PARIS — Majestic reception for Pope Leo XIV

PARIS, September 26 /ATSH-DPA/ — Tens of thousands of faithful gathered today in central Paris to take part in the Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV, while thousands of others waited for hours in line before the ceremony began.

Around 600,000 people had registered for the afternoon Mass at Place de la Concorde, near the Champs-Élysées.

Before the ceremony, the faithful passed the time singing in choir groups, while some wore French national football team jerseys bearing the inscription “Pape Léon” and the number 14, a symbolic reference to the Pope’s name.

For security reasons, wide areas around the Champs-Élysées, as well as spaces along the Seine, were fenced off and closed to traffic.

Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church with around 1.4 billion faithful worldwide, has been in France since Friday as part of a four-day visit.

On Saturday morning, the Pope visited a social center and later met with adults who had recently been baptized.

He urged them to remain steadfast in the Christian faith and to spread it to others.

According to the French Bishops’ Conference, 13,000 adults have been baptized in the country this year, roughly three times more than a decade ago.

In contrast, the number of infant baptisms has more than halved since 2000.

After the Mass in Paris, Pope Leo XIV is expected to travel to Lourdes in southwestern France, one of the best-known Catholic pilgrimage sites.

Lourdes became a major pilgrimage center following the accounts of Bernadette Soubirous, a young girl from a peasant family who in 1858 reported seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary.