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Pope Leo XIV drew an estimated 800,000 people into the heart of Paris on Saturday for a massive open-air Mass, filling one of the French republic’s most storied public squares as he urged Catholics to openly share their faith in an “increasingly secularized society.”
Flag-waving crowds packed the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde as the American pope traveled roughly 1.2 miles through central Paris in the popemobile before celebrating Mass.
The Vatican estimated attendance at 800,000, roughly 200,000 more people than had registered in advance.
People of faith gathered in the streets, with families lifting babies and young children toward the popemobile as Leo made his way through the French capital.
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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 worshippers, he was looking upon the “heirs of France’s long and beautiful history of faith,” according to Vatican News.
The pope called on French Catholics not to keep that rich inheritance to themselves.
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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 setting carried particular resonance in a country known for its strict tradition of secularism.
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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)
It is notable that the Place de la Concorde was an execution ground during the French Revolution, where devoutly Catholic King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were guillotined. Today, the square is closely associated with the French republic and regularly hosts Bastille Day celebrations.
The decision to celebrate a papal Mass there drew criticism from supporters of France’s strict separation of church and state, who argued another site would have been more appropriate.
The images also offered a striking contrast with another massive Paris spectacle just two years earlier.
The 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony drew worldwide controversy over a tableau featuring drag performers that Christian leaders and other critics said mocked Christianity.
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Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the papamobile 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 at the time that the ceremony “included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity,” adding that Christians around the world had been “hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes.”
The tableau was widely interpreted by critics as a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” though Olympics organizers disputed that interpretation.
Leo’s visit comes as France experiences a notable increase in adult conversions even as the country continues a decades-long decline in overall Catholic participation.
Annual adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016, reaching 13,000 this year, according to The Associated Press. Overall baptisms, however, have fallen sharply over the longer term, from 513,000 in 1980 to 186,000 in 2024.
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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.
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He traveled Saturday night to Lourdes, one of the Catholic Church’s most visited pilgrimage sites.