Pope Leo XIV's France visit tests the country's strict secularism

Pope Leo XIV’s four-day pilgrimage to France kicks off with a series of public events, including a popemobile procession, an open-air Mass on the Champs-Élysées and a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. The itinerary covers Paris, Saint-Denis, Lourdes and Metz, and highlights the nation’s laïcité principle rooted in the 1905 law that separates church and state and requires governmental neutrality.

While the law permits religious ceremonies, it also restricts conspicuous symbols in schools and bans religious attire for national-team athletes, prompting debate over the prominence of a Catholic ceremony at a site usually reserved for state occasions. A Paris bishop blessed the media centre for the visit, underscoring the rare cooperation between religious and state actors. Security will be state-funded, and the massive turnout is expected to draw hundreds of thousands, reviving discussions about the Catholic Church’s cultural role in a secular republic.