METZ, France — The wounds of violence in Europe’s recent past are opportunities to shine light on evil and build a future of harmony, Pope Leo XIV said on Monday.

At the last event of his trip to France, the pope celebrated Mass in the Metz Cathedral, a towering Gothic structure dedicated to St. Stephen and nicknamed “the Good Lord’s lantern” for its large expanse of stained glass — at nearly 70,000 square feet, the most of any medieval religious structure.

“It seems that the builders sought to minimize the walls — which remain solid — so that light might flood in abundantly to the faithful,” the pope said.

“As we contemplate these stained-glass windows, we learn that Europe’s future does not lie in uniformity but in the harmony of differences, where the wounds of the past become openings through which light shines,” he said.

The Vatican said 35,000 Catholics from Metz and the neighboring areas participated in the Mass both inside the cathedral and in the surrounding streets, watching large screens. Participants described taking a day off of work or school for the occasion.

“It’s great to be able to come celebrate peace and meet all the Christians who’ve come for the occasion, and to feel that we’re all together, united for the same cause and the same values,” 20-year-old fine arts student Humbeline Deville said.

“The fact that he chose this city … and that he did us the honor of coming here is truly important to us,” said Hassina Boulariah as she walked toward the city center almost four hours before the start of Mass.

Inside the cathedral, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, sat in the front row.

Metz, a city in northeastern France, sits just 27 miles from the Schengen tripoint, where the borders of Luxembourg, France, and Germany meet.

The Franco-German area is rich in significance for European history: It was annexed by the German Empire at the turn of the 20th century and later by Nazi Germany during World War II. Metz was also home to Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union.

In the Church, it is also remembered as the historical birthplace of Gregorian chant — “Metssine Chant” (also called “Metz singing”) — which developed during the eighth-century Carolingian Renaissance.

In his homily at Mass, Pope Leo recalled the history of the territory, especially the “fratricidal conflicts” that tore it apart.

Those who are from this land, he said, “know full well that it is not true that those who seek revenge are stronger than those who forgive.”

Leo said “it takes strength and great integrity not to be overwhelmed by evil, especially when the wounds inflicted are deep. However, in the face of injustice, humanity’s only path to salvation is a love that cares for others and seeks to give trust regardless of the circumstances, even when confronted with the most difficult behavior to accept.”

“In a world marked by so much violence, manipulation, and arrogance at various levels, Jesus teaches us how to transform deserts into oases, to plant gardens, and to build homes. He shows us the path that leads through forgiveness, mercy, and magnanimity,” he said.

Yvette Bisiaux pushed her adult daughter Sandrine Coquelet to the Mass in a wheelchair: “We live here, so we said, ‘Let’s go!’” she said.

Bisiaux added that she was “really moved” by the pope’s speech to the sick in Lourdes on Sept. 27. “I had tears in my eyes. It was so, so beautiful, so true.”

In his homily, the pontiff cited St. Augustine’s “The City of God,” noting that the bishop of Hippo “defined the peace of the heavenly city as a harmonious communion in which people find joy in God and in one another through him.”

St. Augustine “also described peace among people as the fruit of a “tranquillitas ordinis,” whereby each person recognizes and respects the unique and sacred dignity and role of others,” Leo added.

“Here in Metz, it is worth recalling that these are precisely the values upon which the Europe we know has been built over the centuries, with its spiritual and moral heritage preceding its economic and political heritage,” he said.

The pontiff recalled that it has never been easy to be faithful to these principles, including for those who came before us.

“Nevertheless, through faithfulness and perseverance, our ancestors bequeathed them to us as treasures to be passed on in turn to future generations, and enriched by our experience, the value of our efforts and our stories,” he said.

Before Mass, people awaiting the pope waved French or regional flags. German flags also dotted the crowds, which included enthusiastic scouts in uniform, older people seated on portable stools, and young adults embracing.

Some tired teenagers napped on the stone path of the historic outdoor market next to the cathedral.

The teens’ mother, Marion Bertagnolio, said it was worth it to take a day off from her job as a physics professor to attend the Mass.

“We are Catholics, and itʼs too important to me to come here to pray with him, to see him,” said Bertagnolio, who came with her husband and four of her six children, ages 10 to 19.

She said she hoped Leo could bring a message of peace to France, especially with presidential elections early next year. She also mentioned divisions with the country’s Catholic community, particularly over the Traditional Latin Mass.

“I hope [the pope’s] message will change our hearts” to be more united, she said.

When Pope Leo XIV arrived as a pilgrim at the Grotto of Massabielle on Sept. 27, his presence highlighted a foundational question for Catholics: If divine revelation is complete in Jesus Christ, why does the Church recognize and promote a shrine born of private apparitions?

The answer rests on the Churchʼs crucial distinction between the closed deposit of public revelation and the subordinate, pastoral role of private revelations.

The unrepeatable fullness of public revelation

A fundamental Catholic doctrine is the conviction that Godʼs self-communication reached its complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

As the Second Vatican Councilʼs Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, teaches, after speaking through the prophets, “in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb 1:1-2). Christ is “the mediator and fullness of all revelation,” completing salvation through his words, deeds, death, and resurrection.

Consequently, the council declares that “no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This boundary is firm.

In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, the council reiterates that the faithful do not accept “a new public revelation as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith.”

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes, and as commentary surrounding the popeʼs visit has noted, the Church has not received a single new revealed truth since the death of the last apostle.

No vision or apparition in history adds a single word to what was handed down through the apostles (Nos. 65-67).

The nature and limits of private revelation

How, then, does the Church view the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes?

The Church categorizes events like Lourdes as “private revelation.”

According to the catechism, private revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church, "do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christʼs definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history” (CCC, No. 67).

Because private revelations do not form part of mandatory doctrine, no Catholic is obliged to believe in the apparitions of Lourdes.

Church approval does not elevate an apparition to the level of dogma. Rather, such revelations remain private, nonbinding, and matters of prudent belief.

Pastoral discernment: Testing the Spirit

To protect the faithful from credulity, the Church approaches claims of apparitions with strict vigilance.

Dei Verbum states that the Churchʼs teaching authority serves the word of God by “guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully” in accordance with its divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Similarly, in Lumen Gentium, the council notes that, regarding extraordinary gifts, “judgment as to their genuineness and proper use belongs to those who are appointed leaders in the Church,” whose task is “to test all things and hold fast to what is good” (No. 12).

This principle guided the Churchʼs evaluation of St. Bernadette Soubirous' reports of apparitions in 1858.

A four-year investigation examined Bernadetteʼs character, psychological state, doctrinal orthodoxy, and the spiritual fruits associated with the apparitions, including conversions and healings. In 1862, the local bishop concluded that the faithful were justified in believing the apparitions to be authentic.

Pointing back to the Gospel

Authentic apparitions never supplant Christ. Rather, they direct believers back to sacred Scripture and the sacraments.

In his homily at Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV observed: “This Sundayʼs readings touch on a central part of the message that the Virgin Mary entrusted to St. Bernadette: the call to conversion, both tender and urgent.”

Maryʼs statements to Bernadette, including “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next” and “Penance! Penance! Penance!” echo the central demands of the Gospel, the pope said.

This understanding of Maryʼs role aligns with Lumen Gentium, which teaches that the “maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power” (No. 60).

The council adds that “all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure” (No. 60).

A signpost to eternal life

When Pope Leo XIV knelt at Massabielle as “a pilgrim among pilgrims,” he demonstrated the Churchʼs authentic approach to private revelation.

Popes do not go to Lourdes to seek new doctrine. Rather, they go to witness, as Pope Leo noted, how “the miracle of Lourdes is that it can awaken the joy of hope in the very midst of suffering and hardship.”

By affirming Lourdes without adding to revelation, the Church ensures that the grotto remains a signpost pointing souls back to the definitive word spoken in Jesus Christ.

For the first time in history, the Vatican is aiming for an Oscar nomination with “Green Lava,” a 39-minute documentary recounting the life of Giacomo Mattivi. The 25-year-old Italian man suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy. His older brother had the same condition and died following a respiratory crisis.

Giacomo Mattivi, a young Italian man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is surrounded by friends in a still from the film “Green Lava.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of “Green Lava”

“Giacomo was in the same room and saw him die. The documentary unflinchingly portrays that moment and the suffering it caused him, also aware that his own future is also marked by the disease. Yet, alongside death, there is also resurrection. In a way, that is the cross running through the entire story, because Giacomo finds the strength not to let himself be defeated and to keep moving forward,” Lia Beltrami, who co-directed the documentary with Ali Aksu, explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.

Giacomo Mattivi’s daily life

The production follows the daily life of this highly intelligent young man with exquisite sensitivity as he dreams of becoming a sociologist while not shying away from the progressive physical deterioration he has endured.

Giacomo Mattivi with his mother in a still from the documentary “Green Lava.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of “Green Lava”

Over the course of more than two decades, the disease has caused him to lose much of his muscle strength. As a child, he could walk, but today he gets around in a wheelchair. He can barely move his hands and head, just enough to control the wheelchair. Furthermore, he needs to spend many hours connected to a ventilator.

The film “tells the story of a family raising two children with such a severe illness. The parents know their children’s lives will be marked by hardship and will likely be shorter. Even simple activities, like getting up in the morning, require hours of assistance,” Beltrami noted.

Faith and family: The only way to persevere

Despite the severity of the illness, Giacomo’s life is a testament to hope, which the documentary captures well by showing how faith has helped the family persevere. The young man is no longer afraid to face the end of his life head-on, and he has even found meaning in his brother’s death.

Giacomo Mattivi meets Pope Francis. | Credit: Vatican News

He is currently finishing his sociology studies and will dedicate his thesis to the subject of death. “He wants to talk about a reality that is taboo in our society, considering both what might lie beyond death and what happens before reaching it,” the Italian director explained.

The documentary was filmed in the Dolomites, the mountain range in northern Italy where Giacomo lives, and images of pine forests envelop the entire setting.

In fact, the title of the documentary, “Green Lava,” is no coincidence. “For Giacomo, the green of the pines is an essential pillar of his life, while the lava represents the force of a volcano. He feels like a volcano and needs that lava to remain forever alive, never to petrify,” Beltrami explained, evoking the idea that identity must undergo profound, sometimes strange and violent, changes in order to keep growing.

In Hollywood

Last week, the production was presented in Los Angeles as part of the process to qualify for Academy Award consideration. “Green Lava” was screened at the Lumiere Music Hall in Beverly Hills, California, Sept. 18–24.

The film was produced by the Vatican through the company Emotions to Generate Change in collaboration with Vatican News and Vatican Media.

The initiative marks the first time a production linked to the Holy See has entered the Oscars competition. However, “Green Lava” will not compete officially representing the Vatican.

The Best Documentary Short Subject category allows for the entry of independent productions and does not require formal backing from a government or national committee.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

METZ, France — Pope Leo XIV on Monday urged Europe to return to its roots, including its Christian heritage, while also engaging with the people from other cultures now living within it.

Referring to the large presence of immigrants in Europe, Leo said, “We must grasp the historical significance of what is taking place, namely an unprecedented encounter between peoples and cultures, which calls us to rediscover our roots in new and creative ways, while at the same time listening carefully to others.”

“The universal character of Europe’s founding values assures us that this dialogue is possible and that it can provide a solid foundation for our societies, enabling us to work more effectively for peace and a reconciled world,” he said Sept. 28.

The pope also encouraged Europe to help migrants enter safely and legally and to integrate into the community “as if they were part of one’s own family.”

The pope addressed European leaders at the Robert Schuman Conference Center in Metz on the final day of his Sept. 25-28 visit to France. The title of the event was “To the Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity.”

Metz is a city just 27 miles from the Schengen tripoint, where the borders of Luxembourg, France, and Germany meet — an area rich in significance for European history.

The city is linked to Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, who lived there and is buried nearby.

Schuman, a French statesman whose leadership was shaped by two world wars and by his Catholic faith, used politics to work for reconciliation among nations. He was declared “venerable” by Pope Francis in 2021 in recognition of his heroic virtues.

“Robert Schuman, who lived through a time of constantly shifting borders, helped to lay the foundations of a Europe that was aware of the urgent need to tear down the walls that were dividing it,” Leo said.

Schuman’s Christian formation, the pontiff continued, “taught him the value of equality, without distinction of race or social class, and the dignity of work. The succession of different national sovereignties taught him the importance of international law and the value of keeping one’s word. … Schuman committed himself to peace and fraternity among peoples who, after having been in conflict for so long, finally recognized their need for each other.”

Among those present in the 1,200-seat auditorium were the heads of the bishops’ conferences of Europe, abbots and abbesses of local monasteries, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène of Monaco; Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg; Prime Minister Luc Frieden of Luxembourg and Anke Rehlinger, minister-president of Saarland in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In today’s multicultural context of Europe, Leo said, it is important to affirm the universal character of values such as those contained in the preamble of the Treaty on European Union: “the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.”

Quoting Schuman, the pope said, “World peace cannot be safeguarded if constructive efforts are not made commensurate with the dangers that threaten it.”

In a closing message to the young people of Europe, he encouraged them to “take up with responsibility the task of promoting peace … Do not give in to the mentality of violence and oppression.”

“Love life at every moment, and do not be afraid of the future! Do not be afraid to start a family, to bring children into the world, to defend the dignity of every person, from the moment of conception to death,” he said.

Interreligious meeting

Earlier in the morning, Pope Leo met in another room of the conference center with the chief rabbi of France and representatives of Muslims, Buddhists, Protestants and Orthodox Christians in France.

After a musical performance, an interreligious declaration was read and signed by the religious leaders present, including Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, president of the French bishops’ conference.

In his message to the assembly, Leo said the greatness of a religion is measured by the way it cares for and protects human beings, including the most vulnerable, from conception to death.

“If the fruitfulness of religious traditions is seen above all in their service of peace and fraternity, it is also expressed in their ability to protect, accompany and serve life,” he said.

“The greatness of a civilization is not measured by its material achievements, but by the way it cares for, protects and upholds the human person,” the pope said, adding that “Religions are guardians of life, for they affirm its sacred value.”

“For those of us who are open to transcendence, our mission is to offer sound points of reference, especially to young people, to help build a communion that respects and upholds the dignity of every human person,” he said.

LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV met seven French victims of clerical sexual abuse on Sunday, making a gesture of solidarity and reconciliation at a shrine world-famous for its healing waters.

The nearly two-hour encounter took place at the residence of the local bishop, where Leo is staying for his two nights at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, one of the victims, Jérôme Guillement, said, “There was something sincere about [Pope Leo]. With him, every word was carefully chosen; every word had meaning. … There were a lot of emotions.”

According to the Holy See Press Office, Leo spent an hour and a half speaking to the four men and three women individually, before addressing them as a group for about 20 minutes and “thanking them for their painful testimony and reaffirming his commitment to ensuring that the harm they experienced is not repeated for others.”

He “expressed his solidarity with them and, through them, with all those who have suffered and continue to suffer from the wounds of abuse,” the statement said.

Leo also prayed with some of the victims.

“I sensed that he was a man of commitment and also a man of resolve,” Olivier Mardi, one of the participants, said after the meeting. “He’s not fooled and knows that these events will continue and that we must remain vigilant… There was an emotional side to it, and at the same time something very powerful when he speaks.”

Five of the seven involved in the meeting revealed their identities ahead of the pope’s trip. Among them was Bertrand Virieux, a victim of ex-priest Bernard Preynat, who in 2020 was sentenced to five years in prison for assaults on young scouts in the Archdiocese of Lyon. Preynat died in 2024.

The Church in France has been grappling with the repercussions of abuse in the wake of an independent commission’s report that hundreds of thousands of children had been abused by clergy and religious over the past 70 years.

The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report in October 2021, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.

It added that when abuse by lay Church workers was also taken into account, “the estimated number of child victims rises to 330,000 for the whole of the period.”

The victims were accompanied by Bishop Gérard Le Stang of Amiens, president of the Council for the Prevention and Combating of Pedophilia within the French bishops’ conference.

Guillement said Leo “felt that the Church in France still had a great deal of work to do” to prevent abuse.

“We talked about prevention as part of a cultural shift at all levels … There are different opinions, but from his perspective, there’s still a systemic dimension at play,” the man added.

According to Mardi, the pontiff “responded well to our very concrete proposals; he knows he has to work with us… He said we need to rekindle hope, and it takes serious commitment to make that happen.”

Pope Leo spoke about the clerical sexual abuse of minors in his address to the French bishops on the morning of Sept. 27.

“In recent years, you have faced with determination the painful scourge of abuse committed against minors by members of the clergy or in an ecclesial context,” he said.

The pontiff praised them for their courageous measures to listen, search for truth, justice, forgiveness, and making amends, as well as “a firm commitment to a culture of prevention and protection against these crimes.”

“You must continue along the path you have begun, maintaining the greatest vigilance,” he said.

Before addressing the bishops, Leo stopped in front of a memorial for victims of child sexual abuse, featuring the brief reflection of an anonymous victim.

“[The victim] will come to understand that it was the entire culture of a system that sought to protect itself rather than protect him,” an inscription on the memorial reads. “And his turmoil continues to deepen around this question: Why can’t justice be done for him? It is so vital to him that he may finally find peace and that the tears of his childhood may cease to flow.”

At an open-air Mass later on Sunday morning, the pope seemed to allude to the clerical abuse crisis, saying in his homily that “In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within [the Church], we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth.”

The pope’s plans for a private conversation with victims ignited controversy among several abuse support groups in France who criticized the format of the meeting and the exclusion of victims’ organizations.

Asked about the criticism, Bishop Pierre-Antoine Bozo, the spokesman of the French bishops’ conference, told journalists that “there are many survivor groups … If all of them had been included or brought together, it would have been a very large format, and it would not have had the same impact.”

“What helps us most in accompanying victims is listening to them. And to do that, you cannot have 50 people sitting in front of you. That is really what the pope wanted,” Bozo said.

The Lourdes shrine was an evocative backdrop for the meeting with abuse victims, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.

Mosaics by Rupnik on the façade of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain indefinitely hidden.

“It had come to carry such a symbolic burden for victims that, even though many of the people who come to Lourdes are not abuse victims, for those who are, something had to be done,” Bishop Bozo said.

“If it becomes so difficult for people to come to Lourdes, people who should have a privileged place there because they are suffering, then the situation is no longer acceptable,” the spokesman added. “So I think covering the mosaics is a first step. Afterward, something new will have to be proposed, perhaps a new work of art.”

METZ, France — The hot-button issue of immigration has invited itself into Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey to France, otherwise marked by the defense of human life and the remarkable signs of Catholic revival currently emerging across the country. It could provide one of the most revealing indications yet of how the American pope intends to address a deeply divided Europe.

As Leo prepares to reach Metz, at the crossroads of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, what message can he offer a continent increasingly torn between the Christian imperative to welcome the stranger and growing concerns over the social, cultural, and security consequences of mass immigration?

The balance is particularly difficult to strike, not least for a pope whose experience has been largely shaped by Latin America, where migration raises different demographic and civilizational challenges than in Europe. So far, he has combined strong continuity with Pope Francis’ defense of migrants and a more explicit recognition of the rights of nations, the demands of integration, and the concerns of receiving societies.

It is against this backdrop that Leo is traveling to Metz on Sept. 28 for an interreligious meeting, followed by an address on the “Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity” at the Robert Schuman Conference Centre. He already sent a strong international signal by visiting Maison Bakhita, a Paris center for migrants, on Sept. 26, just one day before the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

At Europe’s crossroads

More than a decade after the 2015 migration crisis, immigration has become one of the defining fault lines of European politics — and increasingly of European Catholicism itself.

That year alone, more than 1.2 million people applied for asylum in the European Union, and migration pressures have remained a major continental issue ever since, with political repercussions still unfolding.

In the weeks preceding Leo’s arrival in Metz, the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) scored two historic victories in regional elections, while in France, Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is already well ahead of its rivals in polls for the 2027 presidential election.

The term “remigration” itself, once largely confined to fringe circles, has entered the European political vocabulary, as illustrated by the large-scale “Save Europe Act” campaign, which advocates an end to mass immigration and a policy of remigration. It has already gathered some 750,000 signatures and sparked a confrontation with the European Commission over its attempted registration as a European Citizens’ Initiative.

These mounting tensions are increasingly reflected within the Church itself. While identitarian Catholic voices and platforms have gained visibility on social media, much of the Catholic hierarchy has continued to place strong emphasis on the duty to welcome migrants.

In Germany, Catholic bishops have also repeatedly warned against the AfD and the growing appeal of “remigration,” while Cardinal Gerhard Müller, following the party’s historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt this month, accused bishops of misusing their spiritual authority by intervening in partisan politics and thereby alienating Catholic AfD voters.

In Italy, meanwhile, Archbishop Giancarlo Perego, head of the bishops’ migration commission, recently accused Giorgia Meloni’s government of placing “borders before people.”

France has been marked by equally heated Catholic debates on the issue over the past decade.

In “Église et immigration: le grand malaise,” published in 2017, conservative writer Laurent Dandrieu accused Church leaders of reducing Catholic teaching to an almost exclusive imperative of welcome while neglecting the major upheavals experienced by local communities.

More recently, Father Benoist de Sinety, in “La Cause du Christ,” attacked the opposite temptation of instrumentalizing Christianity in the service of identitarian politics.

A column published this month in La Nef magazine challenged what it regarded as a false choice between Christian hospitality and attachment to one’s cultural inheritance.

A ‘rupture’ with the previous pontificate?

Pope Leo, however, seems sensitive to the nuances demanded by this growing polarization. While maintaining the firm defense of migrants that characterized Francis’ pontificate, he has also given unusual prominence to the responsibilities of migrants and the legitimate concerns of the societies that receive them.

Barely a month after his election, Leo prayed at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit might “open borders, break down walls,” and overcome the “logic of exclusion” of political nationalisms. Yet, while supporting the U.S. bishops’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies last November, he stated unequivocally that “every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” rejecting the idea that states should have open borders.

This drive for balance was reaffirmed during his visit to the Canary Islands in June, when he invoked the “right not to have to migrate,” warned against the creation of “parallel worlds,” and asserted that host societies must be able to welcome newcomers without “diluting their identity.”

This language has led some Catholic observers, including French Vatican analyst Jean-Marie Guénois, to speak of a “rupture” with his predecessor on immigration. But his approach appears less a break than an attempt to better articulate a tension already present in Catholic doctrine.

A delicate balance

Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church itself holds together principles that are often separated in today’s debate. It asks wealthier nations to welcome foreigners seeking security and vital resources “to the extent they are able,” while affirming that political authorities may regulate immigration for the sake of the common good. Migrants, in turn, are called to respect the laws as well as the “material and spiritual heritage” of their host country (No. 2241).

The Catholic Church therefore establishes moral obligations without prescribing minimum or maximum thresholds. Such teaching inevitably requires prudential judgments concerning integration, security, social cohesion, and the common good — precisely the areas over which Catholics today are most deeply divided.

At a time when Europe’s migration debate is hardening and divisions are deepening to the point of threatening the unity of the Church, the question is no longer simply whether Catholics should welcome the stranger or defend the continuity of nations and cultures. It is whether the Church can speak credibly both to Europeans who feel dispossessed of their future and to the migrant who, more often than not, does not know Christ.

Leo’s address at the “Roots of Europe” conference may offer a first indication of how he intends to navigate between these two realities in an increasingly tense European context.

LOURDES, France — Killing the sick is neither compassionate nor normal, and being legal does not make it moral, Pope Leo XIV said Sunday, in a clear reference to France’s recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

“I know that for some of you, because of particular illnesses and, at times, terrible pain, your horizon may appear dark, uncertain and without hope. But no human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity,” the pope said during a meeting with about 5,000 sick people and caregivers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sept. 27.

“It is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” the pontiff added to loud applause. “It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal. What is legal is not necessarily moral.”

The popeʼs remarks on end-of-life concerns were met with applause and shouts of “Bravo.”

France legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia this summer, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. In addition, Switzerland and Austria permit assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a person’s life to relieve suffering. It differs from assisted dying, in which the patient takes life-ending drugs himself, under a physician’s guidance. Both practices are prohibited by Catholic teaching.

Leo met Sept. 27 with staff and sick guests of the Accueil Notre-Dame (Notre Dame Home), a residential accommodation classified as a healthcare facility, which hosts sick, disabled, and frail pilgrims to Lourdes.

The Catholic shrine is one of the most visited in the world, drawing more than 3 million people every year, many in search of miraculous physical healing.

The 136-acre property includes the Grotto of Massabielle, where a young St. Bernadette Soubirous saw 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary starting on Feb. 11, 1858. Today, pilgrims to the sanctuary bathe themselves in the freshwater spring Mary revealed to Bernadette.

Visitors have reported 7,000 healings since the apparitions; after lengthy investigations, the Church has declared that 72 of the recoveries were miraculous, meaning unexplainable by science.

“Here in Lourdes, the city of the sick and of hope, I appeal to the entire healthcare community to remember the profound meaning of your vocation, which is to care for a suffering person, not to eliminate that person,” Pope Leo said.

He encouraged healthcare workers to be “passionate servants of life” and cited his speech to the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation in June, in which he said, "no one ever has the right, “on the basis of laboratory algorithms, to decide the life of a given embryo or elderly person! Medicine must never become the servant of programmed death!”

Instagram post

Earlier in the morning, the pope addressed the French bishops’ conference, praising the bishops’ courage in opposing the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

“I encourage you to persevere, together with all people of good will who uphold the same values,” he told the bishops.

In his remarks to the sick and caregivers, Leo called for structures for palliative care and urged the healthcare field to accompany the sick with the same tenderness they receive in Lourdes.

“Doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers, chaplains, pastoral teams serving the sick, and so many others live out their vocation in the service of the dignity of the human person, so that the world may have life,” he said.

“Dear brothers and sisters who are sick,” he concluded, “I want to tell you that you are not a burden. You are the beating heart of our humanity and a precious treasure for the Church. I carry in my prayers the trials you are going through.”

Immediately after the meeting, the pope walked next door to greet the Discalced Carmelite nuns whose monastery faces the grotto of the apparitions from across the river Gave de Pau. The contemplative monastery was founded in 1876, just 18 years after Mary appeared to St. Bernadette.

LOURDES, France — Pope Leo XIV issued a firm call to conversion from sin and error in the Church, and invited all to repent and do penance, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday.

Mary’s call to conversion in her message to St. Bernadette “also concerns the Church herself as she makes her earthly journey. She must have the courage to begin with herself,” he said at Mass on Sept. 27.

“In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within her, we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze. Recognizing our own faults is essential to our spiritual growth,” the pontiff said.

In 2021, the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) published a nearly 2,500-page final report, estimating that 216,000 children were abused by priests, deacons, monks, or nuns in France from 1950 to 2020.

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Leo is scheduled to meet later on Sunday with seven victims of clerical sexual abuse in France.

Lourdes is an evocative backdrop to the private meeting, since it is among the first shrines to cover artwork by the accused sexual abuser Father Marko Rupnik, currently on trial at the Vatican.

Rupnik’s mosaics decorating the front of the Basilica of the Rosary were covered ahead of Leo’s visit and will remain covered indefinitely, according to the local bishop.

The pope celebrated Mass on a prairie across the river Gave de Pau from the grotto of the apparitions on the third day of his Sept. 25-28 visit to France.

Pilgrims from France and around the world gathered on the grassy hill and along the streets of the shrine. Some waved flags or held banners of sacred images. A number of pilgrims arrived in wheelchairs. Around 150,000 people attended the Mass, according to the Vatican.

Claire Banks, a nurse from the UK, said she has traveled over 100 times to Lourdes.

“It was too good of an opportunity to miss coming here and seeing the pope. I think he’s wonderful,” she told EWTN News. She described an “electric atmosphere” at the shrine since Leo’s arrival.

Libby Frank, another Mass attendee, is also from the UK, but has lived in Lourdes for 40 years. She recently retired after working for a charity that brings sick people to the shrine.

“I worked for three papal visits and now I’ve come to one papal visit to enjoy it with my family and friends and just be part of the community,” she said, referencing two visits by St. Pope John Paul II in 1983 and 2004, and one by Pope Benedict in 2008.

“There’s been a phenomenal amount of excitement locally waiting for Leo to come visit. The town [of Lourdes] has really gotten behind everything that’s happening,” she said.

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The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is among the most popular Catholic shrines in the world, built on the site of Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette in 1858. It is particularly visited by the sick, who come to bathe in or drink its healing spring water.

In his homily, Pope Leo noted that a “call to conversion, both tender and urgent,” was a central part of the message the Virgin Mary entrusted to Bernadette, and that “it is today, not tomorrow, that we must repent.”

He said Jesus is quite direct about the call to repentance: “As St. Luke tells us, ‘Unless you repent, you will all perish.’ But he also extends our horizon beyond this earthly life to the horizon of eternal life.”

“Did not the Virgin Mary say to St. Bernadette, ‘I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next’?” Leo said.

The pope noted that we can often forget this in an age and society focused on progress and material wellbeing.

Eternal life is already won for us by Jesus’ sacrifice, he continued, but “the obstacle to grace and eternal life — the only obstacle to this love — is sin.”

The Holy Father called everyone to do penance, an act of love for God and for our brothers and sisters, “who do not heed this call to conversion, and whose sins lead them towards death.”

“We want to make amends for the wounds our sins have dealt to [God’s] heart,” he said.

Addressing the many sick, elderly, and disabled people present at the Mass, Leo said their suffering, if lived in a “spirit of offering,” can take part “in the redemptive work that the world so greatly needs.”

“In this way, you are truly at the heart of the Church, and your role is irreplaceable,” he said.

“In the face of current trends that seek to redefine the value of human life in illness, suffering and old age, the grotto of Massabielle stands as a place of Christian hope,” he said. “Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty.”

Earlier in the morning, Leo met with France’s bishops at the shrine, where he praised their courage in opposing the recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the country.

“I encourage you to persevere, together with all people of good will who uphold the same values,” he told the bishops’ conference.

At the end of Mass, before praying the Angelus, the pope invited those present to pray the rosary for peace, and to offer concrete acts of penance and mercy.

“It was here that the Immaculate Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette with the rosary and, as it were, guided her in prayer,” he said. “For this reason, today I invite all the faithful and all Christian communities to pray the holy rosary throughout the coming month of October, with the particular intention that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict.”

Elliot Hartley contributed to this report.

This story was updated at 7:14 a.m. ET with more information about the Mass and the pope’s meeting with bishops.

Pope Leo XIV continued his apostolic journey in France on Saturday, first listening to the stories of migrants at the Bakhita House, a center offering support and integration to immigrants in the Archdiocese of Paris, before meeting with new and prospective Catholics and their leaders at the Catholic Institute of Paris.

He then made his way to Place de la Concorde, where he greeted a crowd of more than 800,000 people and celebrated Mass. He then ended the evening at the Lourdes shrine, where he led a short prayer service before spending several minutes in private prayer.

Here’s a recap of the pope’s day in photos:

Pope Leo XIV visits the Maison Bakhita Center for Social Support and Integration in Paris, France, on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV greets the staff and volunteers of the Maison Bakhita Center for Social Support and Integration in Paris, France, on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV meets with new and prospective Catholics and their leaders at the Catholic Institute of Paris on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV prays in the historic Church of Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes during his visit to the Catholic Institute of Paris on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV addresses the Institut Catholique de Paris during his visit on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowds gathered along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées as he rides in the popemobile on the way to Mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV stops to bless a disabled man during his procession to Place de la Concorde to celebrate an open-air Mass on Sept. 26, 2026, in Paris. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV incenses the altar during Mass on Sept. 26, 2026, at Place de la Concorde in Paris. | Credit: Vatican Media Bishops and cardinals concelebrate Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 26, 2026, at Place de la Concorde in Paris. | Credit: Vatican Media Members of the open-air congregation pray during Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 26, 2026, at Place de la Concorde in Paris. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in Paris on Sept. 26, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV touches the rock at the grotto in the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sept. 26, 2026, in France. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV prays at the grotto in the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sept. 26, 2026, in France. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV honors the statue of the Immaculate Conception at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes with a Golden Rose on Sept. 26, 2026 in France. | Credit: Vatican Media

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV told his congregation at an open-air Mass in Paris on Saturday that “none of us is merely a number or an entry in a register but a unique and irreplaceable person” in the eyes of God.

Local authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 800,000, the Vatican said.

Six young men with Down syndrome were among the many altar servers assisting Leo during the celebration Sept. 26.

Numerous families with children sprawled on picnic blankets, babies slept in strollers, and gray-haired women sat in camp chairs as they waited for Mass to start.

Some Catholics described waiting four to five hours to try to catch a glimpse of Leo as he drove nearly two miles down the Avenue of Champs-Élysées in the popemobile on his way from the Arche de Triomphe to the altar at the Place de la Concorde. Priests heard confessions on the sidewalk along the famous avenue.

A young family waits for Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass to begin on Sept. 26, 2026, in Paris. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Once the site of one of the guillotines that decapitated more than 1,000 people during the French Revolution, including King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, the square was bathed in sunlight, the thick clouds of the morning having parted only 10 minutes before the start of Mass.

Jean Noizet, his parents, and five siblings ages 9 to 22 were among those who waited hours along the route for the papal Mass, traveling in from a Paris suburb.

The 15-year-old said his family wanted to show their unity with “all the Catholic Church.”

“From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout France,” Leo said in his homily.

“Seeing you gathered here … heirs to France’s long and beautiful history of faith, I say to you: Drink from the source that is the pierced heart of Jesus,” he said.

“Yes, you thirst for God, for life, for truth, for unity, for peace, for communion, and for happiness. You long to rediscover a horizon filled with light and to build a renewed nation upon roots nourished by faith.”

Pope Leo XIV gives his homily during the open-air Mass on Sept. 26, 2026, in Paris. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Thibault Lecauchois left home at 9 a.m. to travel two hours into the city for the Mass. He and his wife brought their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son to see Pope Leo.

He told EWTN News the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the pope in Paris was worth the challenges of the journey and waiting hours with two young children.

“We wanted the kids to have the blessing of the pope, and we wanted to share the moment with the rest of the community of Catholics,” he said, noting that his daughter was delighted and shouted “Pape Leon” when she saw him.

With tired kids, he was unsure they would be able to stay for the entire Mass, which started at 3 p.m. local time.

“I think he’s a pope of hope. I think a message of peace is very important nowadays, and Iʼm eager for him to show it to the rest of the world. And I think Paris is a very good place to do so.”

Lourdes

Following the Mass, Pope Leo embarked on the second leg of his trip, flying to Lourdes, at the foot of the Pyrénées in southwest France, where he will spend a day and half in prayer at the shrine where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world, draws more than 3 million people every year — many in search of miraculous physical healing.

The 136-acre property includes the Grotto of Massabielle, where a young St. Bernadette Soubirous saw 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary starting on Feb. 11, 1858. Today, pilgrims to the sanctuary drink and bathe in the healing water Mary revealed to Bernadette.

On Saturday evening, Leo was scheduled to pray at the grotto of the apparitions.

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV met new and prospective Catholics and their leaders on Saturday as he encouraged the Catholic Church in France to “strike a wise balance” between welcoming new members as they are and educating them in the tenets of the faith.

“It may seem paradoxical that this phenomenon … is taking place against the backdrop of a society like that of France, which is marked by a deeply secularized culture,” the pope said at the Catholic Institute of Paris on Sept. 26.

According to Franceʼs national demographic institute, more than half of French adults report no religious affiliation. While 29% of the population identifies as Catholic, the survey found only 8% say they go to Church regularly.

Despite this, the Catholic Church continues to see record-breaking numbers of baptisms every year. In 2026, France recorded more than 20,000 adult and adolescent baptisms, a 20% increase from the already record-high number in 2025, which saw a 45% increase from 2024 figures.

The pope said people approach the Church for a variety of reasons, from a search for meaning to personal hardship.

The Church must welcome newcomers while helping them embrace the demands of Christian life, he said.

Leo visited the Catholic university hall where the new Provincial Ecclesial Assembly of Île-de-France will hold its three sessions beginning in mid-October.

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris said in his welcoming remarks that more than 350 people from eight dioceses of the Province of Paris and the Military Ordinariate will meet for a synodal discussion on “Catechumens and Neophytes: New Perspectives for the Life of Our Church in Our Dioceses.”

Ulrich noted that 45,000 people responded in the assembly’s consultation phase.

“This renewed request for the sacraments of Christian initiation has come as a surprise to us, and we see in it the work of the Lord,” the archbishop said.

Leo said the increase in baptisms should be welcomed as the work of the Holy Spirit.

Calling the sustained growth in conversions “God’s surprising work,” Leo encouraged the Church in Paris to ask where the Holy Spirit is leading them with regard to accompanying new Catholics and seekers.

He told catechumens and newly baptized Catholics that they represented hope for the future of the Church in France.

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New Catholic 22-year-old Loïs Barbichon told EWTN News that he came to faith during the COVID-19 pandemic, “largely through reading.”

“I felt kind of an inner impulse, a desire to be baptized and to learn more.” He was baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2023, and now he accompanies other young people entering the Church.

“Now the goal is to ensure that each newly baptized person finds a mission so that they do not feel abandoned by the community but rather find their place within it,” he said. “Today, I am mainly involved in the Scripture readings at Mass, and I am very happy about that.”

About Pope Leo’s visit to France, Barbichon, who is studying history, heritage, and museum studies, said “it is very important that he be able to speak to young people.”

Sister Christine Kohler will participate in the assembly as a representative of men and women religious in France.

She is superior general of the Little Sisters of the Gospel and lives in the Diocese of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris sometimes described as a “quartier sensibile” (vulnerable neighborhood).

“At Easter, we baptized 20 people during the Easter Vigil in a single parish in the Diocese of Saint-Denis,” she told EWTN News. “I think there were more than 500 in total across the diocese. This is something that raises many questions for us. How is it that adults and teenagers, sometimes 18 years old and sometimes 70, are saying, ‘I would like to become a Christian?’”

Kohler said many newcomers arrive after asking questions about meaning, suffering, and God.

One change the sister has seen in France in the last 15 years is a greater missionary impulse among local Catholics.

“It is no longer simply: ‘I live my faith and I live it within my parish.’ There is now this desire to share it, to become missionary disciples … this desire to bear witness and to say, ‘This is what gives us life.’”

She said she hoped the assembly would help the Church become more welcoming to newcomers.

In her opinion, the pope’s presence Saturday morning may have arisen not only from a desire to encourage the synodal assembly but also to listen and understand more about the “people who are questioning, searching, and wanting to become Christians.”

During the event, a catechumen (baptized but not yet confirmed), a new Catholic, and a director of Christian initiation spoke about their experiences to Pope Leo.

New Catholic Marielle described the challenge of finding one’s place in the community after formally entering the Church. A young man, Jaoide, shared about the winding path he took to get to his baptism last year. He said his journey began when he read both the Quran and the New Testament.

“I was struck by the figure of Jesus,” he said, “above all, by his determination to show us the example through his life and through the trials he endured to the very end.”

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV listened to the stories of faith and hope of two migrants to France at an integration center in the Paris archdiocese on Saturday.

France is one of the European countries with the highest influx of immigrants — a highly divisive political issue that is also tied to next year’s presidential election, with anti-immigration politician Marine Le Pen the current front-runner.

Roughly 8 million immigrants live in France, representing 11.6% of France’s total population in 2025, according to the French national statistics institute.

Leo visited the Bakhita House, a center offering support and integration to immigrants in the Archdiocese of Paris. The pope’s visit falls on the fifth anniversary of the center, which offers educational workshops in sewing, cooking, visual arts, and computer skills.

Named for St. Josephine Bakhita — a child victim of abduction and slavery from Sudan — the day home has welcomed 2,500 people of 84 different nationalities since opening its doors in late September 2021. It is run by five permanent staff members and 100 volunteers.

“The name of your center … which refers to St. Bakhita, inspires us to recognize the fundamental role of women in building a civilization of love, which is an alternative to a culture that tears communities apart and leaves cities sick with loneliness,” the pope said Sept. 26.

The pope heard from a 31-year-old Nigerian woman named Blessing, who described the way her life has changed since receiving the help and friendship of the association Aux Captifs, la Libération, a Catholic charitable organization that helps the homeless and people in situations of prostitution.

Blessing described a complicated life in which she “was forced to do things I did not want to do.” But through the assistance she received, she left that life behind and began to work in a restaurant.

“God has an important place in my life. Without God, nothing is possible,” she said. “Even through the difficulties I have experienced, I never doubted his presence, and I knew that one day he would open a new path for me. Sometimes I wish God could erase everything like a magician, but I know that he will do everything in his own time.”

The pope also heard from 35-year-old Meysam, a refugee from Afghanistan. Through Bakhita House, he was able to improve his French and his sewing skills. He is now a volunteer with the house: “I go on two street outreaches each week to meet undocumented exiles and refugees. It is a way of giving back what I myself received.”

Pope Leo thanked everyone who works at the center, “as well as all those throughout France who carry out this service in similar institutions.”

“Continue to bear witness to that care for one another which, through fraternal welcome, programs of formation, and dialogue with the city, elevates the spirit and makes the world more humane,” he said.

“May St. Bakhita, together with the great witnesses of charity who have shaped the presence of the Church in France, especially during periods of tumultuous change, intercede on your behalf.”

SAINT-DENIS, France — At least 80,000 young Catholics flocked to France’s national soccer stadium north of Paris on Friday night to pray with Pope Leo XIV and to hear his message for the Church.

Whether they were lifting their arms in praise-and-worship or silently venerating the relics of saints and the Holy Tunic of Christ, the entire Stade de France was united in prayer before Leo’s arrival and throughout an hour and a half-long program.

People from working-class suburbs stood alongside families from the more traditional Catholic milieu associated with the city of Versailles. In the lines outside the stadium, Breton and Vendéan flags — from regions with strong Catholic histories — stood alongside groups with a more popular, charismatic style.

One young woman, 29-year-old Romance Bono, wiped tears from her eyes as the pope entered the stadium to deafening cheers.

“It brought tears to my eyes because it’s such an emotional moment,” she told EWTN News. “Seeing all these young people cheering for the pope like a rock star, that is the strength of the Church, and it is the future of the Church here. It was very moving.”

Young people greet Pope Leo XIV at a prayer vigil at Stade de France on Sept. 25, 2026 in Saint-Denis, France. | Credit: Vatican Media

Soon after Pope Leoʼs arrival at the stadium, hundreds of young French Catholics staged an artistic performance depicting French saints and the history of the Church in France, including the use of live horses, and culminating in fireworks launched above the stadium.

One 28-year-old volunteer, Jacques-Henri de Livron, told EWTN News that as soon as he heard the pope was coming to France, he decided to take a day off work to see him. He was so afraid of missing the events that he volunteered to make sure he could be in attendance. De Livron grew up in a Catholic environment, but returned to the faith in his twenties after painful deaths among his siblings and close friends. Those experiences, he said, made him recognize its value anew.

“Christianity is really the religion of the human person,” he said. “In this age of narcissism, it helps us get out of ourselves, turn toward others and care about them instead of thinking only about ourselves. People often call it a religion of the book, or a religion of revelation. But it’s much more than that. It’s the religion of the human person.”

De Livron also made a point of sharing his surname, which is unusual in France, where anticlerical culture is widespread and religious people usually ask to be identified in press reports only by their first names in order to avoid trouble at work. “I want to be part of a generation that stops being afraid to testify, that gives its name, and isn’t afraid of anything,” he said.

Pierre-Alain Belaube, 34, described the effort to arrive hours early after a long day at work, and to fight the crowds to enter into the packed stadium, as “200% worth it. It’s a privilege to be here.”

Belaube described himself as a formerly lukewarm Catholic, whose life was transformed when he read the autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

“I have the hope that many more young people will open their hearts to God and let him change their life,” he said. “I think that such an event can be, for many, the first milestone of a life-changing experience. I hope we will inspire many more young people to get to know Jesus.”

Thibault, a religious brother who preferred not to give his last name because he did not have permission from his superiors to speak with reporters, accompanied 400 members from the youth movement of his religious community, the Missionaries of Divine Mercy, to the event.

He told EWTN News that it is very moving to be surrounded by young people “wanting to say, ‘Here I am, I’m Catholic and I’m proud to show it.’”

The young religious, who is also studying for the priesthood, said he hopes Leo’s visit to France “will contribute to the missionary awakening that needs to happen in France.”

While the primarily secular country is seeing a surprising surge in baptisms, he said he thinks “Catholics still find it difficult to go out and meet people, to be missionaries in their daily lives.”

“I think this could become a significant moment in the life of the Church in France.”

In his message during the prayer, which included religious hymns and a Litany of Saints, Leo invited young people to shun evil and strive for good.

“God is the Lord of history, and no matter what happens, he guides its course toward salvation. In Christ, every evil comes to an end, precisely because that end becomes the beginning of a new and eternal life,” he said.

“The work well done, the work that is good, is the redemption that Jesus accomplishes for us,” Leo said. “Through his struggle against sin and death, Christ’s victory sets us free. He saves us from all evil and invites us to all that is good.”

The pontiff also answered the questions of two young French people as part of the evening’s program.

Chloé, 25, talked about her involvement in her parish and in a group of young Catholics “eager to live out and share their faith with others.” But she lamented that society “is founded on different principles” and sometimes has “no regard for the question of God.”

Pope Leo responded that, “It is true, as you say, that the society in which we live seems indifferent to God. But the Lord is not indifferent to us! This is what matters, and what always gives us hope.”

Chloé, who is from Saint-Denis, described the vitality of Catholic life there. Saint-Denis is often described as a quartier sensible (“a vulnerable neighborhood”). Her testimony echoed what EWTN News heard from local Catholics in the crowd, including people from immigrant backgrounds, about the life of the Church in their neighborhoods that have a strong Muslim presence.

A young man from Burgundy, named François, also addressed the pope and asked him how young people can discern how the Lord is calling them to serve.

Leo’s advice to young people was to keep their hearts open to the suffering of their peers, to follow Jesus, and to draw inspiration from the examples of the saints.

“Even in the face of persecution, these brothers and sisters of ours opened paths of peace. Look to those priests who were passionate about Christ, such as St. Eugene de Mazenod and St. John Mary Vianney. Look to the mystical beauty of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus; the fervor in charity and mission of Blessed Pauline Jaricot; and the courage of the 50 martyrs of the apostolate who served their brothers and sisters even to the point of sacrificing their own lives during the Second World War,” he said.

“These saints changed the course of history by leading many people from hardship to hope, since they first changed their own hearts, transforming them in the light of faith.”

The youth vigil was the pope’s last event on a packed first day in France. The Sept. 25-28 journey will also take him to Lourdes and Metz.

Pope Leo XIV is visiting three cities in France from Sept. 25–28, making stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz to meet with young people, government officials, the sick, and migrants, among others.

On Sept. 25, he celebrated Vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, becoming the first pope to visit the church since it was rebuilt after the devastating 2019 fire.

Paris gives Pope Leo XIV a joyful welcome as thousands lined the streets for his first popemobile ride through the French capital on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Crowds assemble outside the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral for Pope Leo XIVʼs visit on Sept. 25, 2026, seven years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed the cathedral.| Credit: Vatican Media Thousands gathered outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026 to pray the Salve Regina with Pope Leo XIV before the statue of Our Lady and the Infant Jesus. Commissioned in the early 19th century and crafted by goldsmith Charles-Nicolas Odiot, the statue survived being thrown from the archbishopʼs palace during the riots of 1831 and later narrowly escaped being melted down. | Credit: Vatican Media Upon entering the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the pope visits a chapel to pray before the Blessed Sacrament on Sept. 25, 2026, and then venerated a relic of the Crown of Thorns. | Credit: Vatican Media Seven years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral, Pope Leo XIV enters the restored cathedral Sept. 25, 2026 and celebrates Vespers in the first papal visit since the 2019 blaze.| Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Worshipers pray at Notre-Dame Cathedral where Pope Leo XIV visited Sept. 25, 2026 to celebrate Vespers in the first papal visit since the 2019 blaze.| Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV delivers a homily during a celebration of Vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV visits Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026 for a celebration of Vespers. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV greets sisters in Notre-Dame Cathedral on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV waves at thousands of people gathered outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sept. 25, 2026 to pray the Salve Regina. | Credit: Vatican Media

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV prayed Evening Prayer at Notre-Dame Cathedral on Friday, becoming the first pope to set foot in the monumental church since it was rebuilt after the 2019 fire that ravaged its roof, nave, and spire.

Less than two years after its reopening, Leo reflected on the iconic cathedral, which, “more than any other [place], has invited the people of Paris for centuries to lift their eyes towards heaven.”

“Seven years have passed since the whole world, holding its breath, watched as the cathedral was engulfed in a terrible fire,” he said in his homily. “That pain was felt not only by Catholics, nor only by believers.”

“In that tragic moment we came to realize that Notre-Dame is more than a monument,” the pope said. “The collective effort to rebuild it, and the splendor of the result reveal that the heart of a people beats here, and that here we stand at the living center of a civilization, where past and future embrace, where heaven and earth meet.”

Seven years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral, Pope Leo XIV enters the restored cathedral Sept. 25, 2026 and celebrates Vespers in the first papal visit since the 2019 blaze.| Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

The prayer service at the famous Gothic cathedral was Pope Leo’s first meeting with the Catholic Church of Paris during his Sept. 25-28 visit to France.

Here Leo spoke to the country’s Catholic clergy and religious — the rebuilt church providing a fitting setting for his message that “this Cathedral has been reborn so that you too may be reborn with it in a new impetus towards holiness and daily mission.”

Leo addresses France’s Catholics at a critical juncture in their history, as they welcome rising numbers of converts. This Easter, France recorded more than 20,000 adult and adolescent baptisms, a 20% increase from the already record-high number in 2025, which saw a 45% increase from 2024 figures.

Despite the encouraging trend, the country continues to grow more secular. The latest data on religious identity in France, in 2019-2020, found that 51% of adults in France say they have no religious affiliation, an 8% increase from a decade before. While 29% of the population identifies as Catholic, the survey found only 8% say they go to Church regularly, according to the Institut National D’Etudes Démographiques.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France | Credit: Mistervlad/Shutterstock

Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened in December 2024, a little over five years after people around the world watched the church’s blaze in horror. Restoration work of the Gothic cathedral continued into 2026.

In his homily, Pope Leo reflected on the symbolism of the architecture of the cathedral, the seat of the archbishop of Paris.

“The Cathedral’s cruciform layout, where stone and light come together, evokes the meeting of earth and heaven. It gathers and orders the events of history, woven with human joys and sufferings. It holds them together in a symbolic dynamic that transforms these diverse expressions into a living language, uniting them into a whole,” he said.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, prepares to welcome Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 25, 2026. | Credit: Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi/EWTN News

Before Evening Prayer, Pope Leo approached the cathedral on foot to greet those gathered outside.

Mariana González, 31, was one of hundreds of people who caught a glimpse of Pope Leo as he arrived for Evening Prayer.

González, who with her husband and 7-month-old girl waited around four hours to see the pope, told EWTN News that “it’s very special for [Pope Leo] to be here, not only to see him but to listen to the message he has for all the French people, those of us living in France and the whole world.” González, who is Colombian-American and lives in Paris, said she believed “his visit will also touch many hearts here and I look forward to seeing all of the fruits his visit will bring.”

Local authorities estimated that 300,000 people lined up to greet Leo outside Notre-Dame and along the two-and-a-half mile road from his previous event at UNESCO headquarters to the cathedral, the Vatican said.

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Upon entering the cathedral, the pope visited a chapel to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and then venerated a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The cathedral, which just moments before had erupted into applause and cries of “Pape Léon,” was silent.

After putting on vestments for the prayer, Leo approached the altar to the dramatic tones of the cathedral’s grand organ, the largest pipe organ in France.

“We must not forget that this Cathedral, like every other church, was built for the purpose of prayer and the worship of God,” the pope recalled in his homily. “This Cathedral is not merely a stone structure to be admired; instead, it lives by the sacred mystery celebrated within it. Without the liturgy, it would lose its soul.”

He encouraged priests and consecrated men and women to never neglect their friendship with Christ, to nurture their interior lives and spend time in personal, silent prayer.

“Your mission flows above all from this intimate relationship with the Lord, who awaits you there,” he said.

Reflecting on the cathedral’s purpose of prayer and the worship of God, Leo said, “Today, more than ever, we live in an age that seems deprived of fullness, depth and promise. The noble simplicity of song, spoken word and liturgical gesture can be for many a glimmer of hope, an oasis of peace in a hyper-connected and noisy society, where we can experience the presence of the Author of the greatest love.”

In his message of welcome to Leo, Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich said, “Just over a year ago, when I took the liberty of inviting you to Paris, you told me that you wanted to see Notre-Dame! … You have come as a pilgrim among all these visitors.”

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV warned that artificial intelligence has fostered a “corruption of culture” that could affect what it means to be human during a speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday.

The pontiff visited the headquarters of UNESCO — a specialized U.N. agency that preserves cultural heritage sites and promotes peace, sustainable development, and human rights — on the first day of a Sept. 25–28 journey to France.

“A fundamental question deserves to be explored, one that urgently calls for a response: What does it mean to be human?” Leo said in a speech delivered half in French and half in English.

“Every culture is challenged by this question, which lies at the heart of every form of knowledge, every art, and every religion. Even in the 21st century, after all, we cannot take for granted that we know who the human person is or what it means to live as a human being,” the pontiff said.

He contrasted the domination and confusion of the Tower of Babel, to which he has previously likened AI, with the peace and unity found at Pentecost.

“The corruption of culture which we are considering finds its redemption in the public square of Pentecost,” he said. “There, a message of peace is received as good news by people of every nation. This message proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, that is, the victory of life over death and the salvation that gives hope to the world.”

Leo also spoke about the development of communications and the risk of spreading false information, and “words devoid of meaning,” thereby “hindering dialogue rather than fostering it.”

“Artificial intelligence amplifies this problem,” he continued. “Although such systems can correlate data, they cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life, which is rooted in lived experience.”

He condemned oppressive power, pride, injustice, and conflict.

“Science itself, when reduced to a technique of power, no longer serves to elevate the human person but instead risks degrading the fruits of human endeavor,” he said.

The pontiff devoted significant portions of his speech to underlining the care due to every human life, especially the most vulnerable, such as “children in their mothers’ wombs and in the various theaters of war, persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, the elderly, migrants and refugees, and all those arrogantly excluded as unproductive.”

They are the true test of our claims to respect human dignity, and their protection and promotion extend also to creation,” he said.

On technological advancements, the Holy Father said, “the paradox has become increasingly evident: While ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded.”

Pope Leo’s arrival at UNESCO was met by a warm applause from the audience.

Before his address, the pope was given a brief tour of the headquarters, including the library, which houses UNESCO’s diplomatic archives. Leo also received a loud applause when he watered an olive tree as a sign of nurturing peace.

He was also given a copy of the Book of Peace Memorandum, an archival document submitted to the fourth session of the UNESCO General Conference in 1949 to support its mission to prevent global conflicts after World War II.

Leo underlined that he was visiting UNESCO “as a pastor, to speak to you on behalf of the Church, which continually seeks to enter into dialogue and has a message to share with every people, with all women and men of goodwill,” and praised the agency’s mission to build a just world and favor authentic human development

Citing his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, he said the Holy See looks “upon this Organization as a privileged partner in the service of the common good, which is the ‘social expression of the dignity’ shared by all of us from the very beginning and in equal measure.”

The pope emphasized the importance of truth, without which language becomes subject to violence and power, and noted that “corruption of the law begins with the corruption of the heart.”

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV warned that Artificial Intelligence has fostered a “corruption of culture” that could affect what it means to be human, during a speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday.

The pontiff visited the headquarters of UNESCO — a specialized UN agency that preserves cultural heritage sites and promotes peace, sustainable development, and human rights — on the first day of a Sept. 25-28 journey to France.

“A fundamental question deserves to be explored, one that urgently calls for a response: What does it mean to be human?” Leo said in a speech delivered half in French and half in English.

“Every culture is challenged by this question, which lies at the heart of every form of knowledge, every art and every religion. Even in the twenty-first century, after all, we cannot take for granted that we know who the human person is or what it means to live as a human being,” the pontiff said.

He contrasted the domination and confusion of the Tower of Babel, to which he has previously likened AI, with the peace and unity found at Pentecost.

“The corruption of culture which we are considering finds its redemption in the public square of Pentecost,” he said. “There, a message of peace is received as good news by people of every nation. This message proclaims the resurrection of Jesus, that is, the victory of life over death and the salvation that gives hope to the world.”

Leo also spoke about the development of communications and the risk of spreading false information, and “words devoid of meaning,” thereby “hindering dialogue rather than fostering it.”

“Artificial intelligence amplifies this problem,” he continued. “Although such systems can correlate data, they cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life, which is rooted in lived experience.”

He condemned oppressive power, pride, injustice, and conflict.

“Science itself, when reduced to a technique of power, no longer serves to elevate the human person, but instead risks degrading the fruits of human endeavor,” he said.

The pontiff devoted significant portions of his speech to underlining the care due to every human life, especially the most vulnerable, such as “children in their mothers’ wombs and in the various theaters of war, persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, the elderly, migrants and refugees, and all those arrogantly excluded as unproductive.”

They are the true test of our claims to respect human dignity, and their protection and promotion extend also to creation,” he said.

On technological advancements, the Holy Father said, “the paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded.”

Pope Leo’s arrival at UNESCO was met by a warm applause from the audience.

Before his address, the pope was given a brief tour of the headquarters, including the library, which houses UNESCO’s diplomatic archives. Leo also received a loud applause when he watered an olive tree as a sign of nurturing peace.

He was also given a copy of the Book of Peace Memorandum, an archival document submitted to the 4th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 1949 to support its mission to prevent global conflicts after World War II.

Leo underlined that he was visiting UNESCO, “as a pastor, to speak to you on behalf of the Church, which continually seeks to enter into dialogue and has a message to share with every people, with all women and men of good will,” and praised the agency’s mission to build a just world and favor authentic human development

Citing his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, he said the Holy See looks “upon this Organization as a privileged partner in the service of the common good, which is the ‘social expression of the dignity’ shared by all of us from the very beginning and in equal measure.”

The pope emphasized the importance of truth, without which language becomes subject to violence and power, and noted that “corruption of the law begins with the corruption of the heart.”

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV, in his first speech during a four-day visit to France, lamented the use of science and technology for profit instead of moral and ethical human progress and said that everyone is responsible for the protection of life.

Addressing French President Emmanuel Macron and other government members at the Élysée Palace, the head of state’s official residence, on Sept. 25, the pontiff said he was concerned “by those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs, or the possibility of arranging one’s own death.”

“Let us not forget that mutual respect and the protection of every human life is a duty incumbent upon each and every one of us,” he said.

End-of-life questions are among the most sensitive issues the pope is expected to address while in France Sept. 25–28. France legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia this summer, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. In addition, Switzerland and Austria permit assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a person’s life to relieve suffering. It differs from assisted dying, in which the patient takes life-ending drugs himself, under a physician’s guidance. Both practices are prohibited by Catholic teaching.

The duty to protect and respect life, Leo continued, is “an expression of the authentic ‘secularity’ (laïcité) of the earthly city” since a “Christian engaged in public service and guided by the light of his or her conscience illumined by faith cannot be considered a proselytizer or a threat to the unity of the nation.”

“Laïcité” is a legal principle strictly separating Church and state in France.

Leo urged the country’s political, civil, and cultural leaders, as well as French and foreign diplomats, to see that “an authentic secularity” does not exclude religion but values it as an educational resource.

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Leo echoed a 2018 speech by Macron in which the president told the French bishops that “a Church that claims to be uninterested in temporal matters would not be fulfilling her vocation; and that a president of the republic who claims to be uninterested in the Church and in Catholics would be failing in his duty.”

“An authentic secularity, then, consists not in excluding religion from the public sphere or from education but in striving to ensure that the state and religious institutions maintain dialogue and join forces in the service of the common good, that the world may have life,” the pope said.

Speaking before the pope, Macron said that “it is precisely because France is a homeland of freedom and intellect that it is diverse. It is a nation that nurtures a particular passion for constant debate. One must understand it in this way in order truly to love it.” The two leaders met privately for 50 minutes before delivering their speeches.

Leo noted France’s “deep Christian roots” but also praised the French national motto of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” as a set of “ethical imperatives” and guides to follow as technology — including artificial intelligence — advances.

He cited the French Catholic author Georges Bernanos, who “saw the threat that blind obedience and irresponsibility could lead to a ‘Paradise of Machines,’ and pointed out that French civilization had instead sought for centuries to form free men and women who are fully responsible for their actions.”

The pope, who earlier in the day told reporters accompanying him on the flight from Rome that he was traveling to France “as a follower of Jesus Christ who wants to bring peace of Christ throughout the world,” called in his speech for a ban on nuclear weapons and lamented war in the Middle East.

Also present for the pope’s address were firemen who responded to the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral and artisans and architects who worked on the landmark’s subsequent restoration. The pope celebrated that undertaking, which he said “showed that something considered irreparably destroyed can be reborn through mutual cooperation.”

Pope Leo XIV landed in Paris on Friday for a four-day visit to France that began with a packed first day with stops at UNESCO headquarters, Notre-Dame, and the French national stadium for a prayer vigil with 80,000 young people. Leo is the first pope to visit Paris since Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

Curious Parisians stopped what they were doing to watch the pope pass by in a car on his way from the airport to the center of Paris.

After a break for lunch, the Holy Father will visit the headquarters of UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization — a specialized U.N. agency that preserves cultural heritage sites and promotes peace, sustainable development, and human rights.

His journey will also bring him to the towns of Lourdes and Metz before returning to Rome on Sept. 28.

PARIS – Pope Leo XIV, in his first speech during a four-day visit to France, lamented the use of science and technology for profit instead of moral and ethical human progress and said that everyone is responsible for the protection of life.

Addressing French President Emmanuel Macron and other government members at the Élysée Palace, the head of state’s official residence, on Sept. 25, the pontiff said he was concerned “by those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one’s own death.”

“Let us not forget that mutual respect and the protection of every human life is a duty incumbent upon each and every one of us,” he said.

End-of-life questions are among the most sensitive issues the pope is expected to address while in France Sept. 25-28. France legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia this summer, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. In addition, Switzerland and Austria permit assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a person’s life to relieve suffering. It differs from assisted dying, in which the patient takes life-ending drugs himself, under a physician’s guidance. Both practices are prohibited by Catholic teaching.

The duty to protect and respect life, Leo continued, is “an expression of the authentic ‘secularity’ (laïcité) of the earthly city” since a “Christian engaged in public service and guided by the light of his or her conscience illumined by faith, cannot be considered a proselytizer or a threat to the unity of the nation.”

Laïcité is a legal principle strictly separating Church and state in France.

Leo urged the country’s political, civil and cultural leaders, as well as French and foreign diplomats, to see that “an authentic secularity” does not exclude religion but values it as an educational resource.

Instagram post

Leo echoed a 2018 speech by Macron, in which the president told the French bishops that “a Church that claims to be uninterested in temporal matters would not be fulfilling her vocation; and that a President of the Republic who claims to be uninterested in the Church and in Catholics would be failing in his duty.”

“An authentic secularity, then, consists not in excluding religion from the public sphere or from education, but in striving to ensure that the State and religious institutions maintain dialogue and join forces in the service of the common good, that the world may have life,” the pope said.

Speaking before the pope, Macron said that “it is precisely because France is a homeland of freedom and intellect that it is diverse. It is a nation that nurtures a particular passion for constant debate. One must understand it in this way in order truly to love it.” The two leaders met privately for 50 minutes before delivering their speeches.

Leo noted France’s “deep Christian roots” but also praised the French national motto of “liberty, equality, and fraternity” as a set of “ethical imperatives” and guides to follow as technology — including artificial intelligence — advances.

He cited the French Catholic author Georges Bernanos, who “saw the threat that blind obedience and irresponsibility could lead to a ‘Paradise of Machines,’ and pointed out that French civilization had instead sought for centuries to form free men and women who are fully responsible for their actions.”

The pope, who earlier in the day told reporters accompanying him on the flight from Rome that he was traveling to France “as a follower of Jesus Christ who wants to bring peace of Christ throughout the world,” called in his speech for a ban on nuclear weapons and lamented war in the Middle East.

Also present for the pope’s address were firemen who responded to the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral and artisans and architects who worked on the landmark’s subsequent restoration. The pope celebrated that undertaking, which he said “showed that something considered irreparably destroyed can be reborn through mutual cooperation.”

Pope Leo XIV landed in Paris on Friday for a four-day visit to France that began with a packed first day with stops at UNESCO headquarters, Notre-Dame, and the French national stadium for a prayer vigil with 80,000 young people. Leo is the first pope to visit Paris since Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

Curious Parisians stopped what they were doing to watch the pope pass by in a car on his way from the airport to the center of Paris.

After a break for lunch, the Holy Father will visit the headquarters of UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — a specialized UN agency that preserves cultural heritage sites and promotes peace, sustainable development, and human rights.

His journey will also bring him to the towns of Lourdes and Metz, before returning to Rome Sept. 28.

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday for a four-day visit to the country that begins with a packed first day, with stops at UNESCO headquarters, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the national stadium for a prayer vigil with 80,000 young people. Leo is the first pope to visit Paris since Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

Leo was welcomed at Paris Orly Airport by President Emmanuel Macron. Two local children presented flowers as the pontiff was given military honors — a formal ceremonial tribute — before entering a room of the airport with the French president for a private conversation.

During the flight from Rome, the pope told reporters that he would address “a number of very important topics” during his visit. “I above all am traveling to France, as anywhere else in the world, as a follower of Jesus Christ who wants to bring peace of Christ throughout the world,” he said.

The pope’s first stop in the French capital will be the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French president, an 18th-century mansion surrounded by elaborate landscaped gardens.

There, Leo will again have time to speak with Macron, before delivering the first official speech of the trip, addressed to political authorities and members of civil society, the business world, and the diplomatic corps.

Among the most sensitive issues that the pope is expected to address are end-of-life questions. France legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia this summer, becoming the fifth European country to do so after Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain.

After a break for lunch, the Holy Father will visit the headquarters of UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — a specialized UN agency that preserves cultural heritage sites and promotes peace, sustainable development, and human rights.