Pope Leo XIV was welcomed by thousands of French Catholics with a ceremony in Paris on Friday that filled the country’s largest stadium.
Over 80,000 Catholics, many of them young people, attended the ceremony held at the Stade de France, where Pope Leo XIV was greeted with song and dance as performers reenacted the history of the Catholic faith in France.
“Thanks be to God, and to you — thank you for your courage, thank you for your presence, thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!” the holy father said as he addressed the crowd.
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France has not welcomed an official visit from the Holy Father since Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2008.
Pope Leo XIV also marked his visit with a historic prayer vigil in the Notre Dame Cathedral, roughly over a year after its reopening following extensive renovations from the 2019 fire.
“Dear bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians of France, let yourselves be inspired by what has happened here!” he said while in Notre Dame. “Make the vision of Evangelii Gaudium your priority, namely the missionary conversion which Pope Francis spoke of in his first apostolic exhortation.”
“Confidently value the missionary presence of the lay faithful, who are the living front line of the church at the crossroads of everyday life,” he added.