In 1997, a Polish pope drew one million people to Paris. Yesterday, the first American pope in history came close.

 

In 1997, a Polish pope drew one million people to Paris. Yesterday, the first American pope in history came close.

The top photo is the Champ de Mars on August 21, 1997, during World Youth Day. About 500,000 young pilgrims were there to welcome John Paul II. Three days later, more than a million people filled the Longchamp racecourse for his closing Mass.

After that, the big crowds went quiet. The last papal Mass in Paris, Benedict XVI's at the Invalides in 2008, drew about 260,000 people.

Then came yesterday. Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago, celebrated Mass at the Place de la Concorde. Organizers had planned for 600,000 people. The Vatican now estimates around 800,000. The crowd covered the whole Champs-Élysées, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) long, and kept going past the Arc de Triomphe.

The setting is quite something. The Place de la Concorde is the square where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were guillotined during the Revolution. Yesterday, it held an altar.

Many of the young pilgrims from 1997 are now in their 40s and 50s. Some of them were probably back on the avenue yesterday, this time with their own kids