France is preparing to welcome Pope Leo XIV, who will hold an official state visit from 25 to 28 September, as announced by Vatican on Saturday 16 May.
This is a particularly important visit, as it will be the first official state visit of a pontiff to the country in almost two decades.
The new prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who was elected in May 2025 and is the first pope of United States descent, will travel to Paris at the invitation of both the head of the French state and the director general of UNESCO.
Pope Leo: Visit to UNESCO and Paris
According to a statement from Vatican, Pope Leo XIV will visit the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations agency for culture, giving special symbolism to his trip.
The visit comes a few months after the pontiff’s planned trip to Spain in June and reflects his strategy to strengthen the Holy See’s ties with historically Catholic, but now more secular, European societies.
Note that the last official state visit of a pope to France was made in September 2008 by Benedictus XVI.
Francis’ visits and Macron’s invitation
Although Pope Francis had visited France three times, with visits to Strasbourg, Marseilles and Corsica, those trips were not in the nature of an official state visit to the Holy See.
The invitation to the new pontiff was originally extended by the president of the French Synod of Bishops (CEF), Cardinal Jean-Marc Avellin, and was echoed by the President of France, Emanuel Macron, during his visit to the Vatican last April.
Cardinal Jean-Marc Avellin had said earlier in May that Pope Leo XIV has expressed “the great esteem he has for our country and its intellectual history.”
In Lourdes the Pontiff
Beyond Paris, the pontiff will also visit Lourdes, one of the world’s most important sites of Christian pilgrimage.
The city in southwestern France has previously hosted John Paul II in 1983 and 2004, and Benedictus XVI in 2008. According to the pilgrimage site, hundreds of thousands of faithful had gathered to see the pope in person on each of these visits.
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