Pope Leo XIV cautioned on Friday that humanity must not be sacrificed in a “paradise of machines” as thousands of people gathered to greet him during his visit to France.

“If we are to preserve our humanity in the face of a paradise of machines that increasingly enter and shape our daily lives, we urgently need education that teaches ethical judgment,” Leo said.

During the first official papal visit to France in 18 years, the pontiff also argued that the country’s firmly secular identity should not mean pushing religion out of public life. France has maintained a formal separation between church and state since 1905.

“Authentic secularity” does not mean excluding faith from public institutions or education, he said. Instead, it should encourage the state and religious organizations to engage in dialogue and work together for the common good, according to the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

In recent years, French politicians have cited the nation’s secular model when defending restrictions on religious symbols, including Muslim women’s clothing in schools and other public settings.

The papal visit comes just seven months before France begins the first round of its presidential election to succeed Emmanuel Macron. The anti-immigration far right sees the contest as a major opportunity to take power.

The first US-born pope also raised concerns about developments that could turn science and technology into profit-focused industries, citing genetic modification, surrogacy, the sale of human organs and the prospect of allowing people to arrange their own deaths. His remarks followed France’s June legislation giving some terminally ill adults access to assisted dying.

Leo, whose paternal grandmother was born in France, called on the country to remain a “tireless champion of peace” around the world as Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine continues into its fifth year.

Macron and Brigitte Macron greeted the 71-year-old pontiff at the airport, where a red carpet was laid across the tarmac. The trip is the Vatican leader’s first official visit to France since Pope Benedict XVI traveled there in September 2008.

Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane, Leo said he was traveling to France, as he does elsewhere, as a follower of Jesus Christ determined to spread “the peace of Christ throughout the world.”

He described that message as especially significant in the current international climate.

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Organizers expect as many as one million people to attend events in Paris during the opening two days of the visit.

The centerpiece of the apostolic journey will come on Saturday, when the pope leads a large outdoor Mass at Place de la Concorde and along the adjoining Champs-Élysées.

Leo is also scheduled to travel to Lourdes, one of the world’s best-known Christian pilgrimage destinations, where he will meet privately with survivors of clerical sexual abuse. In Metz, near the German border, he is expected to continue his calls for peace in Europe.

“The pope’s visit gives me a feeling of peace in a troubled world,” said Andrée Estienne, 76, who was eagerly awaiting the Mass on the Champs-Élysées.

“I don’t believe I will ever see anything on this scale again in my lifetime,” she added.

Later on Friday, Leo was due to greet crowds during a 2.5-kilometre (1.5-mile) journey in the popemobile to Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris. He will be the first pope to view the landmark’s restoration work since the devastating fire in 2019.

His predecessor Pope Francis – who visited France three times, but never officially – did not attend the Gothic masterpiece’s reopening in late 2024, when then president-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk were among the guests.

Carmen Quintana, a 71-year-old Peruvian, said she would be among the crowd.

‘We’re very happy to be able to be near him,’ she said of the pontiff, who spent two decades as a missionary in Peru and also holds Peruvian nationality.

Last on his agenda for the day will be a mass prayer and hymns with 80,000 young believers aged 17 to 35 in a stadium in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

A relic, believed to be the tunic Jesus wore during the Passion, will have been transported out of the nearby Saint-Denis Cathedral to the stadium for the occasion.

Only around five percent of France’s 69 million residents go to Catholic church regularly, a survey last year found.

But while the number of infant christenings has dwindled in recent years, teenage and adult baptisms are on the rise, with thousands choosing to embrace the faith.

Australia Post executives have been accused of deliberately undermining post offices and making them financially unviable as part of a wider plan to reduce the retail network and move the organisation towards a FedEx-style model.

A Senate inquiry heard allegations that corporate policies were effectively “running post offices into the ground” by reducing customer traffic, eroding profits and diminishing the value of small businesses.

The investigation, led by Senator Sarah Henderson, accused Australia Post of using “unethical” and “improper tactics” as part of what she described as an “insidious” push to close stores.

Chief Executive Paul Graham appeared before the inquiry earlier this month after being accused of misleading a budget estimates hearing in May.

Mr Graham, whose $3.3 million salary package makes him the Commonwealth’s highest-paid chief executive or government official, told budget estimates that no active closure program was under way. However, a leaked, board-approved business case emerged two weeks later outlining plans to buy back 36 stores.

The confidential document detailed a proposal known as “Licensed Post Office Reimagined”, which would convert post offices into parcel lockers and shift key services to “host businesses”, including pharmacies and newsagents.

Mr Graham described the proposal as “embryonic” and strongly rejected claims that he had misled the budget estimates hearing.

Senator Henderson also alleged that Mr Graham launched a “shocking spate of threats” against post office owners after the leak. The inquiry heard she believed those actions brought him “perilously close” to being held in contempt of parliament.

Mr Graham denied that anyone had received legal threats, saying Australia Post was instead conducting due diligence into the alleged misuse of sensitive information.

Licensees who spoke anonymously told the Daily Mail that Australia Post engaged law firm Mallesons within 48 hours of the leak to identify the whistleblower.

One source said several employees received legal letters because, despite the document being confidential, it could be accessed by anyone with entry to Australia Post’s internal systems.

Senator Henderson also accused Australia Post of using a “classic bait and switch” to persuade Licensed Post Office owners to move from perpetual agreements to fixed-term contracts.

Unlike conventional franchise arrangements, which generally run for fixed periods and must be renewed every five or 10 years, LPOs operate under perpetual agreements with no specified end date. That arrangement makes them valuable, continuing business assets.

In June, licensees in rural and regional areas were told they would need to sign fixed-term agreements and surrender the certainty supporting much of their businesses’ value in exchange for higher short-term commissions and improved pay.

The proposed change would substantially alter the balance of power, potentially reducing the value of individual businesses, leaving licensees with assets they could not sell and exposing them to negative equity.

The consequences could be particularly severe for the two-thirds of licensees who, according to Australia Post, hope to sell their businesses and retire within the next five years.

One licensee said she would be put in ‘an extremely vulnerable position’, with the stability and confidence of a perpetual licence being taken away.

‘It is difficult to plan for the future when the foundation of our business can be altered or taken away at the end of a term,’ her submission said.

However, an Australia Post spokesperson said its current modelling suggested that 70 per cent of eligible licensees would be financially better off under the arrangement, which was ‘entirely voluntary’.

Sources told the Mail that all signs point to Australia Post’s ‘widely known vision’ to become a parcel-focused carrier rather than a community-facing hub.

In doing so, post offices are no longer being seen as critical pieces of community infrastructure, but as a network of corporate franchises.

This theory is strengthened by the professional backgrounds of many current executives, including Executive General Manager Josh Bannister, who has previously worked at McDonald’s and Domino’s.

Mr Bannister, who also appeared before the Senate, helped author the leaked business case and was ‘intimately involved’ in the LPO Reimagined proposal.

Another strategy raised at the inquiry was that Australia Post was intentionally causing services to withdraw from its stores to decrease foot traffic and make them less profitable.

In the past 12 months, more than 60 services have disappeared from post offices, the Senate heard, the latest being Western Union, which will withdraw its wire transfers from October.

A licensee told the Mail that the withdrawn services were ’60 less reasons for somebody to walk into my post office, 60 less things that bring my business value’.

‘Their [Australia Post’s] view is anything that doesn’t help us become a parcel carrier is unnecessary.

‘If they want to turn us into a logistics company they can at least be honest about it and make us a fair offer instead of driving us into the ground.’

An Australia Post spokesperson said the ‘vast majority’ of services withdrawn reflected decisions made by ‘third parties and government services moving to digital channels or choosing not to renew their contracts’.

They also said they were investigating additional over-the-counter services, and had expanded the available banking services with licensees receiving a 30 per cent commission increase. 

Aggressive management, compliance demands and disciplinary action have also reportedly intensified in recent years.

A source said leadership was ‘handing out breaches left, right and centre’.

‘They are very aggressive and they are in control of all the livelihoods of their franchisees,’ the source said.

The peak body for licensees, the Licensed Post Office Group, argued the rules are so broad that licensees ‘cannot reasonably understand their own obligations’.

LPOG also said there was a double standard in how licensees and management received consequences.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman for Small Business wrote that Australia Post’s dispute-handling processes should ‘afford natural justice’ and ‘proportionate outcomes’.

Parcel lockers placed outside LPOs – without consultation or warning – are also cited as eating away at commissions earned over the counter from handling and processing packages.

LPOG chair Scott Etherington told the inquiry that loading and unloading the parcel lockers involved double the work of processing parcels over the counter, yet paid only half the commission.

However, Australia Post insists the parcel lockers are ‘designed to complement not replace’ post offices, with parcels accounting for the majority of post office transactions.

In a statement, the spokesperson said Australia Post was committed to its extensive post office network: ‘We reject any suggestion Australia Post is seeking to run down or close its retail network.

‘Australia Post has strict regulations to maintain a minimum of 4,000 retail outlets nationally, with 2,500 in non-metro areas and LPOs remain central to how we serve customers and communities.’

‘Consultation on the proposed Licensed Post Office Reimagined (LPOR) model remains ongoing and no final decisions have been made.

‘The proposal is entirely voluntary, and licensees who choose not to participate will remain on their existing agreements.’

The Senate inquiry will reconvene for a third hearing on September 30.

Two migrants bound for the UK have died while attempting to secure places on overcrowded, large inflatable boats.

French prosecutors have launched criminal investigations into the two deaths on beaches along the English Channel.

A confrontation broke out at Camiers, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, yesterday morning after a migrant boat encountered difficulties offshore.

About 30 people had managed to board when a man was found in the water after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Medics attempted to revive the unidentified man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Several miles to the north, the body of a person described as being “in their 30s, of African appearance” was found on the beach at Neufchâtel-Hardelot.

The worsening Channel crisis saw 781 migrants reach the UK on Wednesday, the highest daily figure recorded this year. That brought the total since the 2024 general election to 83,279—more than the British Army’s 83,000 soldiers, according to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.

“Labour has let an entire army-sized population cross the Channel illegally,” the Conservative frontbencher said. “Labour has lost control of our borders and seems utterly incapable of getting it back.”

Pressure on the Government has intensified after two dinghies reached British shores this week without being intercepted by Border Force.

Cabinet minister Lucy Powell acknowledged that the Government “can’t stop everything all of the time” while facing questions about a chaotic week.

Wednesday’s figure surpassed the previous yearly high of 752, recorded on July 29. It also meant that 1,085 migrants had arrived in Britain during the first three days of this week. Further arrivals were reported yesterday, although official numbers have not yet been released.

Cécile Gressier, the Boulogne prosecutor, confirmed that investigations into both deaths were under way. People smugglers or other migrants could potentially face manslaughter charges.

The latest fatalities bring to at least 21 the number of people who have died in the Channel this year while attempting to reach Britain, including women and children.

The deaths came a day after disturbing footage appeared to show a man leaving a child behind as he tried to board a dinghy in France.

The chaotic video, filmed from a beach, shows the man holding a toddler as he tries to climb onto the small boat.

Standing in chest-deep water amid strong waves, he then releases the child, who remains floating face-up in the sea for several seconds.

Members of the French lifeboat organisation SNSM swim towards the child and pull them from the water.

The youngster, who appears to be around three or four years old, is carried back to shore on a rescue board while the man continues trying to board the dinghy.

It remains unclear whether the man and child are related. The child was wearing a black hooded anorak and an orange life jacket.

The video clip was filmed off Berck beach, about 30 miles south of Boulogne, on Monday afternoon.

Many migrants have drowned, while others have been crushed to death in overcrowded boats.

The worst tragedy of this kind came in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.

Multiple attempts at crossings have taken place from the coast of northern France over the last few days, as the smugglers take advantage of calm seas and good weather.

According to figures from the UK Home Office, 781 migrants arrived in Britain on Wednesday – the highest single-day total recorded so far this year.

In total, 18,565 migrants have reached England via this route since January, a figure down by more than 40 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.

The surge in crossings also indicates that people-trafficking gangs are still getting hold of dinghies and outboard motors with ease, despite a crackdown on supply routes.

The figures will be embarrassing for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who claimed on September 2: ‘We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small-boat launches and the gangs behind them. This work is bearing fruit.’

This week’s two ‘uncontrolled landings’ included a dinghy with up to 30 migrants which reached a Kent beach on Tuesday before police arrived. 

Officials confirmed 21 people were detained and taken to a Home Office facility, where they will be processed ahead of lodging asylum claims.

Ms Mahmood has ordered an urgent review of how the boats made it across the Channel unchallenged.

Education Secretary Ms Powell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘[You] can’t stop everything all of the time. Of course it’s a concern.

‘That’s why the Home Secretary has demanded and ordered this urgent review, because this is not what we want to see. This is not acceptable.’

A Border Force union – the ISU – warned that migrant boats were ‘definitely’ arriving undetected along the full length of the UK’s south coast.

The union’s Lucy Moreton said: ‘It’s absolutely, definitely happening. If no one sees them, no one sees them.

‘But we know that we’ve had abandoned vessels, we’ve had reports of uncontrolled landings all the way down to Falmouth.’

Ms Moreton accused the Home Office of taking a position of: ‘If we don’t look for it, we don’t know it’s happening. We don’t know it’s happening, we don’t have to deal with it.’

A former senior Home Office civil servant said the whole of the south coast should be monitored for migrant crossings, not just the narrowest section of the Channel near Dover.

Ex-Border Force director general Tony Smith said: ‘We’ve got technology – radar and drones and surveillance – but clearly, it didn’t work on this particular occasion.’

Asked why migrants would choose to arrive on a beach rather than be rescued and processed, he said they may have wanted to ‘evade capture’ and avoid biometric checks which could flag a criminal record or that they had previously arrived illegally.

A Government spokesman said: ‘Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42 per cent and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.

‘But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.’