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Pope Leon XIV 2026 France visit

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2026-09-23 23:21 UTC → 2026-09-24 02:49 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In late September 2026, Pope Leon XIV, the first American pope, began a four-day apostolic pilgrimage to France, themed ‘so that the world may have life’. The visit, scheduled from September 25 to 28, is expected to draw massive crowds, including an estimated one million visitors in Paris. The trip is estimated to cost approximately 27 million euros, a figure that has drawn scrutiny given the financial state of the French Church. Security efforts involve 15,000 personnel. The visit commenced on Friday, September 25, with a symbolic gesture in which church bells across the country rang in unison for seven minutes at 10:00 AM to welcome the Pope upon his arrival at Orly Airport. Air France selected Clémence Coussono, a female pilot with 35 years of experience, to command the Airbus A321 transporting the Pontiff between Paris, Lourdes, and Metz-Nancy-Lorraine. In Paris, the Pope’s itinerary includes a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace and a scheduled address at UNESCO regarding education, peace, and human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. Other planned engagements include a visit to Notre-Dame and a prayer vigil with 80,000 young people at the Stade de France. During this vigil, the Pope is expected to perform the historic act of venerating the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil, marking the first time in modern history the relic has been officially removed from its basilica. A major mass is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at the Place de la Concorde, with approximately 600,000 people registered to attend. To respect the principle of state laïcité (secularism), President Macron will not attend the major masses; Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Brigitte Macron will represent him. The pilgrimage continues with visits to Lourdes and Metz. In Lourdes, the Pope is scheduled to hold a private meeting with seven survivors of sexual abuse to discuss the Church’s handling of such cases and will become the first pontiff to venerate the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil.

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