Home · Faith · Sep 25 archive
Pope Leo XIV Urges French Youth to Seek Holiness
Confirmed
In Short: Pope Leo XIV urged 80,000 young people gathered at the Stade de France on Sept. 25 to pursue holiness, peace, and a 'living relationship with Jesus,' during an evening prayer vigil that showcased the diversity of France’s Catholic youth.
Pope Leo XIV urged 80,000 young people gathered at the Stade de France on Sept. 25 to pursue holiness, peace, and a 'living relationship with Jesus,' during an evening prayer vigil that showcased the diversity of France’s Catholic youth.
Pope Leo XIV also highlighted the importance of making the right choices, stating, 'The good gives life; it never takes it away.' He encouraged the youth to remember that they are not alone on their path to holiness, as they are supported by their brothers and sisters and the saints.
Christel, a 30-year-old Paris-based member of the choir involved in youth ministry, told OSV News that the event was not her first time performing for a pope. Eighteen years ago, she was part of a choir that participated in Benedict XVI’s Mass in Lourdes.
The vigil took place in one of France’s poorest and most diverse areas, and the new mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, a Muslim of Malian origin known for his affiliation with radical far-left parties, warmly welcomed the pope upon his arrival and participated in the vigil.
After a popemobile tour of the stadium, Pope Leo was welcomed by Bishop Étienne Guillet of Saint-Denis, France’s youngest bishop. The pope’s visit to the Stade de France was part of a broader tour that included a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral.
Specifically, Pope Leo XIV visited Notre Dame Cathedral, where he called on Catholics in France to be 'living stones' of a Church that bears witness to how God’s love restores and heals humanity. He said the cathedral had been reborn so that the faithful could be reborn in a new impetus towards holiness and daily mission.
The pope spent a moment kneeling in prayer before the tabernacle and the chapel containing the precious relic of Christ’s crown of thorns, which he was able to kiss. He then led the prayer of vespers with about 2,000 bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and consecrated people in attendance.
Church bells rang out across Paris to welcome the pope, and an estimated 300,000 Parisians greeted him as he drove through the city from the UNESCO headquarters near the Eiffel Tower to the Place Saint-Michel.
The pope’s visit to Notre Dame was an emotional moment for many French Catholics, as it was the first time since the devastating 2019 fire that the pope had stepped inside the famous gothic cathedral.
Background
Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Capuchin Poor Clare Nuns of Italy to remain hopeful and to renew their spiritual commitment despite a decline in vocations during an audience on September 25.
Pope Leo XIV met with Italian Special Olympics athletes, praising the values of sports and encouraging them to lead holy lives.
What's confirmed
- For the first time since the world watched as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned in the devastating 2019 fire, the pope stepped inside the famous gothic cathedral and called on Catholics in France to be “living stones” of a Church that bears witness to how God’s love restores and heals humanity.
- “This Cathedral has been reborn so that you, too, may be reborn with it in a new impetus towards holiness and daily mission,” Pope Leo told the bishops, priests, deacons, and religious men and women gathered inside, speaking in French.
- The Holy See Press office said an estimated 300,000 Parisians greeted the pope as he drove through the city.
- Archbishop Ulrich recalled how Pope Leo had told him how he longed to see Notre Dame.
- “Notre-Dame is more than a monument,” Pope Leo said in his homily inside the cathedral.
- Minutes before the pope’s arrival to Notre Dame, Father Baudouin de La Bigne, a priest of the Diocese of Versailles, told OSV News, “We are really proud to welcome the pope” to the restored cathedral.
- It was an emotional moment for many French Catholics as Pope Leo XIV led prayers Sept.
- Church bells rang out across the city of Paris to welcome the pope to the French capital.
- Pope Leo greeted crowds on the streets as the popemobile traveled from the UNESCO headquarters near the Eiffel Tower to the Place Saint-Michel, a public square across from the Ile de la Cite, the island in the center of the River Seine where Notre Dame is located.
- The pope was welcomed to the 12th-century cathedral by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris and Msgr.
- Pope Leo spent a moment kneeling in prayer before the tabernacle and the chapel containing the precious relic of Christ’s crown of thorns, which he was able to kiss.
- The pope then led the prayer of vespers with about 2,000 bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and consecrated people in attendance.
What's still developing
- “The first thing I want to tell you is: Thank You!” the pope said, speaking off-the-cuff.
- “Young people of France, you carry in your hearts an immense desire for freedom, a word that resonates loudly in your culture,” the pope told the youth, among them non-Christian students enrolled in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Saint-Denis, who attended at the invitation of local schools.
- “We are not alone on this path to holiness, for we walk it united with all our brothers and sisters around us. You are experiencing this yourselves tonight, as happens at great gatherings like World Youth Day. We also have the saints as our allies, supporting us in times of trial,” Pope Leo stressed.
- The pope said the source of “true freedom” is “a living relationship with Jesus.” “The Lord’s presence brings wisdom to our plans and beauty to the desires we hold in our hearts,” he continued.
- “God shines through our souls like a light, inviting us to a constant renewal,” the pope said, adding that Christ is “calling us to a conversion that gives full meaning to our lives, making us protagonists of a story that moves from confusion to the pursuit of truth, and from indifference to a commitment to justice.” The event took place in one of France’s poorest and most diverse areas.
- Specifically, I thought of the scene where captured French resistance fighter Fontaine explains to another prisoner why he scrapes at the wooden door of his cell with a spoon everyday, despite the near-impossibility of escape.