The Vatican put the crowd at 700,000. That is more than the 600,000 who had registered in advance for Pope Leo XIV’s outdoor Mass in central Paris on Saturday, and the turnout filled the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde.
The American pope rode a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) parade along the boulevard in his popemobile, greeting flag-waving crowds. Parents handed up dozens of babies and small children for him to touch on the head. A heavy security cordon shut central Paris to road traffic, yet the mood was closer to a party, and the people there included believers of several faiths and of none.
A secular country, a full square
France was once staunchly Catholic and is now officially secular, and churchgoing has fallen sharply in recent decades. In his homily Leo told the crowd not to keep their faith to themselves. “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.”
Some of those present did not call themselves Catholic. Thierry Chen, 40, a Parisian startup entrepreneur, said: “People are seeing a lot of really terrible images. This kind of event reminds people of what is really important in life.” Sylvane Le Goff, 68, raised Catholic but not practicing, brought her 10- and 12-year-old grandchildren to “give them unforgettable memories.” Leontine Joseph, 42, a fervent Catholic, said the pope’s message “goes well beyond Catholic people.”
Behind the enthusiasm is a counter-trend that experts say does not reverse the overall decline. Adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016 to 13,000 this year. Yet in 1980 France recorded 513,000 baptisms, and in 2024 only 186,000.
Why the Concorde
Organizers said the square was the only place in central Paris big enough for such a crowd. It was designed at the end of the 18th century and served as an execution site in the French Revolution, where Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined. It hosts Bastille Day celebrations and, in 2024, Olympic events including break dance and skateboarding.
Defenders of France’s strict secularism, based on a 1905 law separating church and state, objected. They said the site embodies the Republic and argued that the Invalides, where Pope Benedict XVI drew 240,000 in 2008, would have suited better.
Four days in France
The visit began Friday with Leo’s arrival and a prayer at the restored Notre Dame, the first by a pope since the cathedral’s 2019 fire. That night, a vigil at the national stadium north of Paris, where about 80,000 young people watched fireworks and a theatrical retelling of French Catholic history, kept the 71-year-old pope out until nearly 11 p.m. Speaking in French without notes, he told them: “Thank you for your courage! Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!”
On Saturday morning at the Catholic Institute of Paris, he said he was surprised by the number of recent converts. After Paris, he travels on to pray at the shrine at Lourdes.
