Pope Leo to visit France, meet abuse survivors and address European leaders
Pope Leo will make a four-day visit to France, including meetings with abuse survivors, an outdoor Mass in Paris and speeches on AI and European unity.
Paris, France. Pope Leo will begin a four-day visit to France on Friday, the first formal papal visit to the country in nearly 20 years, with meetings planned with abuse survivors and political and international leaders.
The visit comes after a 2021 report on child abuse by priests caused nationwide shock and damaged the Church’s standing in France.
Paris programme
Leo is expected to draw large crowds for an outdoor Mass on Saturday near the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in central Paris. About 600,000 people have registered to attend, according to retired French Bishop Marc Stenger.
“Pope Leo’s visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave” of interest, Stenger told Reuters. He said French Catholics were expressing their need for the Church in uncertain moments in world history.
The pope will address President Emmanuel Macron and other French leaders at the Élysée Palace. He will also speak to staff at the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations culture and education agency, which faces budget shortfalls after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the organisation in 2025.
Artificial intelligence and Notre-Dame
Leo, the first US pope, is expected to address artificial intelligence at UNESCO. In May, he issued a manifesto warning about the dangers of AI and calling for international regulation of the industry.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the pope was likely to repeat his call for an AI slowdown and speak about “the meaning of existence, to what makes human beings human and what does not”.
The pope will also lead a prayer service at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. It will be the first papal visit to the Gothic cathedral since the 2019 fire that nearly destroyed it.
Lourdes and Metz
Outside Paris, Leo will visit the Catholic shrine at Lourdes in southwestern France.
The tour will conclude in Metz, near the German border, where he will deliver a speech on “the roots of Europe for peace and unity”. Metz was home to Robert Schuman, one of the founders of the European Union.
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