Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Saturday in Paris for an open-air Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. The 71-year-old American pontiff, on his first official visit to France in 18 years, addressed a massive crowd at the Place de la Concorde and along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. While approximately 600,000 people had registered for the event, Vatican estimates placed attendance at 700,000, though some reports suggested more than 800,000 people filled the streets.
The attendees included scouts, nuns, families, and curious onlookers, some of whom hoped to spot Canadian singer Céline Dion. During the service, Pope Leo XIV told the faithful that faith, rather than material things, brings true happiness. He encouraged French Catholics to persevere in their faith even amid the thorns of a secular world.
The event served as a sign of the Catholic Church's enduring appeal in an officially secular country, despite secularizing trends and declining attendance that have affected churches across Europe. Following the Mass in the capital, the Pope rounded out the second day of his four-day apostolic visit by praying at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, a renowned pilgrimage site for Catholics worldwide.