Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday morning (September 25) for a historic four-day visit, according to an AFP journalist on board the papal plane. It is his first visit to the country since he was elected pope in May 2025, and his fifth international Apostolic Journey. The motto of the visit is “That the world may have life.”
BREAKING: Pope Leo has arrived in France for a four-day visit and is greeted by President Macron and the First Lady.
Some 600,000 people have registered to join an outdoor mass in central Paris with Leo on Saturday.https://t.co/WwqJoNbDcA
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 pic.twitter.com/bEulvF5ua0
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 25, 2026
The American pope’s plane landed shortly before 10:00 a.m. at Orly Airport, near Paris, where he was welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.
The Pope’s Schedule
The head of the Roman Catholic Church will give his first speech at the Élysée Palace later in the day, followed by a meeting with representatives of civil society, the authorities, and the diplomatic corps. In the afternoon, he will speak at UNESCO headquarters. The UN agency has faced serious budget shortfalls since President Donald Trump issued issued a formal presidential memorandum on January 7, withdrawing from 31 UN affiliated entities. In the evening, he will lead Vespers at Notre-Dame Cathedral and then hold a prayer vigil with young people at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
On Saturday, the pope will visit the Maison Bakhita Centre, which supports people living in exile, and the Institut Catholique de Paris. He will then celebrate Mass at Place de la Concorde, where more than 600,000 people have registered to attend, before flying to Lourdes.
On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet seven victims of sexual abuse by French clergy. A 2021 inquiry found that about 330,000 people had been abused as minors within the Catholic Church in France over 70 years. The trip ends Monday in Metz, where he will attend a meeting on peace and unity in Europe and celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Stephen.
Paris in High Anticipation
Security is tight. In Paris alone, about 14,000 police officers, gendarmes, and military personnel, along with 2,500 firefighters, will be on duty on Friday. More than 20 metro and commuter train stations have been temporarily closed, as well as many streets in the city center.
On the plane, the pope told the more than 80 journalists traveling with him that his goal during the trip is to “proclaim peace,” a message he described as particularly important at this time. He added that the trip is expected to cover “a number of very important topics.” He also apologized personally to the press because, on his June trip to Spain, a technical problem on the papal plane meant journalists flew back to Rome separately and the usual in-flight press conference did not take place.
Asked about artificial intelligence, he said the Vatican is in contact with many leaders in the AI field and that many of them are open to making sure AI does not displace or destroy humanity but serves as a tool for people.
When reporters asked him about the migration crisis in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, he said “it was really a humanitarian crisis” and added that solutions must be found “to avoid this kind of emergency.”
