Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in Paris

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for an estimated 800,000 people at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on Sept. 26. The crowd exceeded the 600,000 people who had originally registered for the event, according to estimates from the Vatican, organizers, and the Paris police department.

During his homily, the pope urged the people of France to find true happiness and peace by following Jesus. He told the assembly to drink from the source found in the pierced heart of Jesus, noting that people thirst for God, life, truth, unity, peace, communion, and happiness.

The Mass included approximately 100 bishops and 2,400 priests and deacons. Six altar servers with Down syndrome assisted during the liturgy. As the pope traveled through the crowd in the popemobile, he gave papal blessings to dozens of babies and young children.

The event required a security zone stretching nearly two miles from the Place de la Concorde past the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs-Elysées. Approximately 14,500 police officers, military personnel, gendarmes, and firefighters were mobilized for the second day of the papal visit.