Leo’s visit across France offers a more personal glimpse of the pope

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France may have a highly secularized culture, but it has given Pope Leo XIV a superstar welcome.

In Paris, around 800,000 lined the Champs-Élysées avenue, some waving Vatican or French flags while others climbed trees or stood on each other’s shoulders to get a glimpse of the popemobile. In Lourdes, a holy site in southern France, around 150,000 attended an open-air papal Mass, according to Vatican estimates which dwarf the numbers of faithful who turned out for the last papal visit in 2008.

During the four-day visit, Leo appeared comfortable and relaxed, delivering most of his speeches and reflections in French, as the Chicago-born pontiff sought to tackle several themes during the trip.

A strong focus of Leo’s has been on trying to revitalize faith in a traditional European Catholic heartland as well as on addressing the clerical sexual abuse scandal and big political topics such as artificial intelligence. He’s also offered some more personal, unscripted remarks, helping to shape a clearer picture of himself.

While his predecessor never made official visits to the major Catholic European countries of France and Spain, Pope Leo has traveled to both within the first year and a half since his election.

France is sometimes described as the “eldest daughter of the church” because of its deep Catholic roots, but it’s also faced a long-term trend of declining church attendance with estimates of just 5-8% of the population heading to the pews each week.

French bishops have more recently reported some good news though: a surprising rise in new church entrants after around 8,200 adolescents and 13,200 adults were baptized in 2026. That’s a 20% increase on the year prior, with the church also saying 42% of the adults seeking baptism are aged 18-25, a reflection of a trend showing Gen Z’s openness to religious faith .

It’s something Pope Leo will have noted at the Stade de France when 80,000 young people packed the venue for a jubilant – and loud – prayer vigil. It was similar to when the pontiff visited Spain in June.

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“There is a quest for meaning. People need and are in search of meaning and answers to the big existential question,” Rev. Benoît Pouzin, a priest in southwest France involved in youth ministry, told CNN.

France has a strict separation between church and state, so each papal visit needs to be carefully navigated. But in a surprising twist, Leo’s Mass in Paris was celebrated on the Place de la Concorde, a site deeply linked to the secular Republic as it’s where the last king of France, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined. The separation of the church started with the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution.

In another unusual move later in the trip, President Emmanuel Macron also attended a papal Mass in Metz, a city in the northeast, despite criticism in 2023 for doing the same during Pope Francis’ visit.

Many among the crowds also pointed to Leo’s role as the other major US leader on the world stage. It’s hard not to see him as a counterweight to President Donald Trump. In contrast to the Trump administration, the pope has called for stronger guardrails around the development of artificial intelligence, warning against a “paradise of machines” while in Paris.

The pope, who spoke out against the US war in Iran, also wants a more united Europe, a stronger European Union and stronger international cooperation. “Today, relations between individuals and states are becoming increasingly uncivilized,” the pope said in Metz on Monday. “The value of keeping one’s word is dismissed; instead, people boast of lies and deceit.”

The pope’s speech also praised one of the founders of the European Union, Robert Schuman, for whom there is an ongoing formal cause to make him a saint.

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On the papal plane, the American pontiff responded to Trump’s White House media ban, which includes CNN and other outlets. In answer to a question from CNN, he said he was “very happy that, here, you are all welcome and good coverage, I think, is very important and that we have it all the way around, for everyone.” The response was classic Leo: signaling his support for the press but not wishing to create an unnecessary dispute with the president.

The American pope’s in-flight interactions with journalists were rare, unscripted moments, with his answers often revealing more about his personality. On the flight from Rome to Paris, the pope was asked if he had anything to do with a miraculous recent Chicago White Sox victory, his beloved baseball team. “No comment,” he said before adding with a smile, “Great things happen in Chicago.”

He also recalled childhood memories of watching Fulton Sheen, the American archbishop and broadcaster who was recently declared “blessed,” one step ahead of sainthood, and revealed he’d been practising his French but was no longer using the Duolingo language app. “It’s fake news!” he said about recent reports. Leo has in the past been spotted using Duolingo to learn German.

Leo isn’t simply vocal about challenges of his homeland. He also voiced concern over assisted dying with France recently approving legislation granting the right to the incurably ill, which is strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. Leo spoke on the subject several times during his visit – most clearly in the “miracle shrine” town of Lourdes, known for drawing many sick and terminally ill pilgrims to its shrine.

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The pope must, however, continue to wrestle with Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals. France was left shocked by a 2021 report that estimated around 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by priests or other church figures. He addressed this by telling crowds the church must admit its own failings and heal “deep wounds” before holding a two-hour meeting with seven survivors of abuse.

The Vatican said that Leo thanked them “for their painful testimony” while “reaffirming his commitment to ensuring that the harm they suffered is not repeated for others.”

But the scandal still lingers. On the façade of the basilica in Lourdes, banners were placed over controversial mosaics ahead of Leo’s visit. These mosaics – which will now be covered indefinitely – were designed by a Slovenian priest and artist, Rev. Marko Rupnik, accused of sexual and psychological abuse of adult women. A local bishop said the pope backed how the apostolic nunciature was handling the artist’s works. Bishop Jean-Marc Micas also said Leo had ordered the Vatican’s in-house media outlets to stop using Rupnik art. Rupnik, who maintains his innocence, is facing a church trial in the Vatican, which complainants say is taking too long and lacks transparency.

The pope was elected 16-months ago and is still carving out a narrative for his papacy. Some in the Vatican find him difficult to read, and the pope is known for keeping his cards close to his chest. But it’s out on the open road when he travels abroad, in France and, in November, in Latin America, where the Leo papacy is beginning to take shape.

CNN’s Joseph Ataman contributed to this report.

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法国虽然拥有高度世俗化的文化，但却给予了教皇利奥十四世超级巨星般的欢迎。

在巴黎，约有80万人聚集在香榭丽舍大街两旁，一些人挥舞着梵蒂冈或法国国旗，另一些人则爬上树或叠罗汉，只为一睹教皇座驾的风采。在法国南部圣地卢尔德，据梵蒂冈估计，约有15万人参加了露天教皇弥撒，这一数字远超2008年教皇上次访问时的信徒人数。

在为期四天的访问中，利奥显得轻松自在，他大部分的演讲和感想都是用法语发表的。这位出生于芝加哥的教皇试图在访问期间探讨几个主题。

利奥一直致力于重振欧洲传统天主教中心地带的信仰，同时关注神职人员性侵丑闻以及人工智能等重大政治议题。此外，他还发表了一些更个人化、更即兴的言论，帮助人们更清晰地了解他本人。

虽然他的前任从未正式访问过欧洲主要的天主教国家法国和西班牙，但教宗利奥在当选后的头一年半内就访问了这两个国家。

由于其深厚的天主教根基，法国有时被描述为“教会的长女”，但法国也面临着教堂出席率长期下降的趋势，据估计，每周只有 5-8% 的人口会去教堂做礼拜。

不过，法国主教们最近也带来了一些好消息：新教徒人数出现了令人惊讶的增长，2026年约有8200名青少年和13200名成年人接受了洗礼。这比上一年增长了20%，教会还表示，寻求洗礼的成年人中有42%的年龄在18至25岁之间，这反映了Z世代对宗教信仰持开放态度的趋势。

教宗良十三世在法兰西体育场也注意到了这一点，当时有八万名年轻人挤满了体育场，举行了一场欢欣鼓舞、喧闹无比的祈祷守夜活动。这与教宗六月访问西班牙时的情景类似。

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“人们都在寻求意义。他们需要并正在寻找意义，以及对重大存在主义问题的答案，”法国西南部一位从事青年事工的神父贝努瓦·普赞告诉 CNN。

法国严格实行政教分离，因此教皇的每次访问都需要精心安排。但出人意料的是，利奥教皇在巴黎的弥撒地点选在了协和广场。协和广场与世俗共和国有着千丝万缕的联系，因为法国末代国王路易十六和玛丽·安托瓦内特王后正是在这里被送上断头台。政教分离始于法国大革命期间君主制的垮台。

在这次访问的后期，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙又做出了一个不同寻常的举动：他前往东北部城市梅斯参加了一场教皇弥撒。尽管在2023年教皇方济各访问期间，他曾因参加弥撒而受到批评。

人群中许多人也指出，利奥教宗是美国在世界舞台上的另一位重要领导人。很难不把他视为唐纳德·特朗普总统的制衡力量。与特朗普政府不同，教宗呼吁加强对人工智能发展的监管，并在巴黎期间警告人们警惕“机器天堂”的出现。

教宗曾公开反对美国入侵伊朗，他也希望欧洲更加团结，欧盟更加强大，国际合作更加紧密。教宗周一在梅斯表示：“如今，个人与国家之间的关系日益变得不文明。信守承诺的价值观被抛弃，取而代之的是谎言和欺骗。”

教宗的讲话还赞扬了欧盟的创始人之一罗伯特·舒曼，目前正在进行一项正式的册封圣人的程序。

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在教皇专机上，这位美国籍教皇回应了特朗普白宫的媒体禁令，该禁令涵盖了CNN等媒体。在回答CNN记者提问时，他表示：“我很高兴在这里，你们都受到欢迎。我认为，良好的媒体报道非常重要，我们能够做到面面俱到，惠及所有人。” 这番回应颇具利奥教皇的典型风格：既表达了他对媒体的支持，又避免与总统发生不必要的冲突。

美国教皇在飞机上与记者的互动十分罕见，都是即兴发挥，他的回答往往更能展现他的个性。在从罗马飞往巴黎的航班上，有人问教皇，他是否与他挚爱的棒球队——芝加哥白袜队——最近一场奇迹般的胜利有关。他先是笑着说：“无可奉告。”然后又补充道：“芝加哥总是会发生一些伟大的事情。”

他还回忆起童年时观看富尔顿·希恩（Fulton Sheen）的节目，这位美国大主教兼主持人最近被宣布为“真福”，距离封圣仅一步之遥。他还透露自己一直在练习法语，但已经不再使用多邻国（Duolingo）语言学习应用了。“那是假新闻！”他针对最近的报道说道。此前，莱昂纳多曾被发现使用多邻国学习德语。

利奥不仅公开谈论祖国面临的挑战，他还对安乐死表示担忧。法国最近通过了一项法案，赋予绝症患者安乐死的权利，而天主教会对此强烈反对。利奥在访问期间多次谈及此事，尤其是在以吸引众多身患重病和绝症的朝圣者而闻名的“奇迹圣地”卢尔德。

让-克里斯托夫·沙特尔/汉斯·卢卡斯/法新社/盖蒂图片社

然而，教宗必须继续应对天主教会的性侵丑闻。2021年的一份报告震惊了法国，该报告估计，在过去70年中，约有33万名儿童遭到神父或其他教会人士的性侵。教宗就此向民众表示，教会必须承认自身的过错并治愈“深重的创伤”，随后与七名性侵幸存者举行了两个小时的会谈。

梵蒂冈表示，利奥感谢他们“痛苦的证词”，同时“重申他致力于确保他们所遭受的伤害不会在其他人身上重演”。

但丑闻仍未平息。在利奥教宗访问卢尔德圣母大殿前，一些备受争议的马赛克镶嵌画被横幅遮盖。这些马赛克镶嵌画——如今将被无限期遮盖——出自斯洛文尼亚神父兼艺术家马尔科·鲁普尼克之手，他被指控对成年女性进行性虐待和精神虐待。当地一位主教表示，教宗支持教廷大使馆处理这位艺术家作品的方式。主教让-马克·米卡斯还表示，利奥教宗已下令梵蒂冈内部媒体停止使用鲁普尼克的作品。鲁普尼克坚称自己无罪，目前正在梵蒂冈接受教会审判，但原告称审判耗时过长且缺乏透明度。

教宗当选已有16个月，至今仍在为他的教宗生涯构建叙事。梵蒂冈内部有些人觉得他难以捉摸，而教宗本人也以行事谨慎著称。但当他出访法国，以及11月访问拉丁美洲时，利奥教宗的形象开始逐渐显现。

CNN的约瑟夫·阿塔曼对本报道亦有贡献。