Pope Leo XIV arrived in Metz on Monday to discuss Europe’s future on the final day of his visit to France. The northeastern city, which changed hands repeatedly in past conflicts, is closely linked to Robert Schuman, regarded as one of the EU’s founding fathers and buried just outside Metz.

FFrance 24 English2026-09-28 08:53

Pope Leo XIV is delivering a speech in Metz, France, on peace and unity in Europe. Metz is the birthplace of Robert Schuman, regarded as one of the founding fathers of European integration.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-28 07:29

Oxford historian of the Catholic Church Miles Pattenden says Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France reflects a broader recalibration of the papacy. While Francis focused on the Church’s peripheries and the Global South, Leo is subtly bringing Europe’s historic heartlands back into view, with France particularly significant.

FFrance 24 English2026-09-28 07:17

Pope Leo XIV is delivering a speech on peace and unity in Europe in Metz, France. The city is the birthplace of Robert Schuman, described as one of the founding fathers of European integration.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-28 07:02

Pope Leo is concluding his four-day visit to France with meetings and a Mass in the eastern city of Metz before returning to Rome.

RReuters2026-09-28 06:38

French survivors of clergy sexual abuse said Pope Leo XIV listened with unusual depth during a private meeting Sunday and acknowledged abuse as systemic within the Catholic Church. They stressed that the encounter must be followed by concrete action.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-28 06:00

Pope Leo spent two hours meeting seven survivors of clerical abuse in France and pledged to reform the Church. One survivor said the encounter led him to attend Mass for the first time in 65 years.

RReuters2026-09-28 05:43

On the final day of his Lourdes visit, Pope Leo XIV held a private meeting with cloistered Carmelite nuns before leading the Rosary and a torchlight procession at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-28 01:45

Speaking in Lourdes on Sunday morning, Pope Leo XIV called on the French Catholic Church to keep pursuing its fight against sexual abuse, an issue closely watched during his visit.

Eeuronews2026-09-27 18:36

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass Sunday in a field facing the grotto at Lourdes before hundreds of thousands of faithful. The French Catholic shrine is associated with miraculous cures and is increasingly seen as a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-27 17:08

At the French shrine of Lourdes, known for miraculous cures, the pope called for the protection of the weakest members of society.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-27 17:02

At Lourdes in France, Pope Leo called on the Catholic Church to reckon with its own shortcomings before sitting down with people abused by priests as children.

RReuters2026-09-27 16:12

The pontiff’s itinerary in France now takes him to Lourdes, following two days in Paris. He is scheduled to meet privately there with survivors of sexual abuse committed by clergy. The four-day journey marks the country’s first official papal visit in close to two decades.

FFrance 24 English2026-09-27 15:01

Pope Leo XIV continued his visit to France in Lourdes, a major Catholic pilgrimage site in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where he celebrated Mass before about 150,000 people. Hendro Munstermann, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch newspaper Nederland Dagblad, joined from Lourdes to share his impressions of the visit.

FFrance 24 English2026-09-27 11:21

After leaving Paris, Pope Leo XIV concluded his second day in France at Lourdes, where he prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle. On Sunday, he is scheduled to celebrate another outdoor Mass and hold a private meeting with seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse.

FFrance 24 English2026-09-27 08:39

Pope Leo XIV's visit to France continues into its third day. He is scheduled to celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. in the meadow of the Lourdes sanctuary.

Eeuronews2026-09-27 07:57

A live broadcast captures Pope Leo XIV at Mass on the prairie in front of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes during his four-day apostolic journey to France.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-27 07:02

Pope Leo XIV is meeting bishops at the French Bishops’ Conference and is delivering an address at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes during his apostolic journey to France.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-27 06:31

Pope Leo XIV began his Lourdes pilgrimage Saturday evening with a silent prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands attended his large outdoor Mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-27 01:20

Pope Leo XIV began his pilgrimage in Lourdes by praying at the Grotto of the Apparitions, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to the shepherdess Bernadette. The site is among the faith’s most visited shrines.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-26 23:03

Pope Leo has arrived in Lourdes for the second stage of his France visit, following historic crowds in Paris. He began his pilgrimage with a prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

Eeuronews2026-09-26 20:16

Hundreds of thousands gathered along Paris’ Champs-Élysées on Saturday to see Pope Leo before his open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde. He greeted Catholic faithful and blessed babies. The Vatican estimated attendance at 800,000, above expectations. His visit to France will continue with a trip to Lourdes in the south.

GGlobal News2026-09-26 19:15

Pope Leo XIV drew a crowd of about 700,000 to a giant outdoor Mass in central Paris, where fervor filled the gathering.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-26 18:30

Hundreds of thousands filled Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s large outdoor Mass, highlighting the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in a country that was once staunchly Catholic but is officially secular today.

TThe Associated Press2026-09-26 18:08