Pope Leo XIV began his visit to France on Friday for his fifth Apostolic Journey as Pontiff.The four-day trip marks the first formal papal visit to the country once called "the eldest daughter of the Church" since Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in September 2008.French bishops announced the visit’s theme as "That the world may have life," and it comes as the officially secular nation is seeing an influx of new baptisms.
So far this year, according to the Conference of Bishops of France, more than 21,000 adults have joined the Church, an increase driven by 18 to 25-year-olds."Pope Leo's visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave" of interest, retired French Bishop Marc Stenger told Reuters."French Catholics are… saying loudly that they need the Church to find their way in these uncertain moments in world history."POPE LEO WARNS AI RISKS BECOMING TOOL OF 'DOMINATION, EXCLUSION AND DEATH' IN NEW ENCYCLICALThe pope will visit Metz on Sept.
28, 2026 to conclude his four-day state and pastoral trip to France, which also includes stops in Paris and Lourdes.(Jean-Christophe Verhaegen / AFP via Getty Images)The rise comes after a 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades, and said the Church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference" to victims.
Stenger, who led the Diocese of Troyes from 1999 to 2020, told Reuters the scandals "have deeply wounded the Church and damaged its credibility."In what is described as an unusual move, the Vatican press office announced Pope Leo will meet privately in Lourdes with seven of those victims as part of a message of healing and vulnerability.SAN FRANCISCO ARCHDIOCESE AGREES TO $395M SETTLEMENT WITH 530 CLERGY ABUSE SURVIVORSThe Vatican calls the trip, "a journey that unites faith and public engagement, memory and the future, with listening and bridge-building at its heart." After being greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron and a cou...