Pope Leo XIV draws 800,000 faithful to Paris before emotional Lourdes pilgrimage

France welcomed Pope Leo XIV to Paris on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the Champs-Élysées to see the pontiff travel by popemobile to an outdoor Mass . Waving flags and cheering, the crowds lined a 2-kilometre route from near the Arc de Triomphe towards Place de la Concorde . The Vatican estimated that about 800,000 people attended the Mass, exceeding the 600,000 who had registered in advance. Leo stopped repeatedly to wave to the crowd and bless children and babies before reaching the ceremony. After the Paris Mass, Leo travelled to Lourdes , where he began his pilgrimage on Saturday evening with a silent prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions .