Some 700,000 faithful flocked to the mass celebrated by Leo Hundreds of buses from Brittany, Normandy, Burgundy and all over France converged on the Champs Elysées hours before the appearance of the pontiff, hailed as he passed by with the popemobile with cries of "Leo, Leo" and assisted by more than 400 young people as "volunteers of the altar."
A thousand choristers participated in singing the hymn of "Glory" that opened the liturgy, given by Leo XIV in French at the foot of the obelisk and followed by the faithful on fifty giant screens. More than 15,000 volunteers collaborated in organizing the unusual ceremony, with 2,500 communion stands and a ton of consecrated hosts baked for the occasion.
"France continues to be the eldest daughter of the Church and we are proving it on a day like today," declared Antoine Roux, 19, of the march, carrying the banner of the FRAT (the Fraternal), the association of young "pilgrims" who trooped towards the Arc de Triomphe hours before the start of the massive mass at three in the afternoon.
"Our parents abandoned their religion, but we have rediscovered it and no one is going to silence us: we want to make a lot of noise," proclaimed at his side Valentine Dupreu, 17 years old, who the night before was hailing the Pope among 80,000 faithful at the meeting with youth at the Stade de France.
With his yellow sweater that read "So that the world may have life," volunteer Gabriel Muller, who arrived from Alsace, predicted a before and after of Leo
The Pope, who on his first day in Paris attacked world leaders, warned against the risks of AI and condemned assisted dying, preferred to leave politics aside and gave a pastoral tone to his homily, echoing the words of the Gospel: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."
"I'm talking about the deepest and most existential thirst of the human being," he warned. "It is not so much a material thirst as a thirst for meaning, truth and plenitude that lives in the heart of each person." Reading slowly in French, with his gaze occasionally projected into the human river of the Champs-Elysées, the pontiff urged the faithful "to bring hope to where discouragement and spiritual dryness reign."
"May the living water of the Holy Spirit be poured out on France," added Leo XIV in a message addressed especially to Catholic girls. "Dear young people, you are the Church today. It is beautiful to see your enthusiasm, your commitment and your joy within the communities."
The Pope also thanked the work of "the families who persevere in their mission despite the difficulties" and finally had some words of gratitude "for the catechumens and neophytes who undertake the path of faith and conversion of Christian initiation."
The Pope, who left for Lourdes on Saturday on the next stop of his apostolic journey, began his last and intense day in Paris with a visit to an integration center for immigrants, the House of Josephine Bakhita (in honor of the Sudanese saint). Leo XIV heard there, among others, the testimonies of an Afghan refugee who fled the war and a Nigerian woman who escaped a prostitution ring.
"Saint Bakhita invites us to see those who are invisible, those who are enslaved by today's economy and culture, to honor the infinite dignity of each brother and sister," recalled the pontiff, who referred in passing to "the role of women in the construction of a civilization of love!"
From there the Pope went to the Catholic Institute of Paris and recited an Our Father in French in his meeting with the local curia and with lay people like Jawad, Marielle and Sophie, who recounted how they discovered the Catholic faith as adults.
"I am surprised by the number of people who come to the threshold of faith today and by the many adults who are asking for the sacraments of initiation into the Christian faith," warned Leo XIV, who congratulated himself on the 10,000 adults baptized in France in 2025 (twice as many as five years ago).
"Rediscovery of the Gospel"
"This phenomenon of people rediscovering the Gospel in the midst of a strongly secularized culture may seem paradoxical," the Pope stressed, without needing to remember that barely half of French people today recognize themselves as Catholics and that the number of "practitioners" of Sunday Mass is barely 5%. The number of priests has meanwhile been reduced by two thirds (from 25,000 to 9,000) since 1990.
"Secularism" has precisely become the hot potato of the Pope's visit, marked by the absence of Emmanuel Macron at the mass in Place de la Concorde, questioned by half of the French. "Honestly, many of us do not understand the president's decision," declared Vivienne Meunier, 52, from Nantes. "It is a lack of respect for the Pope and for millions of believers. Catholics are proud to practice our faith and we do not want to hide: what we need is precisely a greater presence in public spaces."
Macron's "sit-in", represented by his wife Brigitte and Prime Minister Sebástien Lecornu, gave an unusual political dimension to the event, with the prominent presence as a counterpoint of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, favorite for the 2027 presidential elections, and her dolphin Jordan Bardella. "General De Gaulle attended masses and no one tore their clothes," recalled National Group deputy Juan-Philippe Tanguy.
The candidate of The Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, attended the papal mass, as did the centrist candidates Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe. The general secretary of the Socialist Party Oliver Faure declined his presence, as did the Ecologists candidate Marine Tondelier.
