Nicolas Sarkozy will attend the mass celebrated by Léon XIV on Saturday at Place de la Concorde. Guest of CNews this Friday morning, the former President of the Republic explained this choice at length through his personal relationship with Christianity. “I am a Christian by birth,” but also a “Christian by culture” and “Christian by belief,” he said. “That’s three reasons to be at the Pope’s Mass.”
Asked what he would have done if he were still head of state, Nicolas Sarkozy replied without hesitation that he would also have attended the celebration. While Emmanuel Macron chose not to be present at mass, Nicolas Sarkozy refused to criticize this decision, which he considers “very personal”, while contesting the idea that secularism would require a president to abstain. “Some say “in the name of secularism, we must not go there”, that makes no sense. Secularism is not a ban. Secularism is a right. The right to believe or not to believe,” he said.
Asked about possible tensions between the Vatican and Emmanuel Macron, particularly after the law on the end of life, the former head of state did not wish to speculate. “I am not a Vaticanist,” he replied, preferring to see in the visit of Leo XIV “an event which goes beyond us, which brings together, which unites”. On the merits, Nicolas Sarkozy also expressed his reservations on the evolution of French legislation. “Personally, I thought that the Leonetti law was quite sufficient,” he explained, calling for the end of life to be approached “with great measure and humanity”. According to him, these decisions are primarily the responsibility of the “patient who suffers”, the “doctor who treats” and “the family who loves”.
A “quite considerable” security arrangement accompanies the visit of Leo XIV to France. Guest of TF1 this Friday morning, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the mobilization of 14,000 members of the police in Paris this Friday, then 12,000 on Saturday. Some 7,000 personnel will also be mobilized in Lourdes and 5,000 in Metz during the next stages of the papal trip.
This mobilization comes as the level of the terrorist threat remains high. The intelligence services, however, have not detected any project specifically targeting the sovereign pontiff. “There is no targeted threat against the Holy Father or against the event in general,” assured Laurent Nuñez, while recalling that France remains in “an extremely high context of terrorist threat”.
The authorities have also taken several preventive measures against people already known to the services. “A few dozen measures were taken for known individuals and for whom it is considered preferable that they not access the perimeter of this visit,” specified the minister. The Pope's close security will be ensured in coordination with teams from the Vatican. The Swiss guards will also make the trip and will work “in very close collaboration with officials from the police headquarters”, according to Laurent Nuñez.
Leo XIV's plane has just taken off from Rome-Fiumicino towards Paris. On board, 85 accredited journalists accompany the sovereign pontiff for this trip to France. Among them, around twenty French people, including Jean-Marie Guénois, our journalist specializing in religious issues at Le Figaro.
A little earlier this Friday morning, around 6 a.m., our journalist described the final preparations before departure from the terminal reserved for accredited persons. “There are 85 of us exactly, including around twenty French people,” he said, among Italian, American, German and Spanish journalists already busy preparing “a day that promises to be very busy.”
A few minutes before takeoff, Jean-Marie Guénois then joined the area reserved for the press in the papal plane, whose seats bear the Vatican arms. “At the start of the flight, the pope will come to greet us,” he explains. A tradition during papal trips: Leo XIV must go and meet the journalists who accompany him, without it being a press conference.
Leo XIV is expected at 10 a.m. at Orly, where a welcome ceremony will be held, before a first sequence at the Élysée at 11 a.m. He must then deliver a speech at UNESCO at 3 p.m., before a stroll in a popemobile announced from 4 p.m., then vespers at Notre-Dame at 5:15 p.m. The day will end at 9 p.m. at the Stade de France, where the Pope will participate in a vigil with young people.
“We are going to discover the great face of Pope Leo XIV which is revealed from trip to trip,” believes Jean-Marie Guénois.
Leo XIV already came to Paris, at least once, when he was superior of the Augustinian congregation. He returns this Friday to this city he knows little about, this time in the spotlight. Compared to his four previous trips to Türkiye and Lebanon, Monaco, Africa and Spain, his program is of rare intensity. The Pope arrives at 10 a.m. this Friday at Orly, from where he leaves Saturday shortly before 6 p.m. Several major events punctuate this visit, from the Élysée to Notre-Dame de Paris, including UNESCO, the Stade de France, the Catholic Institute of Paris and the giant mass on the Champs-Élysées. Seven speeches are on the program, but also hundreds of hands shaken, thousands of glances exchanged and a few babies kissed on the forehead, as the popemobile passes.
THE POPE’S BUSY 32 HOURS IN PARIS
Here are the major stages, with the main speeches, planned during the papal visit to France from Friday to Monday, which will take Leo XIV to Paris, Lourdes and Metz.
In Paris:
FRIDAY
11:00 a.m. - Meeting at the Élysée with the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron (speech planned)
3:00 p.m. - Visit to UNESCO headquarters (speech planned)
4:00 p.m. – Popemobile stroll from Boulevard Montparnasse to Place Saint-Michel
5:15 p.m. - Celebration of vespers at Notre-Dame with the clergy and stroll on the square
6:30 p.m. - Prayer vigil with young people aged 17 to 35 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and speeches (doors opening at 5:30 p.m.)
SATURDAY
3:00 p.m. – Solemn open-air mass at Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées
In Lourdes:
7:40 p.m. – Prayer at the grotto of the Lourdes sanctuary
SUNDAY
11:00 a.m. - Sunday mass on the meadow of the Lourdes sanctuary
9:00 p.m. – Torchlight procession (speech planned)
In Metz:
MONDAY
2:30 p.m. - Popemobile stroll to the cathedral
4:00 p.m. – Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral
7:00 p.m. - Departure from Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport
