Pope Leo XIV Begins Four-Day Visit to Secular France
Pope Leo XIV arrives in France for a four-day visit to Paris, Lourdes, and Metz, where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron and appeal for respect for human dignity amid debates over abortion and end-of-life legislation.
Pope Leo XIV arrived at Paris's Orly airport on Friday for the start of a four-day visit to France, where he will meet with President Emmanuel Macron and call for greater respect for the dignity of every human life in a country that has enshrined abortion rights in its constitution and recently approved legislation allowing terminally ill adults to receive lethal medication.
The visit is the first by a pope in 18 years and has drawn an unexpectedly high level of public interest. Church bells across France were expected to toll at 10 a.m. as the papal charter flight landed, and upward of a million people are expected to turn out to see Leo during his stay. The pope was greeted on the tarmac by Macron before the two were to hold formal talks at the Élysée Palace.
Leo's itinerary includes a speech at UNESCO headquarters, vespers at the newly reopened Notre-Dame cathedral, and a large youth vigil at a Paris stadium on Friday evening. On Saturday, he will celebrate Mass at the Place de la Concorde. He will also travel to the Catholic shrine at Lourdes and to the northeastern city of Metz.
The visit comes as the Catholic Church in France has lost much of its influence on ethical issues. French lawmakers voted in 2024 to enshrine the right to abortion in the constitution, and parliament recently gave final approval to a bill permitting adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. The French Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed both measures, in keeping with church teaching that human life must be protected from conception until natural death. The hierarchy's standing has also been weakened by secularizing trends across Western Europe and by a credibility crisis stemming from France's reckoning with clergy sexual abuse.
France's distinctive model of secularism, known as laïcité, guarantees the freedom to believe or not to believe and requires the state to remain neutral toward all religions. Key rules were defined by a historic 1905 law intended primarily to distance the state from the then-powerful influence of the Catholic Church.
Vatican editorial director Andrea Tornielli said the pope is not expected to scold the French over the abortion and end-of-life legislation. Instead, he is expected to summon them to a fundamental reflection on what it means to be human today. «The pope is not landing in the City of Light to condemn anyone, nor to barge into the French political debate, which is as polarized as that of every other European country,» Tornielli wrote in Vatican News. «He comes as a shepherd to meet a people, their history, and their culture.»
Leo is also hoping to draw attention to his appeals for peace at a time of war and for greater reflection as artificial intelligence raises questions about the very essence of what it means to be human. Macron's office said Friday's meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence, along with European and international affairs. The talks are also expected to address end-of-life care and the protection of children.
For Macron, who is barred from seeking a third term in May elections and has seven months left in office, hosting the American pope is something of a capstone. Pope Francis repeatedly declined to make a proper state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate. «For a president of the republic as Macron, who is at the end of his mandate, it can be important to be aside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity. It's not new,» said Charles Mercier, director of history and sociology of Catholicism studies at Paris EPHE university. Macron's approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France's growing debt and deficit and deteriorating public services.
Security for the visit is on a scale reminiscent of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Paris police prefecture spokesperson Hélène Denéchère said mounted police, bomb disposal experts, anti-drone measures, and counter-terrorism measures were being deployed. In Paris alone, plans called for 14,000 police officers, gendarmes, and military personnel and 2,500 firefighters on Friday, with only slightly lower numbers on Saturday.
«We are implementing a system similar to what was in place during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which means a protective perimeter around which other security perimeters will be added,» Denéchère said.
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