The Pope closes his second day in Paris celebrating life where there was once death.

Paris experienced a historic day on the second day of Pope Leo XIV's visit to the French capital, culminating in a massive mass at the Place de la Concorde. In a place where death had occurred, life and communion were celebrated.

In the morning, the Pope visited Casa Bakhita, a center run by the Archdiocese of Paris that welcomes and supports refugees and exiles. There he listened to the testimonies of refugees who had received support from the institution. The Pope told them: «No one is so poor that they have nothing to give; no one is so rich that they have nothing to receive.».

He then went to the Catholic Institute of Paris (ICP) to meet with members of the Provincial Synod Assembly and with catechumens and neophytes. Before this meeting, he went to the Church of Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes, located within the ICP, to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Later, he greeted members of the university community and then left to walk the "Path of the Martyrs," a path commemorating the priests and bishops killed at that spot on September 2, 1792, during the September Massacres of the French Revolution, and who were beatified in 1926. The Pope paused to pray for a few moments at the place where they were murdered.

Leo XIV, amazed by the newly baptized

Already in his meeting with members of the Provincial Synod Assembly, the Pope expressed his wonder at the number of young adults who, in recent years, have drawn closer to the faith in France of their own volition: «Like you and together with you, I am amazed by the number of people who today approach the threshold of faith and the many adults who ask to receive the sacraments of Christian initiation.» It is a phenomenon that has surprised the Church in France and the Pope himself. At the last Easter, nearly 21,000 adults and teenagers were baptized. «Your experience and your witness, dear catechumens and neophytes, are a tangible sign of the work of God’s grace, which surpasses statistical and sociological analysis,» he told them. But he cautioned that this wonder should not lead to naive complacency. He called for a Church «in a state of initiation,» one that welcomes newcomers with closeness, compassion, and tenderness, and that accompanies them even after baptism to prevent the emptiness that many experience.

Concord Square celebrates life

The final event in Paris was a massive Mass in the Place de la Concorde, which, according to organizers, drew 800,000 people along a three-kilometer stretch, from the Place de la Concorde down the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Before the Mass, the Pope traveled along the avenue in the popemobile, greeting the faithful and the babies and children brought to him. They were French people who had come from all over the country just for this historic ceremony.

Nearly one hundred bishops concelebrated with the Pope, and some 2,400 priests and deacons participated. The location of the Mass was highly significant: the Place de la Concorde, where the guillotine once stood and more than a thousand people were executed during the Revolution, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, was today the setting for a celebration of life and communion. The revolutionary guillotine also ended the lives of sixteen Carmelites from Compiègne, executed in 1794 in what is now the Place de la Nation and canonized by Pope Francis in 2024.

«"They are the Church of today"»

In his homily, the Pope said that Christ is the source of living water that quenches the deepest thirst of the human being, not a material thirst, but «a thirst for meaning, for truth, and for fullness.» He warned against the petty idols that «promise the moon and the stars, but leave our hearts empty» and reminded everyone that for God no one is a number, but «a unique and irreplaceable person.» He invited the French people to build a renewed nation from their roots of faith and told young people: «You are the Church of today.».

Leo XIV prays for France before the Virgin of Lourdes

At the end of the ceremony, the Pope went to Orly Airport to fly to Lourdes, the second leg of his apostolic journey. He arrived at seven in the evening. After landing, he went to the bridge that had been renamed in his honor; there he greeted the mayor and signed the guestbook, before finally going to the Grotto of the Apparitions at Massabielle and doing what every pilgrim does when they come to Lourdes: praying in silence, touching the rock, drinking from the spring water, and lighting a candle. Afterward, he prayed to the Virgin Mary, asking for intercession for France, for an end to the violence, and for peace.

«"We beseech you, Our Lady, for France, of which you are Patroness and which you have surrounded with your protection for so many centuries. Obtain for her people the gift of fraternal concord. May she build a harmonious society, free from all violence and hatred, in which every person can work, raise a family, and live out their life to the end in peace and serenity. May the most disadvantaged and the poor always find support. Obtain for France wise and generous leaders, willing to sacrifice themselves, capable of facing challenges, and determined to serve the common good. May they keep the country at peace within the community of nations. May they raise their voices in defense of fundamental human rights and world peace, forever rejecting the logic of war.".

Finally, he placed the Golden Rose at the feet of the image of the Virgin.