Pope Leo XIV in France: the Plane, the Pilgrims, and One Million Visitors

Pope Leo XIV travels to France from 25 to 28 September, the first official visit by a pope in 18 years, and Le Monde has reported on the mechanics of the journey: a specially chartered flight from Rome carrying 80 journalists alongside the pontiff, and a trip governed by a ritual codified over decades, in which reporters who are practising Catholics sometimes step outside the press pool.

The same newspaper reports the commercial dimension. From Paris to Metz, the visit is expected to attract around one million visitors and lift hotel bookings, though Le Monde notes that pilgrims tend to spend less than the concert audiences that filled French cities on a recent tour by Céline Dion.

The Conversation, in a commentary published ahead of the journey, frames the agenda around young people, artificial intelligence and European affairs, and places the timing deliberately well before France's presidential campaign — the same distance John Paul II kept from the 1980 election.