Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in Paris for 800,000 people — PBS NewsHour

Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, attended by about 800,000 people, according to a Vatican estimate. That is approximately 200,000 more than the number of people who registered in advance, PBS NewsHour reports.

Before the service, the pontiff traveled in the popemobile along a two-kilometer stretch of the Champs-Élysées to Place de la Concorde. Central Paris was closed to vehicle traffic for the event. Those present included not only Catholics: people of other denominations and people who do not profess a religion also joined the event.

A call to faith

In his homily, Leo XIV called on those present not to keep their faith only to themselves, but to share it with others. The pontiff prayed that the “living water of the Holy Spirit” would spread throughout France.

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The Pope’s visit to France lasted four days. It began the previous day with his arrival in Paris and a prayer at the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was the Pope’s first prayer in the church since the 2019 fire. After Paris, Leo XIV traveled to the Catholic shrine in Lourdes.

Religiosity in France

In the morning, the Pope spoke at the Catholic Institute of Paris and drew attention to the growing number of converts. The number of adult baptisms in France has tripled since 2016 and reached 13,000 this year. At the same time, the total number of baptisms in the country is declining: there were 513,000 in 1980 and 186,000 in 2024.

The choice of Place de la Concorde for the Mass drew criticism from supporters of France’s strict principle of secularism, based on the 1905 law on the separation of church and state. Organizers said it was the only location in central Paris capable of accommodating such a large number of people.