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Pope Leo XIV draws hundreds of thousands to Paris’ Champs-Élysées for a massive outdoor mass.
Pope Leo XIV greets the crowd as he arrives to celebrate Mass at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on Saturday. An estimated 800,000 people filled Paris’ Champs-Élysées for Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass, illustrating the church’s enduring pull in officially secular France.
Catholics, people of other faiths and non-believers gathered to hear Leo preach for faith, peace and unity as enthusiastic crowds greeted him along the boulevard. Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’ famous Champs-Élysées avenue to attend an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country.
The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended, about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance. The voter turnout testified to the church’s enduring influence in France, despite declining turnout and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe.
The American pope welcomed the flag-waving, cheering turn of his papal mobile as he paraded more than a kilometer along the grand boulevard leading to the Mass at the Place de la Concorde, the heart of Paris and a symbol of the French Republic. In his homily, Leo asked people not to keep their faith to themselves, but to “let it overflow so that those you meet are refreshed and their thirst is satisfied.
“From this beautiful city of Paris, I fervently pray that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow through France,” he said. Although security measures closed central Paris to road traffic, the party-like atmosphere drew people of many faiths and no faith.
“Pope Leo’s message goes far beyond Catholic people; he talks about social justice, for example,” said Leontine Joseph, 42, a fervent Catholic who came with two friends of Moroccan origin who grew up in Muslim culture. During his four-day visit, Leo tried to encourage French Catholics to keep their faith “even in the thorns” of a secular world.
It began on Friday with his arrival and prayer at the restored Notre Dame, the first by a pope since the devastating fire of the cathedral in 2019. After Paris, Leo went to the Catholic shrine in Lourdes. At the Catholic Institute of Paris on Saturday morning, the Pope said that he was surprised by the number of new converts in recent years.
“We must recognize, welcome and protect the little flame that the Holy Spirit kindled in the darkness of the night, the little seed that strives to grow even among the thorns,” he said. Adult baptisms in France have tripled every year since 2016, this year at 13,000. But statistics and experts caution that the uptick, which has also been recorded in secular Spain, does not counteract the general downward trend.
The rivers of people who cried in central Paris and their joyous enthusiasm rivaled other communal, but non-religious, moments of celebration that have marked France in recent decades. Huge crowds celebrated on the Champs-Elysées when France won the World Cup in 1998 and again in 2018.
“People see a lot of really horrible images. This kind of event reminds people of what’s really important in life,” said Thierry Chen, a 40-year-old Parisian startup entrepreneur who is not Catholic.
“You see a lot of different people here, so it’s not just about a race, religion or nation, but about a common belief in humanity.” Sylvane Le Goff, 68, who lives in the Paris area, came with her 10- and 12-year-old grandchildren to give them unforgettable memories. thoughts
“It’s not just about seeing the Pope, but it’s also about his message of peace and unity, values that I would like to share with them,” she said. Leo is clearly impressed by the numbers and the enthusiasm, especially at a Friday night vigil that kept the 71-year-old Pope out until almost 11pm after a busy first day. Some 80,000 young people filled the national stadium for an extravaganza of fireworks and a theatrical retelling of French Catholic history.
“Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence,” Leo said to raucous cheers, speaking off the cuff in French.
“Thank you for your faith. You are the saint of France!” The imposing stage set up for the mass, covered with a golden cross, and rows upon rows of choir singers, clergy and others who prayed under the Pope’s gaze on the Place de la Concorde, marked a new chapter for the historic place. It was an execution site during the French Revolution.
Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined there. For many in France, it embodies the Republic and organizes traditional Bastille Day celebrations. In 2024, the Paris Olympics gave it a pinnacle of modernity, using it for breakdancing, skateboarding, BMX and 3X3 basketball events. The organizers of the mass said it was the only area in the center of Paris that could accommodate such people.
But the choice has been criticized by supporters of France’s strict form of secularism in public life based on a 1905 law that separates church and state. They argued that the site represents the Republic, and that other places such as the Invalides, a complex of buildings where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass with 240,000 people in 2008, would have been more appropriate.
The Leosmass came as a birthday present for Jean-Claude Farnabe, who turned 63 on Saturday and secured a place this morning.
“There are more and more converts,” he said. “A lot of young people are interested in faith and in God. Every Sunday I see new people, people between 25 and 40, who are baptized.” House of Troy is a new podcast from LA Times Studios that traces the rise and fall of USC football, from coach Pete Carroll’s back-to-back national titles in the 2000s to the Reggie series to the abuse series.
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