Europe · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Pope Leo XIV Draws 600,000 Faithful to Champs-Élysées Mass as Macron Meets Him at Élysée Palace
About 600,000 faithful expected along the Champs-Élysées for the Mass. Macron to meet Pope Leo XIV at the Élysée Palace.
Whether politics and secularity or state diplomacy leads.
5 of 6 outlets skipped it: UNESCO plans a pope address on AI, youth, peace, dialogue.
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DW
“Since the 1905 French law on separating church and state, the country has embraced secular traditions.”Read the original ↗
BBC
“President Emmanuel Macron will greet the Pope at Orly airport on Friday morning, and then hold talks with him at the Élysée Palace on geopolitical issues and artificial intelligence (AI).”Read the original ↗
DW frames the visit through church-state tension in secular France, while the BBC emphasises official state meetings and logistics for the masses.
Mass crowds in Paris
Pope Leo XIV is set to embark on a four-day visit to France, with the highpoint being a giant Mass attended by more than half a million people in central Paris. An altar has been built on the Place de la Concorde and a large area around the Champs-Élysées sealed off by police, as some 600,000 Catholic faithful are expected to cram the avenue up to the Arc de Triomphe and beyond. President Emmanuel Macron will greet the Pope at Orly airport on Friday morning and then hold talks with him at the Élysée Palace on geopolitical issues and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Champs-Élysées Mass will be attended by Brigitte and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu because Macron will not be at any of the Pope's Masses, largely to avoid breaching France's strict separation of state and religion. Pope Leo XIV will be joined in the evening by 80,000 young people at the Stade de France in northern Paris, and on Sunday 150,000 have signed up to attend mass in the Pyrenean sanctuary of Lourdes.
Politics, crowds, and security
DW said Paris is gripped by "Pope fever" and organizers expect around 1 million people to fill the streets of Paris on Saturday for a massive open-air mass at the Place de la Concorde. DW said "The pope is popular among both believers and nonbelievers," and political scientist Olivier Roy told DW that Leo XIV's conflict with US President Donald Trump had lent him "a moral standing that extends far beyond the Catholic Church." DW reported that authorities announced that a number of metro stations will be closed, as security forces gear up for a major challenge with France's presidential election just over six months away.
DW said the left appreciates Leo's personality but is skeptical about the state's involvement in organizing the reception, while the far right welcomed the visibility of Catholicism but objected to an interfaith meeting planned in Metz. DW said Augsburg-based church historian and papal expert Jörg Ernesti argued that Europe has remained "the most important political point of reference for popes since the late 19th century," despite the demographic shift he described.
UNESCO, AI, and youth
Pope Leo XIV will make an official visit to UNESCO on 25 September 2026, at the invitation of the Organization's Director-General, Khaled El-Enany.
The Pope will deliver a solemn address on artificial intelligence, youth, peace and interreligious dialogue, before the entire international community and the UNESCO family.
The visit will include a bilateral meeting with the Director-General, a walk through the building and gardens of UNESCO Headquarters, and a visit to an exhibition of the Organization's artworks on the theme of peace.
The UNESCO Forum for Youth in the Era of AI will run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Room II).
The prayer vigil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis is scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2026, with stadium doors opening at 17:15 and the vigil starting at 19:30.