Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass on the Place de la Concorde in central Paris on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. The 71-year-old pontiff traveled in his popemobile down the Champs-Élysées, passing the Arc de Triomphe while waving to crowds clutching French and Vatican flags. The event marked the second day of a four-day visit to France, the first official papal trip to the country in nearly two decades.
The visit comes seven months before French voters participate in a presidential election. While French President Emmanuel Macron met with the Pope for an hour on Friday, he did not attend the Mass on Saturday to avoid breaching the country's strict separation of state and religion. The French government was represented at the ceremony by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and the president's wife, Brigitte Macron. Several presidential candidates, including Marine Le Pen of the National Rally and former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, were also in attendance.
Security for the event included helicopters, snipers on rooftops, and a sealed city center. During the hour-and-a-half-long service, the Pope wore white liturgical vestments and addressed the crowd from a makeshift altar under a white canopy. Earlier on Saturday, the Pope visited the Maison Bakhita center to meet with migrants and refugees. He stated that it was "possible to encounter one another and to live together in dignity and peace" and emphasized the "fundamental role of women in building a civilisation of love."
The Vatican, citing local sources, said some 800,000 people attended the Mass, which stretched for more than two kilometers. For those present, the event represents an opportunity for public worship with the head of the Catholic Church on French soil, a gesture the Church interprets as a sign of growing spirituality in Europe. The scale of the gathering required the mobilization of French security forces and the closure of the capital's central landmarks.
Individual attendees experienced disruptions to local transit and movement due to the closure of the city center. Those participating in the Mass gathered for several hours to observe the ceremony on dozens of screens installed for the public. The event serves as a focal point for French political figures ahead of the upcoming spring elections. The pontiff's presence also highlights the ongoing tension between French secularism laws and the country’s Catholic history, as evidenced by President Macron’s decision to avoid the religious service.
The visit brings renewed attention to the Church's internal challenges; on Sunday, the Pope is scheduled to meet with seven victims of clerical sex abuse, following a 2021 inquiry that found 330,000 people were abused as minors in France over seven decades. The Pope was scheduled to head to the sanctuary in Lourdes on Saturday evening, where 150,000 people have registered for a Mass on Sunday. The journey concludes on Monday, Sept. 28, in Metz, where the Pope will deliver a speech regarding peace in Europe.