Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday for the Vatican’s first state visit to the country in 18 years, with artificial intelligence, young Catholics, migration and Europe’s future among the key issues on his agenda.
The 71-year-old pontiff, the first American pope and whose paternal grandmother was born in France, landed outside Paris shortly before 10 a.m. local time.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were scheduled to welcome the pope on the tarmac, marking Leo’s first official visit to France and the first by a Vatican head since Pope Benedict XVI visited in September 2008.
About one million people were expected to attend events in Paris during the first two days of the four-day trip. The main event will be a mass on Saturday at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Élysées.
Leo is also scheduled to visit Lourdes, one of the world’s major Catholic pilgrimage sites, and Metz, near the German border and associated with Robert Schuman, one of the founding figures of the European Union.
During his visit to the presidential palace on Friday, the pope is expected to address France’s leaders before delivering a speech at UNESCO headquarters focused on the need for greater regulation of artificial intelligence.
He will later travel by popemobile through central Paris, waving to crowds along a 2.5-kilometre route to Notre Dame Cathedral. Leo will be the first pope to visit the cathedral since its restoration following the devastating 2019 fire.
The pontiff will also meet about 80,000 young Catholics aged 17 to 35 at a stadium in Saint-Denis, where prayers and hymns are scheduled.
Despite France’s secular character, with only about five per cent of its 69 million residents attending Catholic services regularly, adult baptisms have increased in recent years even as infant baptisms have declined.
The pope’s visit comes seven months before France’s presidential election, with migration, artificial intelligence, clerical sexual abuse and peace in Europe among the issues expected to feature during his engagements.
In Lourdes on Sunday, Leo is scheduled to meet seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse. A 2021 independent inquiry estimated that about 330,000 people were abused as minors by clergy or other Church members in France over a seven-decade period.
The final leg of his visit will take him to Metz on Monday, where he is expected to deliver a speech on peace in Europe as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
Several French political figures, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe, are expected to attend Saturday’s mass, while Macron will not be present.
