Pope Leo XIV Draws 800,000 to Paris Mass as He Urges Faith in Secular France
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 26
Pope Leo XIV Draws 800,000 to Paris Mass as He Urges Faith in Secular France
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 26
Summary
800,000 people filled the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde for Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass, about 200,000 more than had registered in advance.
Leo used the service to urge French Catholics to share their faith openly in an “increasingly secularized society,” invoking France’s Catholic heritage and the image of “living water.”
The setting sharpened the message: Place de la Concorde, a symbol of the French republic and former Revolution execution ground, had already drawn criticism from defenders of strict church-state separation.
The Paris turnout capped a strong opening to Leo’s first official France trip, with 80,000 young people attending a Friday vigil; he later traveled to Lourdes on the four-day visit, France’s first papal trip since 2008.