Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday for a four-day trip. This visit marks the first official visit by a pope to France, a country that is highly secular, in the last 18 years.
Pope's Itinerary
Pope Leo was welcomed at Orly Airport in Paris by Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, and will remain in the country until Monday. The pope's itinerary includes a meeting with Macron at the Élysée Palace, a speech at UNESCO headquarters, leading a Vespers service at Notre-Dame Cathedral, and holding a mass for about 80,000 young people at the Stade de France on Friday.
Meeting with Victims and Global Issues
Pope Leo is also scheduled to hold another mass for 600,000 people at Place de la Concorde on the Champs-Élysées on Saturday before traveling to Lourdes, a famous pilgrimage site for Catholics near the Spanish border. During his trip to France, Pope Leo was asked by a CNN reporter about his thoughts on Donald Trump's efforts to ban media coverage of him. Pope Leo told reporters, "I am very happy to be here, you are all welcomed."
Pope Leo, who recently had to return home alone due to flight issues, took the opportunity to apologize to reporters. He said, "I want to personally apologize for an incident in which I had no role, but I know that this has caused dissatisfaction among some of you that we could not make the flight together to Rome."
Pope Leo expects to address global issues such as artificial intelligence and the new risks this technology poses to international security and peace during his meetings with Macron. In his speech at the Vatican, Leo stated that leaders must act "wisely" in the face of this new technology; a technology that, according to him, raises questions about human nature.
The pope is also looking to improve the overall situation of the Catholic Church in France, where public opinion has turned sharply negative following a report in 2021 about abuses that occurred over seven decades. He will meet with victims of church abuses during this trip.
Pope Leo, who has faced significant criticism regarding wars in Ukraine, Iran, and other parts of the world, stated that his goal for this trip is to be a "pilgrim of peace" in times of war.
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