Pope Leo XIV Draws Massive Crowds and Addresses Global Issues During High-Profile Visit to France

Pope Leo XIV received a superstar welcome during his Apostolic Journey to France, drawing massive crowds in Paris and Lourdes despite the nation's highly secularized culture. Around 800,000 people lined the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris, while roughly 150,000 attended an open-air Mass in Lourdes, surpassing numbers from the previous papal visit in 2008. Throughout the four-day trip, the Chicago-born pontiff delivered most of his speeches in French, tackling themes such as the revitalization of faith, artificial intelligence, and the clerical sexual abuse scandal.

While France has experienced a long-term decline in church attendance, French bishops recently reported a surprising 20% increase in baptisms, with many young adults showing a renewed openness to religious faith. Pope Leo addressed young people during a jubilant prayer vigil at the Stade de France and emphasized Europe's need to draw upon its Christian roots. His visit also navigated France's strict separation between church and state, featuring historic backdrops such as the Place de la Concorde and a presidential appearance by President Emmanuel Macron at a Mass in Metz.

On the world stage, Pope Leo emerged as a prominent voice on artificial intelligence, calling for stronger guardrails and ethical foundations while warning against a "paradise of machines." Contrastingly, he distanced himself from panic, stating that experts' concerns must be taken seriously rather than dismissed. The pope also cautioned against the misuse of Christianity by far-right political groups and warned that extremist viewpoints combined with religion do not represent authentic Christian teachings.

Addressing internal church matters, Pope Leo met privately with seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse to listen to their testimonies and reaffirm his commitment to preventing future harm. The visit also highlighted ongoing controversies surrounding mosaic artworks by Rev. Marko Rupnik in Lourdes, which have been covered indefinitely as Rupnik faces a Vatican church trial.