Pope Leo XIV landed in France for his first-ever papal visit to the country in 18 years.
According to Lemonde, the pope arrived in France on Friday, September 25, for the Vatican's first apostolic visit to the European nation in almost two decades.
President Emmanuel Macron greeted the 71-year-old pope on the tarmac, as he marked the first official trip by a head of the Vatican since Pope Benedict XVI in September 2008.
Pope Leo told reporters on the plane, "I'm travelling to France, as to anywhere else in the world, as a follower of Jesus Christ wanting to proclaim peace, the peace of Christ throughout the world.”
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He said this message was "particularly important" at the current time.
A million people were expected at events across Paris during the first two days of his trip. The high point of the apostolic journey will be a giant mass on Saturday, led by the pontiff at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Elysées.
Pope Leo will also visit Lourdes, a pilgrimage site for Christians worldwide, and Metz, near the German border and closely associated with Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of what is now the European Union.
Later Friday, Leo is expected wave to the crowds on a 2.5-kilometer popemobile ride to the Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris, where he will be the first pope to inspect renovations following a devastating 2019 fire.
His predecessor, Pope Francis, who visited France three times but never officially, did not attend the Gothic masterpiece's reopening in late 2024, when then president-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk were among the guests.
Pope Leo will end his visit with a Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Stephen on Monday, September 28.
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