Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday for a four-day visit, marking the fourth major international trip of his papacy since his election last May. His visit to France, a country historically known as “the eldest daughter of the church,” underscores his broader effort to unify Catholics worldwide, including those in traditionally Catholic but increasingly secular regions.
The pope’s itinerary began in Paris and includes stops in Lourdes and Metz. In Paris, he will conduct a Mass at Place de la Concorde, a symbolic site in the French Republic, where authorities anticipate a crowd of up to 600,000. On Monday, his visit will conclude in Metz with an address at the Robert Schuman Center, named after a key architect of European unity. This stop reflects Leo’s endorsement of multilateral cooperation embodied by the European Union, which has faced criticism from right-leaning political factions in both Europe and the United States.
Leo’s trip comes only months after visits to Spain and precedes planned journeys to Africa and Latin America, the continents where Catholicism is either expanding rapidly or closely tied to social justice movements. This diverse travel agenda signals his ambition to be a pope for the full spectrum of the Catholic faithful—from longstanding members in secularized countries to burgeoning communities in the Global South.
Scholars highlight that Leo’s approach marks a departure from that of his predecessor, Pope Francis. While Francis, originally from Argentina, emphasized outreach to marginalized “peripheries” and did not undertake official state visits to France or Spain, Leo appears focused on fostering unity by engaging with historically Catholic populations as well. “He’s not going to ignore historically Catholic countries like France,” noted a historian specializing in church history.
France’s Catholic population has undergone significant changes in recent years. Though fewer than half of the country’s nearly 70 million people identify as Catholic, and just 5 percent attend church regularly, immigrant communities from North and Sub-Saharan Africa have contributed to a resurgence in adult baptisms, which nearly tripled from 3,600 in 2021 to 10,400 in 2024. Experts attribute this growth to factors including the search for spiritual meaning after the pandemic and the influence of social media, as well as changing religious practices where adults increasingly seek baptism later in life.
During his visit, Leo will engage with newly baptized adults and those preparing for sacraments at the Catholic Institute of Paris and will hold a prayer vigil at Stade de France. Among the recent converts is Malick-Emmanuel Seck, a lawyer originally from Senegal, who was moved by Catholic liturgy after arriving in France from a predominantly secular environment.
The pope’s visit also includes a stop at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters, where he is expected to emphasize the importance of protecting human dignity amid the rise of artificial intelligence, a topic he briefly addressed during his flight to France.
By bridging traditionally devout communities and newly vibrant Catholic circles, Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France aims to reinforce his vision of a unified, inclusive Church that resonates across cultural and ideological divides.