Pope Leo XIV is in Lourdes as his visit to France continues, with the pontiff meeting French bishops on Sunday and scheduled to meet victims of clerical sexual abuse before travelling to northeastern France.
The US-born pope met with the bishops of France at the Saint Bernadette auditorium at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday morning. He was then due to celebrate Mass at the prairie, the large open area used for major religious gatherings at the shrine.
Lourdes, located in the foothills of the Pyrenees in southwestern France, is one of the Catholic Church’s most significant pilgrimage sites. The town is closely associated with Bernadette Soubirous, who Catholics believe experienced apparitions of the Virgin Mary there in 1858.
During his time in Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV is also scheduled to meet privately with victims of clerical sexual abuse. The meeting comes as the Catholic Church continues to face scrutiny over its handling of abuse cases and the experiences of survivors.
The Lourdes stop follows the pope’s earlier engagements in France and forms part of a visit that combines religious ceremonies with meetings focused on broader social and political themes.
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to travel to Metz in northeastern France. There, he is expected to attend an interreligious meeting and deliver a speech centred on what organisers describe as “the roots of Europe for peace and unity.”
His visit will conclude with a farewell ceremony at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine Airport before his departure from France.
The journey through Lourdes and Metz gives the pope’s French visit a distinctly religious and European dimension, moving from one of Catholicism’s best-known pilgrimage destinations to a city where his programme is set to focus on dialogue between religious communities and the question of peace and unity in Europe.
