Video. France welcomes Leo XIV at Orly Airport as bells sound nationwide

President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the Pope on his arrival at round 10am, earlier than army honours and introductions to French and Vatican officers. The two then made their method to the Élysée Palace for talks.

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The four-day go to, operating from Friday to Monday, will take the Pope to Paris, Saint-Denis, Lourdes and Metz. His programme contains conferences with Macron, French officers, civil-society representatives and diplomats, in addition to a go to to UNESCO and conferences with younger Catholics. The agenda is predicted to incorporate the way forward for Europe, social points and the position of know-how, together with synthetic intelligence, though the printed programme doesn’t explicitly checklist AI as a proper agenda merchandise.

Church bells rang throughout France for seven minutes to mark the Pope’s arrival, together with at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and church buildings in cities reminiscent of Lourdes, Marseille, Lyon and Orléans. Leo XIV’s go to is the first official papal state go to to France since Pope Benedict XVI travelled there in September 2008.

On Friday night, Leo XIV is because of attend a prayer vigil with younger folks aged between 17 and 35 on the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Organisers count on round 80,000 individuals. His itinerary will then proceed with a mass in Paris, adopted by visits to Lourdes and Metz, the place he’s scheduled to deal with the theme “At the roots of Europe for peace and unity”.