A four-day historic tour. Pope Leo XIV arrived on Friday September 25 at Orly airport where President Emmanuel Macron was waiting for him. To celebrate his arrival, church bells across the country rang for seven minutes.
Here are the major stages, with the main speeches, planned during the papal visit to France from Friday to Monday, which will take Leo XIV to Paris, Saint-Denis, Lourdes and Metz.
Follow the event with usLive: Pope Leo XIV took off from Rome for a highly anticipated first visit to France
Friday September 25, the Pope in Paris
• 10 a.m. – Arrival in Paris
• 11 a.m. – Meeting at the Élysée with the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, then with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps (speech planned).
• 3 p.m. – Visit to UNESCO headquarters (speech planned).
• 4 p.m. – Popemobile stroll from Boulevard Montparnasse to Place Saint-Michel.
• 5:15 p.m. – Celebration of vespers at Notre-Dame de Paris with the clergy and stroll on the square.
• From 6:30 p.m. – Prayer vigil with young people aged 17 to 35 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and speeches (doors opening at 5:30 p.m.).
To readBoom in baptisms, craze for the Pope… is France experiencing a “spring of Catholicism?”
The Pope’s program in Paris © Studio Graphique FMM
Saturday September 26, from Paris to Lourdes
• 9 a.m. – Visit to Maison Bakhita, reception and support center of the Diocese of Paris for exiled people.
Our report on the subject“Receiving the pope is not nothing”: at the Bakhita house, volunteers and exiles await Leo XIV
• 10:15 a.m. – Meeting with new and future baptized people and ecclesiastics at the Catholic Institute of Paris (speech planned).
• 3:00 p.m. – Solemn open-air mass at Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées.
Departure in the afternoon for Lourdes.
• 7:40 p.m. – Prayer at the grotto of the Lourdes sanctuary.
Sunday September 27, in Lourdes
• 9 a.m. – Meeting with the bishops of the French Episcopal Conference (speech planned).
• 11 a.m. – Sunday mass on the meadow of the Lourdes sanctuary.
• 3:30 p.m. – Meeting at the Accueil Notre-Dame which is dedicated to sick or disabled pilgrims (speech planned).
• 6 p.m.: Private meeting with seven victims of sexual violence in the Church.
• 9 p.m. – Torchlight procession (speech planned).
Also readLeo XIV in France: why French fundamentalists are scrutinizing the pope’s visit
Monday September 28, in Metz
• 10 a.m. – Interreligious meeting at the Robert-Schuman convention center (speech planned).
• 11 a.m. – Speech “At the roots of Europe for peace and unity” at the Robert-Schuman conference center.
• 2:30 p.m. – Popemobile stroll to the cathedral.
• 4 p.m. – Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral.
• 7 p.m. – Departure from Metz-Nancy-Lorraine airport.
