An estimated 700,000 attend Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass in central Paris

An estimated 700,000 people packed the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde in Paris on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass, the highlight of his first official four-day visit to France. The 71-year-old leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics rode the popemobile beforehand, blessing babies and people with disabilities, as scouts, nuns, families and onlookers gathered for prayer or to witness the event.