Pope Leo XIV meets migrants in Paris, calls for dignity and peace ahead of mass
Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pontiff, visited France on September 25, 2026, meeting migrants at Maison Bakhita, a Paris-based association supporting refugees and asylum seekers. He told them it is possible to “live together in dignity and peace,” a message delivered amid rising anti‑immigration sentiment ahead of France’s upcoming elections. Later that day, he led a prayer vigil with young people at the Stade de France stadium in Saint‑Denis, a suburb of Paris, blessing the crowd before departing.
The pope’s visit continues with an open‑air mass expected to draw around 600,000 attendees at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs‑Élysées. President Emmanuel Macron will not attend, but several presidential hopefuls—including far‑right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Édouard Philippe—have confirmed their presence. On Friday, an estimated 300,000 people saw the pontiff wave from his popemobile en route to Notre Dame Cathedral.
Beyond the migrant encounter, Pope Leo XIV warned against an AI‑driven “paradise of machines,” urged France to remain a tireless champion of peace in the war‑torn Ukraine, and will later visit Lourdes to meet seven victims of clerical sexual abuse, a scandal that a 2021 inquiry found affected about 330,000 minors over seven decades. His trip ends in Metz with a speech on peace in Europe.
What should Nigerians take from this? The pope’s call for dignity offers a reminder to reflect on how faith leaders address social tensions, whether migration, ethnic, or religious, and consider what role compassion plays in public discourse as political campaigns heat up both abroad and at home.