Pope Leo XIV to visit France Sept 25-28, Mass expected to draw 600,000 in Paris

September 25, 2026 at 04:17 AM2 min

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Pope Leo XIV begins a four-day visit to France on Friday, September 25, with a Mass on the Champs-Élysées expected to draw 600,000 people. President Emmanuel Macron will greet the Pope at Orly airport and hold talks at the Élysée Palace, but will not attend any Masses. The visit includes stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.

Key Facts

Pope Leo XIV's four-day visit to France runs from Friday, September 25 through Monday, September 28.
A Mass on the Champs-Élysées on Saturday is expected to draw 600,000 people.
President Macron will meet the Pope at Orly airport and hold talks at the Élysée Palace, but will not attend any Masses.
The Pope will visit Lourdes on Sunday, where 150,000 have signed up for Mass, and Metz on Monday.
Pope Leo XIV was born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955; his paternal grandmother was born in Le Havre in 1894.

Visit Schedule

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Paris on Friday, September 25, and will ride through crowds to Notre-Dame cathedral in the afternoon. On Friday evening, 80,000 young people are expected to join the Pope at the Stade de France in northern Paris. Saturday's Mass will be held at an altar built on the Place de la Concorde, with a large area around the Champs-Élysées sealed off by police. On Sunday, 150,000 people have signed up to attend Mass at the Pyrenean sanctuary of Lourdes. On Monday, the Pope will be in Metz, where he will pay tribute to Robert Schuman, a founding father of the European Union.

Political Reception

President Emmanuel Macron will greet the Pope at Orly airport on Friday morning and then hold talks at the Élysée Palace on geopolitical issues and artificial intelligence. Macron will also deliver a speech with the Pope in Metz, but will not attend any of the Pope's Masses to avoid breaching France's strict separation of state and religion. The Champs-Élysées Mass will be attended by Brigitte Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Several candidates for next year's presidential election are also due to attend, including Marine Le Pen, Edouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal, and Bruno Retailleau. Élysée officials confirmed that Pope Leo turned down Macron's idea of a meeting with artisans who helped rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral because his agenda was too tight.