Paris to host Pope Leo XIV in historic state visit

During his forthcoming state visit to France, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate a large public Mass at Place de la Concorde and along the adjacent Champs‑Élysées in Paris on September 26.

Laurent Ulrich announced the plan on Friday.

The pontiff is scheduled to be in France from September 25 to 28, the first official papal state visit to the country in almost twenty years.

The early‑afternoon Mass is expected to attract around 500,000 attendees.

A separate youth gathering is planned for September 25 at the Stade de France in Saint‑Denis.

Ulrich said the venues were chosen to reflect the visit’s significance and the enthusiasm of the French public.

“I wanted to welcome Pope Leo at venues and symbolic places in Paris and France,” the archbishop said, adding that the locations would demonstrate “the joy of an entire country and its capital in coming out to meet him.”

The pope is also expected to meet with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before traveling to Lourdes, one of the world’s most prominent Christian pilgrimage sites.

He will celebrate an open‑air Mass in Lourdes on September 27 and will preside over another Mass at the cathedral in Metz on September 28.

The France visit follows the pope’s June trip to Spain, underscoring his focus on reconnecting with historically Catholic European nations that have become more secular.

The visit also signals renewed engagement with parts of Europe that observers say received less attention during Pope Francis’s papacy.