25 September 2026 | 06:43

READING: 2 minutes

The Pope is preparing to make his fifth apostolic trip. From tomorrow until 28 September, Pope Leo will be in France, a country that in recent years has seen a rise in young people and adults finding the faith and asking to be baptized and to receive the sacraments. In 2025 more than 20,000 new believers were received, and the previous year over 15,000. The Pontiff will visit Paris, then Lourdes—the Marian heart of France—and finally Metz, the birthplace of Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union. In Metz, with EU representatives present, the Pope will address Europe and will very likely hold bilateral meetings with some heads of state. The trip’s motto is taken from John 6:51: “That the world may have life.” French President Emmanuel Macron will welcome Pope Leo XIV to France but, as announced by the Élysée, will not attend the liturgical celebrations.

In detail: tomorrow the Pope will meet Macron at the Élysée; then he will visit UNESCO headquarters, celebrate Vespers at Notre-Dame, preside over a youth vigil at the Stade de France, and celebrate a solemn Mass in the Place de la Concorde, which recorded 600,000 registrations. The Pontiff will then travel to Lourdes, where he will visit the Grotto of Massabielle, celebrate Mass at the Sanctuary, meet the sick and care workers, and participate in the traditional torchlight rosary procession (rosary aux flambeaux). During his visit to France, the Pope will also have private meetings with some victims of sexual abuse by priests. On 28 September in Metz there will be an interreligious gathering with moments of reflection for peace and European unity at the Robert Schuman congress centre and at Saint Stephen’s Cathedral. From tomorrow, the American Pope will be at the heart of the European project and of secularism.

“The Pope,” Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich told SIR, “is not coming to solve or to treat a pre-electoral climate. He does not present himself as a politician and does not arrive with a political program. He comes rather with what he calls ‘disarming words’: words capable of restoring understanding within a people and a sense of unity. I believe that at a moment like this, the different parties and potential candidates chiefly need from the Pope words that foster reconciliation, rather than words that could further wound national unity. Therefore we can expect him to speak reassuringly, to inspire the desire to live together and to build a united country.”