Pope’s Paris Mass draws huge crowd as France 24 estimates 700,000
Pope Leo XIV’s open-air service at Place de la Concorde was the largest event of his first official visit to France. The reported attendance remains an estimate.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde on Saturday, drawing crowds across the square and the Champs-Élysées during his first official visit to France.
France 24 estimated that 700,000 people gathered for the service, which it described as the largest event of the Pope’s four-day visit. Earlier coverage cited nearly 600,000 registrations, but the source package provides no verified final attendance count.
Before the Mass, Leo rode along the avenue in an open-top vehicle, waving to people gathered behind security barriers. He stopped to bless babies and people with disabilities before taking the stage.
In his address, the Pope urged Catholics to seek happiness in faith rather than material things. A choir and organ accompanied the service as crowds watched from the square and nearby avenue.
People interviewed by France 24 described varied reasons for attending, including prayer, volunteering, family tradition and curiosity. The reported crowd estimate does not indicate how attendees as a whole viewed the event.
