2026 Papal Trip to France

“This Cathedral has been reborn so that you, too, may be reborn with it in a new impetus towards holiness and daily mission,” Pope Leo said.

Pope Leo XIV warned diplomats, academics and youth delegates that human dignity is being cast to the wayside in the name of efficiency and productivity in the era of AI.

“Let us not forget that mutual respect and the protection of every human life is a duty incumbent upon each and every one of us,” Pope Leo said.

“I received messages during the beatification ceremony yesterday writing and saying, ‘Why weren’t you here?’ That would’ve been so great,” the pope said.

“Here, the Catholic world and the world of human culture meet on a daily basis, in a concrete way,” the vice rector told OSV News.

The center is named after St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave who became a nun in Italy, where she died in 1947, and who was canonized in 2000.

Calls to remove the priest’s artwork have grown, including from alleged victims who said the mosaics were a painful reminder of the abuse they suffered.

“In modern times, the tunic has never been officially taken out of the basilica. This is a major first, just as Leo XIV will be the first pope to behold …

With Pope Leo’s visit, French Catholics are looking for a momentum similar to the one seen during World Youth Day 1997 with St. John Paul II.

“Building ties rather than resorting to arms” is what Robert Schuman wanted, said the postulator of the canonization cause for the French statesman.