Pope Leo XIV draws huge crowd for outdoor Mass in Paris

Pope Leo XIV drew an estimated 800,000 people to central Paris on Saturday for a large openair Mass that filled the ChampsÉlysées and Place de la Concorde. During the event, the pope urged Catholics in France to share their faith more openly in what he described as an increasingly secular society. He traveled through the city in the popemobile before celebrating Mass and praised French Catholics, families, young people, catechumens and new Christians for their witness. The gathering came during a fourday trip to France that also included a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. The Mass drew attention not only for its scale, but also for its setting in a square tied to both France’s republican history and its churchstate tensions. Vatican officials said attendance exceeded expectations, and the visit followed a youth vigil in Paris that drew about 80,000 people the night before.