles.
French Catholic heritage behind the visit
Leo XIV’s French sojourn also wove together threads of the nation’s deep Catholic legacy. The pope, a native of Chicago with French ancestry, speaks the language fluently—an ability sharpened by early immersion and years of preaching across Francophone Africa. During his stay he met with the cloistered Carmelite nuns of the Little Flower monastery, honoring St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a beloved French saint declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. The visit recalled historic moments such as the Avignon Papacy (1309-1377), when seven successive popes ruled from southern France, and the 1830 apparition of the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Labouré on Rue du Bac in Paris.
By linking contemporary outreach—massive youth gatherings, relic exposition, and Marian prayer—with centuries-old traditions, Pope Leo XIV crafted a narrative of continuity and renewal for French Catholicism. The convergence of a restored cathedral, a historic plaza, a world-class stadium, and a centuries-old pilgrimage site underscores the unique capacity of a single papal visit to illuminate both France’s spiritual heritage and its evolving role in the global Church.
