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Europe26 September, 20262 min read

Pope Leo XIV Draws 800,000 To Open-Air Mass At Place De La Concorde In Paris

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Open-air Mass on Place de la Concorde drew about 700,000–800,000 attendees. Pope Leo XIV rode the popemobile along the Champs-Élysées to the Mass.

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Pope Leo XIV Draws 800,000 To Open-Air Mass At Place De La Concorde In Paris
Image: Yvke Mundial

Mass Draws 800,000

Pope Leo XIV led an open-air Mass in Paris at Place de la Concorde that the Vatican estimated drew about 800,000 people on Saturday, roughly 200,000 more than those who had registered in advance. Pope Leo XIV rode in a popemobile during a 2km (1.2-mile) parade along the boulevard leading to Place de la Concorde, and the crowd packed Paris’s iconic Champs-Élysées avenue for the Mass.

The Vatican said the pope’s homily urged the crowds to “let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied.” AP described the turnout as a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in a once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country, while Al Jazeera said the service marked a new chapter for Place de la Concorde’s history-steeped square.

Image from 20Minutos
Image: 20Minutos
Reporting for this sectionAP NewsAl Jazeera

Secularism and Politics

France’s strict secularism drew criticism around the choice of Place de la Concorde, and supporters of laïcité argued that the square symbolises the republic and that other venues such as Les Invalides would have been more appropriate. Emmanuel Macron stayed away from the Mass, and DIE WELT said the absence was justified by the strict separation of church and state in France, while Brigitte attended.

Pope Leo XIV told the crowd it was possible to “live together in dignity and peace,” after he met migrants at Maison Bakhita earlier in the day. Presidential hopefuls including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe confirmed their attendance, while Macron would not attend the ceremony.

Image from Actu.fr
Image: Actu.fr
Reporting for this sectionDIE WELTAFP

Next Stops and Messages

Pope Leo XIV began a Lourdes pilgrimage Saturday evening with a silent prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions, after drawing hundreds of thousands to the Mass in Paris earlier in the day. Pope Leo XIV met seven French victims of clerical sexual abuse on Sunday, and it quoted the pope saying, “Becoming a pilgrim among pilgrims,” as he responded to a request tied to St.

Pope Leo XIV’s four-day visit runs from Paris to Lourdes and Metz, and the Lourdes stop includes a meeting with seven victims of sexual abuse selected by the Conference of Bishops of France. Pope Leo XIV’s final stop on Monday, September 28, would be Metz, where he would attend an interreligious meeting with representatives of six religions and then address Europeans at the Robert Schuman Center.

Reporting for this sectionAP NewsRFI