Paris’s most famous boulevard turned into a sea of flags and chanting voices as Pope Leo XIV swept onto the Avenue des Champs-Élysées for the centrepiece of his weekend in France: an outdoor Mass that drew an estimated 700,000 people.
The crowd poured across more than 2km of central Paris, filling the stretch from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. Many waved white and yellow flags, jostling against security barriers for a clear view of the pontiff.
As his open-top popemobile rolled down the tree-lined avenue, chants of “Leo, Leo” and “Long live the Pope” rippled through the packed boulevard.
The vehicle slowed repeatedly. Volunteers brought forward babies, children and people with disabilities, and Leo paused to offer blessings at close range.
Among those in the crowd was Geraldine Pambou, 42, who said she wanted the pope to use the moment to amplify his calls for peace.
“The most important thing is that he emphasises world peace,” she said. “There are too many wars.”
Organisers said more than 600,000 people had registered for the mid-afternoon Mass, while the Vatican put the number who ultimately attended at around 700,000.
Leo is in the midst of a whirlwind four-day, three-city trip to France, a visit aimed in part at restoring the Church’s standing after abuse scandals that shocked the country.
In recent months, the pope has sharply criticised the direction of global leadership, and he returned to that theme yesterday in a speech at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, the UN’s culture and education agency, warning that the UN and other multilateral organisations were facing a crisis.
He also reiterated his frequent appeal for the world to rethink the development of artificial intelligence, telling French leaders that AI could usher in a future where “a paradise of machines” takes control of the Earth.
Waiting for the Mass with his wife and their four young children, Pierre-Marie Estienne, 36, said he hoped the pope’s presence would cut through what he sees as a hollow modern culture.
“We live in an era of great materialism,” he said. “There is a lot of evil around us, so we need a message of hope and love.”
Pope visits newly baptised Catholics
France has seen Catholic affiliation steadily weaken since World War II, reflecting a wider shift across other traditionally Catholic nations.
Still, the French Bishops’ Conference has highlighted growth in adult baptisms, including a record 21,000 last Easter. Yet official figures point to a shrinking base: a report from the statistics agency INSEE found that just 25% of French 18-to-49-year-olds identified as Catholic, down from 43% ten years earlier.
During a meeting with newly baptised Catholics at the Catholic University of Paris, Leo urged the French church not to be “naively optimistic” about the uptick in believers.
“We must recognise, welcome and protect the small flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in the darkness of the night, the tiny seed that strives to grow even amid the thorns,” he said.
Pope Leo is due to travel later to Lourdes, the site of a Catholic shrine, where tomorrow he will meet seven French victims of abuse by clergy.
