A Pope in Paris, and a Sicilian Church That Knows Schism

Pope Leo XIV's four-day state visit to France has drawn crowds in Paris and revived a feud inside Roman Catholicism, according to France 24, which reports that the Vatican's recent excommunication of followers of the Society of Saint Pius X has cast a pall over the trip. The ultra-conservative group, which France 24 describes as having built an extensive network of schools, has long contested the direction of the post-conciliar Church.

Speaking at the Elysée Palace alongside President Emmanuel Macron, the pope warned against what Le Monde rendered as a 'paradise of machines', and defended freedom of conscience without naming France's populist forces. Politico Europe noted that the warning landed as the far right's front-runner, Marine Le Pen, has revived a proposed headscarf ban. The New York Times framed the journey as an attempt by a pope who has visited Africa to hold both the Church's old heartlands and its newest strongholds at once.