Pope Leo XIV Faces France’s Faith and Secularism Divide

Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to make his first official visit to France from 25 to 28 September, with large crowds expected in Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region. The visit will be the first official papal trip to Paris since Benedict XVI visited in 2008. French police expect as many as 250,000 people to line the streets for the pope’s procession, while approximately 80,000 tickets have been sold for a youth Mass at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The article attributes the public enthusiasm partly to the long gap since a pope last visited the capital. Charles Mercier, a specialist in the history and sociology of Catholicism at the École pratique des hautes études, also points to Leo XIV’s popularity beyond France’s Catholic community. Since his election in May 2025, the pope has portrayed himself as attentive and connected to everyone. During his time in the Paris region, Leo XIV is expected to meet President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace and hold discussions with government authorities, civil society representatives and members of the diplomatic corps. He will also visit UNESCO. The trip will then continue to Lourdes on Sunday, where he is expected to meet seven survivors of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The survivors include a former pupil of Notre Dame de Bétharram, a Catholic school in southwestern France. In 2024, more than 230 people filed complaints alleging corporal punishment and sexual abuse at the institution. The planned meeting gives the visit a significant pastoral and accountability dimension alongside its public and diplomatic events.

France is preparing for Pope Leo XIV’s first historic visit to the country, with security arrangements taking priority in the days before his arrival. The report, issued four days ahead of the trip, says preparations have been underway for months and that the Pope is expected to travel to three locations: Paris, Lourdes and Metz. The visit is scheduled to begin on Friday. Although the article provides limited detail about the itinerary, it identifies several sensitive issues that may shape the trip’s public and political context. These include the continuing consequences of clerical sexual abuse and debate surrounding France’s assisted-dying law. The report does not indicate how these issues will be addressed, but presents them as matters hanging over the Pope’s visit. The immediate focus, however, is national security. Police and other security services are apparently preparing for the Pope’s movements across the country, although the supplied article does not specify the scale or nature of the security operation. The report is presented by Camille Corcoran and appears to be a short France 24 video segment. Overall, the article serves as a concise preview of the visit rather than a detailed account of papal policy, public reactions or logistical arrangements. It establishes the destinations, the timing and the main controversies associated with the trip, while emphasizing that security remains the leading priority. No information is provided in the supplied text about meetings, speeches, expected attendance or the Pope’s responses to the sensitive issues mentioned.

Pope Leo XIV’s four-day visit to France, scheduled for September 25–28, will bring him to a country where Catholic teaching on abortion and assisted dying conflicts with recently adopted national policies. France constitutionally protected abortion in 2024 and has given final approval to legislation allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. The pope is expected to emphasize the Catholic Church’s belief that human life must be protected from conception through natural death, with the trip’s motto, “That the world may have life,” reflecting that focus. The visit also highlights France’s complex relationship with Catholicism. Although historically Catholic, France maintains strict secularism under the 1905 law separating church and state, while church influence has declined because of broader secularization and the clergy sexual-abuse crisis. Nevertheless, French bishops anticipate that about one million people will see the pope, encouraged by the strong public interest generated by his recent visit to Spain. Adult baptisms have increased sharply, especially among younger people attracted to traditional worship, but they remain small compared with the long-term decline in baptisms and Mass attendance. Leo’s itinerary extends beyond religious issues. He will address UNESCO on artificial intelligence, education and art, advocating stronger AI regulation and cautioning developers to slow down. He will then visit Metz, the birthplace of European integration pioneer Robert Schuman, to discuss peace amid wars in Ukraine and elsewhere. The pope’s positions on AI place him at odds with the Trump administration’s more innovation-focused approach. The trip will also confront the church’s abuse legacy. Leo is due to meet seven survivors, including an adult victim, while French bishops continue a compensation program established after a 2021 report estimated that 330,000 children had been abused by clergy and church workers over seven decades. In Lourdes, he may also face questions about the case involving mosaic artist Marko Rupnik, who is accused by more than two dozen women and is being tried in a Vatican court.