This will be one of the great images – perhaps even the great image – of Leo XIV’s trip to Paris. That of a pope presiding, Saturday September 26, 2026, a giant mass from an altar raised on the Place de la Concorde, surrounded by the bishops of France, and in front of a crowd of 500,000 faithful gathered on the Champs-Élysées, or more. The million mark was crossed during Pope John Paul II’s mass in Longchamp in 1997 for World Youth Day (WYD). The sequence already promises to be memorable. This is also one of the reasons why this location was chosen, according to the diocese of Paris.
This article is reserved for subscribers
Would you like to read more? Subscribe without obligation to our digital offer
I subscribe
