Pope Leo XIV's arrival in France has been met with an unusual burst of public enthusiasm, as thousands turned out to greet him at the start of a four-day visit that is already becoming a moment of religious, political and technological significance. The pontiff landed in Paris on Friday and was welcomed at Orly airport by President Emmanuel Macron, before heading to the Élysée Palace for an address that touched on geopolitical issues and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
The scale of the reception has underscored the continuing pull of the papacy in a country often described as one of Europe's most secular. The visit comes as the Roman Catholic Church seeks to explain a resurgence of interest among younger French people and among those who have drifted away from formal religion but remain open to spirituality. According to the Church, the enthusiasm surrounding the trip reflects a broader search for meaning in a society shaped by political uncertainty, social fragmentation and technological change.
The centrepiece of the visit is expected to be a giant Mass in central Paris, with more than half a million people anticipated to attend. That extraordinary turnout would make the event one of the largest public religious gatherings in France in recent years and a striking reminder that Catholicism still retains a powerful symbolic presence, even in a country where church attendance has long been in decline.
Macron's decision to personally greet the Pope at the airport and host him at the Élysée Palace also highlights the diplomatic weight of the visit. The French president has made no secret of his interest in the role of religion in public life, even as France maintains a strict separation between church and state. The meeting at the presidential palace placed the Pope not only in a spiritual role but also in the middle of debates that are increasingly global in scope, from war and instability to the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
The Vatican has been paying close attention to AI, and Pope Leo XIV's remarks in Paris are likely to be watched closely by governments and technology leaders alike. The Church has repeatedly warned that new technologies, while offering enormous potential, also raise questions about human dignity, labour, truth and social cohesion. By raising the issue in the French capital, the Pope signalled that the Vatican intends to remain an active voice in the international conversation over how AI should be governed.
The visit is also being read through a domestic French lens. The BBC's Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield noted that the Church attributes the warm reception to growing spirituality among the French. That interpretation reflects a wider debate over whether secularisation has simply changed the form of belief rather than eliminated it. For many in France, the Pope's presence offers not just a religious event but a public moment of reflection on identity, values and the place of faith in modern life.
The crowds gathering for the papal visit suggest that, despite decades of declining institutional affiliation, the Catholic Church can still mobilise mass participation when the occasion feels larger than doctrine alone. In Paris, the Pope is arriving at a time when many Europeans are grappling with war on the continent, political polarisation and anxiety over the pace of technological change. His message, delivered in the shadow of those pressures, is likely to resonate well beyond the faithful.
For the Vatican, the French visit is both a pastoral mission and a strategic one: a chance to project moral authority in a major European capital and to show that the Church remains relevant in debates that extend far beyond the sanctuary. For France, it is a reminder that even in a republic built on secular principles, religion can still command the streets when history, symbolism and public appetite align.