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France awaits Pope Leo – Vatican News
On the eve of Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in Paris, Vatican News Correspondent Deborah Castellano Lubov reports from outside the Cathedral of Notre Dame to share the great excitement in France for the Pope’s imminent arrival, and great emotion after the devastating 2019 fire.
There is so much excitement as Paris prepares to welcome Pope Leo XIV in less than a day’s time.
The Holy Father lands tomorrow morning in the French capital to begin his fifth Apostolic Journey abroad, following that in Spain in June and ahead of that to Latin America in November.
Pope Leo’s intense four-day visit will take him from Paris to a ‘pilgrimage’ to Lourdes, and finally Metz in eastern France.
In Paris, pilgrims are arriving from across France and beyond, volunteers are carrying out their work with care and dedication, the international press has gathered, and security measures have visibly intensified around key venues.
Inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame, every last detail was being prepared with love.
Everywhere you turned your head, you could see each person doing their part for this incredible moment, which will mark the first time a Pope will have been in the beloved Gothic Cathedral known throughout the world since the devastating fire in April 2019.
Pope Leo will be welcomed to Notre-Dame, which has risen and been brought back to life when many feared it never could, and there he will preside over solemn Vespers in the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral with bishops, priests, deacons and their wives, consecrated men and women, and seminarians from across France.
Later on in the day, the Pope will join thousands of young people at the Stade de France for a prayer vigil, and young people have already been sharing their excitement to spend that time with the Pope.
The days ahead will then see the Holy Father celebrate Mass at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Élysées.
In Lourdes, the Pope will pray at the Grotto of Massabielle and celebrate Mass with pilgrims, before traveling to Metz, where he will deliver a message of peace and celebrate Mass in Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.
While religious practice has declined in recent decades in France, which had long been called the ‘eldest daughter of the Church’, Church leaders have pointed to the fact that there is a renewed interest in the faith, especially among young people and adults.
Many are seeking meaning, and are finding it in the faith, they suggest, adding their belief that Pope Leo’s visit will certainly be a moment of faith that can last far beyond the visit.
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