PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of people filled Paris’ famed Champs-Élysées on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s large open-air Mass, demonstrating the Catholic Church’s continued ability to draw vast crowds in a country that was once deeply Catholic but is now officially secular.

Riding through the cheering, flag-waving crowd in his popemobile, the American pontiff traveled about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) along the grand avenue toward Place de la Concorde, one of the most recognizable and symbolically important sites in the French capital.

The Vatican put attendance at roughly 700,000, surpassing the 600,000 people who had registered beforehand. The extraordinary turnout highlighted the church’s enduring presence in France, even as regular worship has declined sharply and secularization has emptied churches across much of Europe.

During his homily, Leo urged believers not to hide their faith. “Let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied,” he said.

“From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout France,” the pope added.

Central Paris was closed to vehicles under an extensive security operation, but the gathering took on the feel of a citywide celebration. People of different religions, as well as those with no religious affiliation, joined Catholics in the crowd. The event brought together several generations, with parents carrying babies and young children forward so Leo could gently touch their heads as he passed.

Leontine Joseph, 42, a committed Catholic, attended with two friends of Moroccan heritage who were raised in Muslim culture. “The message of Pope Leo goes well beyond Catholic people; he speaks about social justice, for example,” she said.

An appeal to persevere against the trends
Throughout his four-day visit, Leo has encouraged French Catholics to remain steadfast “even amid the thorns” of an increasingly secular society. His trip began Friday with a visit and prayer at the rebuilt Notre Dame, the first papal appearance at the cathedral since its devastating 2019 fire. After leaving Paris, he is scheduled to pray at the Catholic shrine in Lourdes.

Earlier Saturday, at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the pope said he had been struck by the growing number of adult converts recorded in recent years. He expressed gratitude for what he called God’s “unfathomable work,” which he said defied purely statistical and sociological explanations.

“We must recognize, welcome and protect the small flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in the darkness of the night, the tiny seed that strives to grow even amid the thorns,” Leo said.

Adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016, reaching 13,000 this year. Still, religious experts and broader figures warn that the increase—also seen in secular Spain—has not reversed the church’s overall decline.

France recorded 513,000 baptisms in 1980. By 2024, that annual figure had fallen to 186,000.

Huge crowds come out to see the pope
The immense crowds and celebratory mood in central Paris evoked some of the country’s biggest shared public moments in recent history, including the celebrations that swept the Champs-Élysées after France won the soccer World Cup in 1998 and 2018.

Many attendees were not Catholic, but said they came to listen to the pope and reflect on his message.

DON’T MISS: Ben Affleck Says His Kids Don’t Want Love Advice After Two Divorces

“People are seeing a lot of really terrible images. This kind of event reminds people of what is really important in life,” said Thierry Chen, a 40-year-old Paris entrepreneur who is not Catholic. “You see a lot of different people here, so it’s not just about one race, religion or nation, but about a common belief in humankind.”

Sylvane Le Goff, 68, traveled from the Paris region with her grandchildren, aged 10 and 12, hoping to give them “unforgettable memories.” Raised Catholic but no longer a practicing believer, she said she wanted the experience to broaden the children’s outlook.

The pope appeared moved by the size and energy of the crowds, particularly during Friday night’s vigil, which kept the 71-year-old pontiff out until almost 11 p.m. after an already demanding first day.

Around 80,000 young people gathered at the national stadium north of Paris for an evening featuring fireworks and a theatrical presentation of French Catholic history.

Speaking spontaneously in French, Leo told the audience: “Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!” His words drew loud cheers from the crowd.

The Mass adds a new chapter for historic Paris square
A monumental stage topped by a golden cross transformed Place de la Concorde for the service. Beneath the pope’s gaze, lines of choir members, clergy and worshippers gathered in prayer, adding a religious chapter to the long and often turbulent history of the iconic Paris square.

Designed at the end of the 18th century, it was an execution site during the French Revolution. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined there. For many in France, the square embodies the Republic. It traditionally stages Bastille Day celebrations. In 2024, the Paris Olympics gave it a blast of modernity, using it for break dance, skateboard, BMX and 3X3 basketball events.

Organizers of the Mass said the square was the only area in central Paris that could accommodate such large crowds.

But the choice was criticized by staunch supporters of France’s strict form of secularism in public life based on a 1905 law separating church and state. They argued that the site represents the Republic, and that other places such as the Invalides, a complex of buildings where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in front of 240,000 people in 2008, would have been more appropriate.

Leo’s visit to Paris came as a birthday present for Jean-Claude Farnabe, who turned 63 on Saturday and spent the morning securing a spot amid the throngs.

A lifelong Catholic, Farnabe attends Mass in the Paris suburb of Suresnes every Sunday, and has recently witnessed a surge in faith.

“There are more and more converts,” he said. “Many youngsters are interested in faith and in God. Every Sunday, I see new people, people aged between 25 and 40, who are getting baptized.”

A gallerist who built his reputation around supporting marginalized artists is facing allegations that he exploited some of the very creators he pledged to champion—claims that could threaten his position in the high-end art world.

Jonathan Carver Moore, 40, founded and leads the gallery that bears his name. Nine artists told the San Francisco Standard that Moore lured them into working with him, stopped responding to their messages and failed to pay them after their work was sold. Moore has disputed some of the allegations, saying they are inaccurate.

Seven of the artists have prepared a letter demanding that Moore either return their artwork or reimburse them, according to the Standard.

“To experience this treatment from a Black-owned gallery that publicly states its mission is to amplify the voices of underrepresented artists, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women artists, is not only inconsistent with that stated mission, it’s a serious breach of the trust we placed in you,” the letter said, according to the Standard.

Demond Melancon, one of the artists who says he was affected, told the publication that he readily accepted Moore’s invitation to present 10 original ritual masks at the Expo Chicago art fair.

“I wasn’t gonna show these pieces with Jonathan, but I trusted him, being one of the only other black gallerists in the country. So I tried to show him love in Chicago,” Melancon told the Standard.

Melancon said the 10 masks were collectively valued at $70,500. Although he agreed to accept half that amount, he said no payment ever arrived.

He said he repeatedly contacted Moore by phone and email about the money but received no response.

Moore began his professional career in the nonprofit sector, working for United Way Worldwide, one of the largest charitable organizations in the world, as well as Out & Equal, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. He also worked at Rosenberg, a nonprofit focused on racial and economic justice.

In 2023, Moore opened his Market Street gallery and described himself as San Francisco’s first Black gay male gallerist. The Standard said he helped revitalize a section of the city’s famed Tenderloin neighborhood known as the “Transgender District.”

Speaking to ARTnews, Moore said the gallery was not “standard” and had been created “out of a place of love.” He said, “I did not come from the art world. I cashed out my 401k to start a space for artists of color, queer artists, and women artists. I was and am intentional in wanting to share the space and provide opportunities to artists that are often overlooked.”

“It is a financial struggle running a gallery. Unfortunately, it often takes a lot of time to receive payment from collectors and institutions—this in turn has a big impact on running the gallery as a business. This impacts artists payments, general overhead (rent, etc), deposits for art fairs and more. I wish we were more transparent in sharing how this all works and how it has a direct effect on everyone involved,” he continued.

“I care so much about the arts community and will continue to learn the business and make things right.”

Kevin Poorman, a Chicago-based art collector, told the Standard that he paid Moore $8,800 for one of Melancon’s masks but later struggled to reach him about the purchase.

Poorman said Moore had asked to postpone delivery so the mask could appear in a museum exhibition. He later discovered that the exhibition had been canceled.

“I’ve called and emailed on numerous occasions, but no one has picked up. I wrote him a demand letter. It got returned. I’m a lawyer by training, so I did my own brain surgery, yet I was stupid enough to leave him in custody of my artwork,” Poorman told the Standard.

Adana Tillman also said online that Moore had failed to pay her for the sale of nine artworks, according to the Standard.

Chantal Hildebrand recounted a similar problem, accusing Moore of failing to pay her thousands for her artwork. 

She told the Standard that she provided Moore with six works over the past year, including one piece that cost $9,000 for the San Francisco Art Fair.

DON’T MISS: Egyptologists Discover 4,000-Year-Old Tomb With a “Portal to the Afterlife”

Hildebrand claimed that after the fair, Moore’s communication became inconsistent and she never received invoices for her work. 

She later learned from a collector that one of her pieces was discounted without her consent, and a buyer put down a deposit but never received the work. 

Cydne Jasmin Coleby, who claimed to the Standard that she is owed $7,000 for one of her pieces, said she believed Moore was ‘somebody who’s promoting, championing, and uplifting artists, but behind the scenes he’s exploiting them.’ 

She said she met Moore at an art fair in Florida last year, and they agreed on a post-sale payment plan for her work. 

Coleby claimed she has no idea where the artwork is, and a representative from her gallery reported it stolen. 

‘It’s been really heartbreaking and disappointing, to say the least,’ she said. 

April Bey, another artist who worked with Moore, demanded payment for her work in a social media post. 

She later told the Standard that she agreed to give him $68,000 worth of artwork, but he eventually returned one piece and paid her for the rest.  

The Standard previously called Moore a ‘groundbreaking gallerist,’ adding that he ‘provided a gust of fresh air to the downtown art scene.’ 

The Observer said he was ‘rewriting the gallery playbook’ while Artsy called his work ‘trailblazing.’ 

‘How can we make sure that we’re really hearing from them and doing so in a space or a gallery that understands what they’re going through?’ Moore told Artsy in 2024 when asked about his approach to curating art.

His last exhibition was titled ‘Tender Forms’ and was on display from May 20 to June 20. The show was described as a celebration of ‘artists from the Asian diaspora whose practices explore identity, memory, materiality, and belonging.’ 

A description of his gallery by Artsy reads ‘Jonathan Carver Moore is a contemporary art gallery that specializes in working with emerging and established artists who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and women. 

‘As the only openly gay Black male owned gallery in San Francisco, Jonathan is committed to amplifying the voices of the often underrepresented artists through a Black queer lens. At Jonathan Carver Moore we believe in community and accessibility. Art should be for everyone.’ 

Since the allegations surfaced, Moore has taken down the gallery webpage, and messages to his email address went undelivered.  

In response to the allegations, Moore said in a statement to the Standard: ‘Some of these allegations are inaccurate. I deeply care about the art community, artists, collectors, and supporters. I have every intention of making things right with the artists, but as we know, it can be a financial struggle in running a gallery.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Moore, Demond Melancon, April Bey, Adana Tillman, Chantal Hildebrand and Cydne Jasmin Coleby for comment. 

Kamar Samuels repeatedly dismissed parents’ calls to remove the principal of a troubled Brooklyn public school attended by the daughter of New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, according to former education officials and school-community leaders.

A longtime former Department of Education official told The Post that Samuels, who was then superintendent of Brooklyn’s District 13, knew parents at PS 307 were furious over Principal Stephanie Carroll’s leadership but failed to intervene.

“For the three or four years he was superintendent there he did nothing with her,” the former DOE official said, referring to Samuels’ handling of Carroll.

Another DOE source described Samuels’ approach as one of inaction. “This is what Samuels does: he just doesn’t take action and lets problems fester until they explode,” the source said.

When Samuels took charge of District 13 in 2019, just 28% of PS 307 students were proficient in reading. By the time he left in 2022, that figure had fallen to 13.6%.

“People felt like it was a ship without a rudder,” said David Goldsmith, a former president of District 13’s Community Education Council, describing Carroll’s leadership.

“She wasn’t up to the task,” Goldsmith added.

In a New York Times Magazine article published last weekend, Hannah-Jones, 50, portrayed PS 307 as a chaotic school where teachers allegedly invented grades, assigned little or no homework and allowed students to run unchecked during lunch.

The author of The 1619 Project also said Carroll was difficult to reach and often absent. After years of what parents described as being ignored by Samuels, frustrated families filed a Change.org petition in 2023 demanding that the DOE fire the principal.

Carroll was not removed. Instead, she was “fired upwards” in 2024 and appointed the DOE’s citywide director of literacy.

“How are you promoted to run literacy for the entire city when you can’t even get your own students to read?” the longtime former DOE official said.

EXPLORE MORE: Deputies: Woman Held Gun to Girl’s Head, Threatened to Kill Her

Hannah-Jones did not identify Carroll or Samuels by name in the magazine article. She instead attributed the school’s problems to racism, an explanation critics said deflected attention from what they characterized as longstanding DOE failures.

“Blaming the PS 307 teachers while not even naming the trash principal is disingenuous. If you can’t call out the person in charge frankly you’re part of the problem,” the DOE source said.

Despite her account of conditions at PS 307, Hannah-Jones and Samuels appeared to maintain a friendly relationship while her daughter attended the school and later Unison Urban Assembly School, another District 13 campus.

In April 2021, Samuels announced on X that he would make Hannah-Jones’ books “The 1619 Project” and “Born on the Water” available for reading across District 13.

“My baby is a seventh grader. How?? (And yes, still in an unscreened, neighborhood public school and thriving),” Hannah-Jones wrote on X in September 2022, appearing unconcerned about her daughter’s academic difficulties.

“Warms my heart to see this,” Samuels replied. He was appointed New York City schools chancellor in January.

“Kamar Samuels to be superintendent of New York City public schools is outstanding news for those who still care about school integration and equality,” Hannah-Jones wrote on Bluesky in December 2025.

Hannah-Jones’ husband, Faraji Hannah-Jones, 50, chairs the contracts committee of the Panel for Education Policy, the body that oversees the DOE.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as a web design specialist at PS 307 from September 2015 through May 2016.

He insists on his LinkedIn page that the role was unpaid, and said he helped design a website and social media page for the school.

Nikole and Faraji Hannah-Jones, Carroll, and the DOE did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.