An estimated 700,000 people took over the Champs-Élysées avenue and the Place de la Concorde public square in the heart of Paris on Saturday to see Pope Leo XIV celebrate an open-air Mass, the biggest event of his four-day visit to France – his first official papal trip to the country.
Before the service, the 71-year-old leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics rode down the avenue in his open-top “popemobile” and waved to crowds pressed tightly against security barriers.
Phones in hands raised as high as possible as onlookers tried to catch a lasting glimpse of this fleeting but historic moment. Leo XIV stopped often, blessing babies passed forward by volunteers as well as people with disabilities in the front ranks of the crowd, before he eventually took to the stage at Place de la Concorde under a giant white canopy.
Read moreLive: Vatican estimates 700,000 people gathered for Pope Leo’s Mass in central Paris
A choir and organ music accompanied a song of prayer as the sun broke through the grey skies. Dressed in white garments embellished with olive branches, Leo XIV urged Catholics to seek happiness in faith rather than material things.
“It is truly good and pleasant when brothers and sisters come together and glorify the greatness of God,” he said, his words only interrupted by the sound of helicopters in the sky. “I hope that my presence here today confirms your faith.”
Families lifted children onto their shoulders to watch the large screens that dotted the tree-lined avenue, while others sat quietly on the pavement, heads bowed, listening to his voice echo from massive speakers.
Volunteers ‘put the Church’s values into practice’
“Seeing the Pope in France is a once-in-a-lifetime event. So when I received an email asking me to volunteer for his visit, I said yes straight away,” says Angèle, a member of the French Scouts organisation since childhood. Having arrived on Friday from Rouen in Normandy, her role is to hand out French and Vatican flags. She also helps lost onlookers orient themselves in the maze of the crowd and many road closures.
While Angèle admits being disappointed not to have volunteered at the Stade de France Friday night, where Leo XIV held a vigil for young people, she thinks that the Mass will “bring people together” and “do us good”.
Next to her, Frédéric, aged 60, is also wearing the volunteers’ fluorescent yellow T-shirt.
“I regularly help out at this sort of major Catholic event. It’s a perfect opportunity to be of service and put the Church’s values into practice.”
“I was in Marseille for the pope’s last visit to France,” he recalls. “It was completely different from today. Everyone was singing. It was less formal.”
‘We live in an individualistic society’
Marie-Madeleine, 45, and Marie-Élisabeth, 44, are both nuns from Autun in France’s Burgundy region.
“The Mass is a way for us to say out loud and proudly that Christians are here,” Marie-Élisabeth says. “We live in an individualistic society. France is a place where power and money reign supreme, there is not enough openness between people here. I really hope that Leo XIV’s visit can bring meaning and positivity to those who are stuck in that mindset,” Marie-Madeleine chimes in.
Both would like to thank the pope for his courage to “go against the grain” and insist on the importance of “staying human” in a world they see as “disconnected”.
“It must not be an easy load for the pope to carry,” says Marie-Élisabeth.
‘Why isn’t the pope a woman?’
Emmanuelle, aged 36, came with her two daughters, Olivia and Margaux, aged 8 and 9.
“My grandmother always told me that she’d had an incredible, life-changing experience when she attended John Paul II’s Mass,” says the US Protestant, who has been living in Paris for six years. “So it was important for me to come and, above all, to bring my daughters along so that I could experience it for myself.”
After Mass, the trio will meet up with cousins who have come from Normandy for the occasion.
“Proof that religion brings us together!” she smiles.
Sitting down, her daughter Olivia beams. She’s delighted to be there to see “someone important we usually see on the telly”.
As they chat, she finally blurts out a question that’s been bugging her: “Why isn’t the Pope ever a woman?”
Creating a more ‘intimate’ relationship with God
Kate commuted from the northeastern suburbs of Paris with her family for the occasion. The young woman grew up Catholic and for her, the Mass is an opportunity for “Christians to support each other, show up in numbers and celebrate together”.
As someone who attends church regularly and pays visit to sacred sites in the Philippines where her family is originally from, she hoped Leo XIV can give her pointers on how to create a more “intimate” relationship with God.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like going to church or expressing my faith externally, I’d like to have a more personal relationship to my religion,” she says.
A public event to shed light on a ‘hidden’ religion
Tristan, 53, his son Louis-Calixte, 10, and his sister Alice, 46, live about 300 metres from the Arc de Triomphe.
“Not only is it very practical for us to be here, but I got to see Jean-Paul II in 1991 and it really marked me. I wanted my kids to get to experience this moment too,” Tristan says.
“I feel like Catholicism in France is quite hidden. We don’t get a lot of big public moments like this, so it’s nice to be seen and share this moment with other Christians,” says Alice.
Tristan’s son goes to a Catholic school in Paris. When asked what he would say to Leo XIV if he could meet him in person, Louis-Calixte says he would “ask him to take a selfie!”
Celebrity-spotting in Paris
Justine, 28, and Thomas, 25, came to see Leo XIV because “he is a very important figure” but didn’t stay for the Mass. Their second objective for the day is to try and spot another celebrity – Céline Dion.
“Her hotel isn’t far from here, so we’re going to peruse the area and see if we can catch a glimpse of her,” Justine says.
The two say they aren’t necessarily very religious but go to church “every once in a while”.
‘Religion resists!’
Jean-Albert, 60, almost didn’t make it to the Mass. He works as a mason in Normandy and was supposed to work today.
“Yesterday at 6pm, my boss called me and said that I could have the day off. At 9pm I had the ticket in hand, and today I almost missed the bus our parish had organised to drive over,” he laughs.
Jean-Albert has always been Catholic and was surprised to see just how many people have showed up for the Mass.
“It’s proof that faith moves people! I know there are atheists among us, people who aren’t necessarily convinced, but here we are. Religion resists!”
