Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass at the Place de la Concorde, at the foot of the famous avenue.

 

For one afternoon, the Champs-Élysées became a church.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass at the Place de la Concorde, at the foot of the famous avenue. The crowd, estimated at 700,000 by the Vatican, stretched all the way back to the Arc de Triomphe and beyond. Giant screens were set up between the trees so everyone could follow.

The stage alone was huge: 164 by 98 feet (50 by 30 meters), raised 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, under a golden cross 13 feet (4 meters) tall. Behind the altar, a giant rose window design echoed the stained glass of Paris's Gothic churches.

The numbers behind the scenes were just as big. About 12,000 volunteers helped run the day, and around 500,000 communion wafers were prepared.

The Mass was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first American pope gave his homily in French. He spoke about the thirst for meaning that lives in every heart, and warned that material things can never fully satisfy it.

The setting made the moment even stronger. The Place de la Concorde is where King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined during the French Revolution. Its centerpiece, the Luxor Obelisk, is more than 3,000 years old. This time, it stood above a sea of people singing hymns.

Forever Paris