Visit of Pope Leo XIV to Paris: giant mass on Place de la Concorde and meeting with migrants

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• Live Pope's visit to Paris: "I am amazed by the number of people present today", declares Leo XIV in front of newly baptized people

This afternoon, 600,000 people are due to gather along the Champs-Elysées for an XXL mass on the Place de la Concorde.

What you need to know

New stage in the Pope's Parisian program. Leo “I’m amazed at the number of people here today,” he said. This afternoon, 600,000 people are due to gather on the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Elysées for a giant mass. A show of strength for the Catholic Church, which ended up closing registrations faster than expected in the face of strong demand from the faithful. Follow the event live.

• The Pope meets migrants. In the morning, Leo On this occasion, he pleaded for “living together in dignity and peace”.

• XXL crowds, XXL constraints. The faithful will be able to gather on the Place de la Concorde, or the Champs-Elysées, from 9 a.m., and the Church recommends being in the area before 11 a.m., while the celebration will begin four hours later, after the pope has brought the crowd back in the popemobile. Note that many metro stations will be closed around the Champs-Elysées, which may force pilgrims to do some walking. A one and a half hour mass, devoted largely to the Virgin Mary, in front of a large golden cross four meters high suspended above the altar.

• Direction Lourdes, via Orly. The sovereign pontiff will leave the capital at the end of the day, heading towards Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées), via the special plane made available to him by the company Air France. He will have time to pray in the grotto of the city sanctuary, where the 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous are said to have occurred in 1858.

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#POPE “Above all, I feel great gratitude for the unpredictable work of God,” declares Pope Leo XIV from the Catholic Institute of Paris. The sovereign pontiff said he was “amazed by the number of people who are coming forward today in the name of faith.” In total, 600,000 people are expected at Place de la Concorde, in Paris, where a giant mass will be held at 3 p.m.

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#POPE Leo XIV is currently at the Catholic Institute of Paris (which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year). There he met the members of the Provincial Synodal Assembly, the catechumens and the neophytes.

François-Xavier Bellamy

vice-president of the Les Républicains (LR) party 0 sec ago

“All French people feel that something is happening with this pope’s visit.”

#PAPE The pope's visit to France is "a moment of unity, to overcome our quarrels", believes MEP François-Xavier Bellamy, vice-president of the Les Républicains (LR) party, on franceinfo, who was present at the vigil of the pope and young people at the Stade de France (Saint-Denis) last night and will attend the giant mass on the Place de la Concorde in Paris this afternoon.

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#PAPE During his visit to the Elysée, the Pope spoke with several political leaders. Among them, the vice-president of the RN Sébastien Chenu, who tells this morning on franceinfo that the exchange certainly “come down to fairly agreed formulas”, but “quite moving because meeting the Holy Father is not meeting a head of state like any other”. “Being there seemed important to me and I think that the President of the Republic was right to organize this meeting,” he added.

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#POPE Many faithful are already gathering around the Champs-Elysées in Paris to participate in the giant mass which will be hosted by the Pope at 3 p.m. Among them, a faithful told BFMTV to have been there since 5 a.m. this morning so as not to miss anything of the event. In total, 600,000 people are expected.

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#PAPE The Pope is currently at Maison Bakhita, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, an association dedicated to welcoming migrants. “I send a special thank you to those who shared their testimony,” says Leo XIV. “Saint Bakhita invites us to see those who are invisible, to liberate those whom the economy and culture today reduce to slavery.”

It's 9 a.m., here's the first update on the news of the day:

#PAPE Second day in Paris for Pope Leo XIV. After the festive vigil at the Stade de France last night, some 600,000 faithful are expected in the capital for a giant mass under high security. Follow this day in our live stream.

#ARAMBURU Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier were sentenced to respectively twenty-six and nineteen years of criminal imprisonment for the murder of former Argentine rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu, the tragic outcome of an alcoholic bout in a Parisian brasserie in 2022.

#CLIMATE Around 260 climate mobilizations are planned throughout the day, in the wake of a record summer for heat and fires in France. The organizers are calling in particular for an emergency, adaptation and mitigation plan, as well as fiscal measures.

#VOLLEY Thanks to their victory in the semi-final of the Euro volleyball against Finland last night, the Blues face Poland in the final this evening. The Red and Whites will want to take revenge after their defeat against the Blues in the final of the Paris 2024 Games.