Pope Leo XIV drew an estimated 800,000 people to central Paris on Saturday for a vast open-air Mass, filling one of France’s most historic public spaces as he urged Catholics to share their faith openly in an “increasingly secularized society.”
Crowds waving flags lined the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde as the American pope traveled about 1.2 miles through the French capital in the popemobile before celebrating Mass.
The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended—about 200,000 more than the number who registered ahead of time.
Families and other worshippers gathered along the route, lifting babies and young children toward the popemobile as Leo greeted the crowds on his way through Paris.
Pope Leo XIV blesses a child and waves to the crowd from the popemobile as he rides down the Champs-Élysées Avenue on his way to the Place de la Concorde on Saturday in Paris. (Corbis via Getty Images)
“Seeing you gathered here,” Leo told the faithful, was like looking upon the “heirs of France’s long and beautiful history of faith,” according to Vatican News.
He urged French Catholics to share that religious inheritance rather than keep it to themselves.
Pope Leo XIV waves to the faithful as he arrives at Place de la Concorde to preside over Mass during his apostolic journey to France Saturday. (Getty Images)
“Let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied,” Leo said. “From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout France.”
The Mass took place against the backdrop of France’s longstanding commitment to secularism, giving the event added significance.
Pope Leo XIV presides over a Mass at Place de la Concorde on Saturday, during the second day of his apostolic journey to France. (Getty Images)
Place de la Concorde was once an execution site during the French Revolution, where the devoutly Catholic King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were guillotined. Today, the square is strongly linked to the French republic and is a regular venue for Bastille Day celebrations.
The choice of the square for a papal Mass drew criticism from advocates of France’s strict separation of church and state, who said a different location would have been more suitable.
The gathering also created a vivid contrast with another major Paris spectacle held just two years earlier.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics sparked international controversy over a tableau featuring drag performers. Christian leaders and other critics said the scene mocked Christianity.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Yankees Catcher Austin Wells Finds His Swing Just When New York Needs a Surge
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the popemobile as he rides down the Champs-Élysées Avenue on his way to Place de la Concorde to celebrate a solemn outdoor Mass on Sept. 26, 2026, in Paris, France. The pontiff is making his first official visit to France from Sept. 25-28 with stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz. While in Paris, his agenda includes a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, a prayer service at Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the open-air Mass along the Champs-Élysées. The trip marks the first papal visit to the European country since Benedict XVI visited in 2008. (Corbis via Getty Images)
The French Bishops’ Conference said the ceremony “included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity,” adding that Christians worldwide had been “hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes.”
Critics widely viewed the tableau as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” an interpretation disputed by Olympic organizers.
Leo’s visit comes as France records a notable rise in adult conversions, even while overall participation in Catholicism continues its decades-long decline.
According to The Associated Press, annual adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016, reaching 13,000 this year. Overall baptisms, however, have dropped sharply over the longer term—from 513,000 in 1980 to 186,000 in 2024.
A large crowd gathers on Avenue de la Grande Armee and watches Pope Leo XIV arrive on a giant screen with the Arc de Triomphe in the background in Paris, France, on Sept. 26, 2026. French and Vatican flags wave during the gathering organized for the papal visit to Paris. (Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Leo thanked French families, young people, catechumens and new Christians for bearing witness to their faith in what he described as an “increasingly secularized society,” according to Vatican News.
The scale of the pope’s reception was already apparent the night before the Mass as some 80,000 young people packed France’s national stadium Friday for a vigil featuring fireworks and a theatrical retelling of the country’s Catholic history.
“Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence,” Leo told them in French. “Thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!”
Worshippers gather on the Champs-Élysées in Paris as Pope Leo XIV celebrates an outdoor mass at Place de la Concorde on Sept. 26, 2026. Pope Leo XIV is making his first official visit to France from Sept. 25-28 with stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz. (Corbis via Getty Images)
At Saturday’s Mass, Leo invoked France’s Catholic heritage and drew on the biblical image of “living water,” telling worshippers that Jesus Christ could satisfy humanity’s desire for “life, truth, unity, peace, communion, and happiness.”
He also invoked French Catholic saints including Irenaeus, Martin and Francis de Sales while praising those who continue to work for “life, the family, truth, peace, fraternity and justice.”
The sea of people rivaled some of the largest public celebrations to fill the Champs-Élysées in recent decades, including France’s World Cup victories in 1998 and 2018, according to the AP.
Worshippers gather on the Champs-Élysées in Paris for an outdoor mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 26, 2026. The pontiff said it was possible to “live together in dignity and peace” during the service, which drew hundreds of thousands of believers. The mass is part of Pope Leo XIV’s first official visit to France from Sept. 25-28, with stops in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz. While in Paris, the pontiff’s agenda includes a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, a prayer service at Notre-Dame Cathedral, and other engagements. The trip marks the first papal visit to the European country since Benedict XVI visited in 2008. (Corbis via Getty Images)
Leo’s four-day trip to France began Friday with a visit to the restored Notre Dame Cathedral, the first by a pope since the devastating 2019 fire.
He traveled Saturday night to Lourdes, one of the Catholic Church’s most visited pilgrimage sites.