

As Pope Leo XIV bids “au revoir” to Paris, Vatican News Correspondent Deborah Castellano Lubov brings us to the widely anticipated Mass with the Holy Father at Place de la Concorde, which not only filled the iconic square but also stretched along the Champs-Élysées. She also shares Pope Leo’s invitation to the French faithful to pursue holiness like the numerous French saints and to find real meaning in life through Christ.
On Pope Leo's second day in France, he met with migrants, visited the country's synodal assembly, celebrated Mass for 700,000 people in central Paris, and prayed at the Grotto of the Apparitions in Lourdes.
At the Grotto of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Leo entrusts France, its people and its Church to Our Lady.
Just after arriving in the Marian pilgrimage city of Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV went to the heart of the shrine to pray to the Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Massabielle, surrounded by thousands of faithful. Kneeling in prayer, the Pope asked for “the gift of fraternal harmony” for the host country, and also entrusted to Mary the personal prayers of those who are sick and suffering.
Addressing the General Assembly in New York, the Vatican Secretary of State calls for an end to wars, respect for international law, responsible use of artificial intelligence and renewed multilateralism.
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