Crowds stretched the length of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris yesterday, as Pope Leo urged Catholics to find happiness in faith, not material things, at the biggest event of his visit to France, an outdoor Mass with an estimated 800,000 people.
Chants of ‘Leo, Leo’ and ‘Long live the Pope’ echoed down the roughly 2km tree-lined boulevard, from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, as people pressed against security barriers for a glimpse of Leo as he arrived in an open-top popemobile.
The vehicle paused frequently as people waved white and yellow Vatican flags and Leo blessed people with disabilities, children and babies passed forward by volunteers.
Attendees included Brigitte Macron, the French president’s wife, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading in the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chairman of French luxury group LVMH.
Cheers rang out in the crowd as Leo thanked God in his sermon for the chance to visit France on a whirlwind four-day, three-city tour, during which he is seeking to repair the church’s standing after abuse scandals caused nationwide shock.
The pope told Catholics that only their faith would provide true happiness.
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