French bishops: Papal visit will be a ‘significant moment’ for France, Europe and world
French bishops emphasize Pope Leo XIV’s visit (Sept 25‑28) will be a pivotal moment for Catholics in France and globally. The visit is scheduled on a tight timetable due to the 2027 presidential elections, with the motto “That the world may have life” highlighting respect for human dignity. Pope will meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, then visit UNESCO, Notre Dame Cathedral, and hold a prayer vigil at Stade de France for over 80,000 young people. He will also visit Maison Bakhita, a refugee center in Montmartre, reflecting outreach to vulnerable groups.
22 days ago
Pope Leo XIV’s Sept. 25–28 visit to France is being presented by French bishops as a major event for Catholics and for wider French, European and global audiences. The itinerary combines meetings with political and cultural leaders, large public liturgies, visits to vulnerable communities and sites of Catholic pilgrimage, and messages focused on human dignity, hope, peace and European unity.
French bishops said the visit was being organized on a very tight schedule because of France’s presidential election cycle in 2027. Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline said the pope’s message would extend beyond Catholics and France, with the trip’s motto—“That the world may have life”—framing appeals to respect the dignity of every human life.
Bishop Benoît Bertrand, who chairs the organizing committee, said the pope’s visit was intended to nourish hope. Cardinal Aveline also said Leo would highlight the history of French saints, particularly their work in charity and social service, and encourage France to carry that tradition forward in contemporary society.
On Sept. 25, Pope Leo is scheduled to meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace before visiting UNESCO headquarters. His address there will focus on protecting young people in an age shaped by new technologies and artificial intelligence.
The pope will then travel by popemobile through central Paris to Place Saint-Michel, near Notre Dame Cathedral. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich said church bells across the city would welcome him and that he would stop to bless people. At Notre Dame, Leo will celebrate vespers with about 2,000 bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and consecrated people.
That evening, he will attend a prayer vigil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis with more than 80,000 young people. Registration filled within minutes after opening Aug. 10.
On Sept. 26, Leo will visit Maison Bakhita, an Archdiocese of Paris social center serving refugees in Montmartre. He will also visit the Catholic Institute of Paris, where he is scheduled to meet catechumens and newly baptized Catholics during the Synodal Assembly of Île-de-France.
The assembly was renamed from a “council” at the Holy See’s request so that participation would not be limited to clergy. It is addressing how the Church can better welcome the growing number of young people and adults seeking baptism.
Later that day, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass expected to draw nearly 500,000 people at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Élysées.
After the Paris events, Pope Leo will travel to Lourdes, where he will pray at the grotto associated with the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said the pope would come primarily as a pilgrim, following the practices of ordinary visitors by touching the rock, lighting a candle and praying silently.
On Sept. 27, Leo will celebrate Mass on the sanctuary grounds and later lead the Marian torchlight procession and pray the rosary. Local authorities and public services are preparing for the visit, with particular emphasis on welcoming sick and vulnerable people.
The pope is also scheduled to meet privately with seven survivors of sexual abuse within the Church. French bishops confirmed that the meeting will take place in Lourdes.
The final stop, on Sept. 28, will be Metz in northeastern France, a city shaped by three wars and two annexations by Germany. Archbishop Philippe Ballot said Metz’s history also reflects the success of Franco-German reconciliation.
The visit will honor Robert Schuman, a French politician born German who helped lay the foundation for European integration in 1950 by proposing the European Coal and Steel Community. Archbishop Ballot described Schuman’s vision as transforming the resources that had fueled conflict between France and Germany into instruments of cooperation.
In Metz, Pope Leo will travel by popemobile to Saint-Étienne Cathedral, known as the “Lantern of God” because of its extensive stained-glass windows. He will celebrate Mass for about 12,000 people, with thousands more expected from Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
French bishops described broad enthusiasm for the visit across social groups, attributing it to what Cardinal Aveline called a strong spiritual thirst in France. Bishop Bertrand said the desire to meet the pope also extended beyond Catholics, noting that some Algerian Muslims had told him they planned to attend the event on the Champs-Élysées.
The scale of the preparations is reflected in the rapid registration for the youth vigil, the expected crowds in Paris and Lourdes, and the reported booking of all hotel rooms in Metz. Organizers said the pope was pleased to visit France and was working on speaking French during the trip.
Papal visits reinforce Catholic identity amid secular European politics
Papal visits can reinforce Catholic identity in secular Europe, but not by seeking political control. Their deeper effect is to remind Catholics—and the wider public—that Christianity remains part of Europe’s historical, cultural, and moral inheritance.
A papal visit gathers Catholics around visible practices of faith: Mass, pilgrimage, Marian devotion, confession, prayer, and public witness. Benedict XVI’s journeys to Lourdes, Santiago de Compostela, Barcelona, and the United Kingdom presented Catholicism not merely as private belief, but as a living community shaped by worship and missionary responsibility. He described Europe as possessing a “Christian soul” expressed in its history and culture.
Such visits also connect present-day Catholics with the saints, shrines, cathedrals, and institutions that formed European society. John Paul II argued that Europe cannot fully understand its identity without acknowledging its Christian roots, which influenced its art, law, philosophy, and culture.
The papal message is not simply nostalgic. It challenges a secular politics that may treat religion as irrelevant or regard public religious expression as inherently threatening. Francis told the European Parliament that Christianity’s contribution should enrich, rather than endanger, the secular institutions of the European Union. He linked Europe’s Christian inheritance with human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity, and peace.
This is particularly significant where secularization has weakened institutional religious practice. John Paul II observed that, despite strong secularizing trends in Austria, large numbers of people still regarded themselves as rooted in Christian faith. A papal visit can make that continuing identity publicly visible.
Catholic teaching does not require Europe to become confessional or for the Church to replace the state. Benedict XVI explicitly said that the Church does not claim the prerogative of the state and wishes to engage society through dialogue.
Francis similarly defended a “healthy secularity”: religion and politics should remain distinct, while cooperating for the common good. This means that Catholic identity should enter public life through persuasion, service, moral reasoning, and solidarity—not coercion or political manipulation.
Papal visits therefore have a dual political effect. They resist the idea that European unity requires cultural uniformity, while also encouraging cooperation across nations. Francis described Europe as a family whose unity depends on respecting the particular histories and traditions of its peoples.
The Church’s public presence can also be socially constructive. Francis connected popular devotion and Christian community life with hospitals, schools, charitable institutions, and cooperation with civil authorities in serving the poor.
The limitation is that a papal visit cannot by itself reverse secularization or restore mass religious practice. Its influence is principally symbolic, spiritual, and cultural. It strengthens Catholic identity when Catholics receive the visit as a call to conversion and mission, rather than merely as a cultural spectacle.
In short, papal visits reinforce Catholic identity by making faith publicly visible, recovering Europe’s Christian memory, and proposing Christianity as a resource for human dignity and the common good—while respecting religious freedom and the legitimate autonomy of secular political institutions.