Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV travelled to northeastern France in the final legal of his apostolic visit. Here he took part in an interfaith meeting with representatives of various religions sharing an appeal to act together in the “service of peace” echoing the spirit of Assisi 1986. In his address, he said that invoking God to legitimise violence is a form of profanation. Instead, “Religions are guardians of life,” he said. Yesterday in Lourdes, he met with seven people abused by members of the clergy.

Pope Leo XIV’s visit in France continues. Yesterday, he prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle, and today he celebrated Mass before 150,000 faithful, urging them to “leave as missionaries of hope.” At the Marian shrine, “no one is turned away due to their frailty.” During the Angelus, he issued an appeal, to pray the Rosary "with the particular intention that wars may cease”.

At the Institut Catholique de Paris, the pope spoke of the wonder of faith in adulthood in a “secularized” French society. Meeting migrants at the Maison Bakhita, he bemoaned “a culture that tears communities apart and leaves cities sick with loneliness.” In the afternoon, he led Mass at the Place de la Concorde.

Pope Francis’s first day in France a visit to the Pavillon d’Honneur where he asked, “What does it mean to be human?” He spoke out against dehumanisation and a view of humanity tied to efficiency, noting that AI is incapable of answering questions about “meaning”. At the Élysée Palace, he said not to consider “the prospect of war” as “inevitable;” urging instead “dialogue and diplomacy.”  

In his catechesis, Leo XIV called on the faithful to take part in the Eucharist on the weekly feast day. Sunday is both "foundation and kernel”, the day with which we mark Christ's resurrection and his work of salvation. The pope also addressed a thought to young people, newlyweds, and the sick, ahead of the Feast of the Assumption.

The pope visited Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Porziuncola, on the eighth centenary of the passing of Saint Francis. He urged the participants of the "Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting" to “let the friars' mats and your sleeping bags speak of peace." In his homily, he said, “become fully human with the freedom of Jesus Christ; embrace Sister Poverty!”

A local study confirms the pervasive use of artificial intelligence, even among the youngest children. Researchers call on the government and families to pay more attention to the new technologies. In his encyclical, the pope urges education to also teach “when and for what purpose it ought not to be used it,” so as not to extinguish “the desire to ask questions”.

This morning Leo XIV received at the Apostolic Palace a group of Russian Catholics in Rome for their Jubilee pilgrimage. He invited them to light “the fire of Christian love" and warm the “most hardened hearts” in a world brutalised by war. With charity and hope, a "new world" can be built from the “ruins”. The icon of the Salus Populi Romani is "the sign of the Holy Year”.

Fr Romanelli says that "the entire Gaza Strip is dangerous," but Gaza City is "even more so." There are “constant bombardments”, but the parish has not yet received an "evacuation order." The Custody of the Holy Land and the Latin Patriarchate are with Pope Leo fasting and praying for peace. According to Israeli military sources, 83 percent of the deaths in the Palestinian enclave are civilians.

The Maronite patriarch said that the pontiff is expected by “December”. This visit could be part of the trip to Nicaea, in the footsteps of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. The Holy See has not provided any official information. A cautious approach prevails due to tensions in the southern Lebanon (one death today) and the controversy over Hezbollah's demilitarisation.

The Lebanese president is the first head of state from the region to meet the pontiff. Their meeting comes at the very time of Israel’s attack on Iran. In a statement, the Holy See refers to “good bilateral relations” with Lebanon and expresses support for its “stabilization and reform process”. There are concerns in Lebanon for the new war front, but Hezbollah says that it will not undertake “military initiatives”. The fate of UNIFIL is also at stake.

On the day the Church dedicates to the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the pontiff presides over the ordination of 11 deacons in St. Peter's Basilica. Among them is a priest of Vietnamese origin. In his homily, he urges them to be ‘not masters, but guardians’ and, recalling a theme dear to Pope Francis, asks them to shun ‘self-referentiality.’ And ‘God has not grown weary of gathering his children.’