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20260926 120000 UTC
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[00:00:06] It's 2 PM here in Paris, glad to have you back on France 24
[00:00:10] for this second day of Pope Leo XIV's visit
[00:00:13] to France. The
[00:00:16] and women's liberation, sovereign pontiff is still in Paris, he is presiding over a solemn mass this
[00:00:18] have come from afternoon in Place de la Concorde. Everything is
[00:00:22] being set up, as you can see in the image. At least
[00:00:25] 600,000 people are expected on the Champs-Élysées avenue and well
[00:00:29] beyond. We will follow this event live
[00:00:32] hopes for, he expects a word, a sign from with our teams on site on this avenue of the
[00:00:35] Champs-Élysées and here in the studio with Constance Colona
[00:00:39] Césari, a journalist specializing in the Vatican, and Father François Evet who is
[00:00:43] also with us. Hello to both of you, welcome to the France 24 set.
[00:00:54] François, it's a mass in honor of
[00:00:54] the
[00:01:00] A new morning of meetings dedicated primarily to men and women forced into
[00:01:03] exile and welcomed here in Paris at the Bakita House, which is an
[00:01:08] caught me a bit off guard, but in honor of association. Leo XIV then de Triomphe, Place de met with newly baptized individuals at the
[00:01:11] Catholic Institute of Paris. He is now expected at Place de la
[00:01:14] Concorde for a solemn open-air mass
[00:01:17] in the presence of at least
[00:01:20] out of interest. I think that 60,000 people who have already taken their places since very early this morning on the
[00:01:24] Champs-Élysées, on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, on this
[00:01:27] Place de la Concorde and
[00:01:30] even well beyond. Our teams are
[00:01:33] mobilized to experience this moment with you.
[00:01:37] Anne Corpé, Marie Chister, and Florence Gaillard,
[00:01:40] thank you all three for being on deck for
[00:01:43] a few more hours. Marie Chister, first, you are
[00:01:47] accompanied by participants, one of those
[00:01:50] people who has made the trip to the Champs-Élysées
[00:01:53] to follow this solemn open-air mass that
[00:01:56] starts in just
[00:02:00] a moment.
[00:02:04] Yes, indeed, it's a mass that starts in just one hour, and as you
[00:02:07] can perhaps see in the images, the Champs-Élysées are packed with people. About a quarter of an hour ago, everyone
[00:02:10] started waving the small
[00:02:14] Vatican flag that was
[00:02:17] 15,000 members of the police distributed to the 600,000 participants expected
[00:02:20] here on the Champs-Élysées, and the atmosphere is very
[00:02:23] joyful. I'm joined by Xavier. Xavier, you came from
[00:02:26] Lille to see Pope Leo XIV, exactly. And you
[00:02:30] were explaining to me that in the train there was already
[00:02:33] this celebration this morning, right? Yeah, that's right, a great team from the
[00:02:37] Diocese of Lille who took care of us, who offered us a
[00:02:40] scarf, everything needed to set up a great
[00:02:44] courage. I atmosphere, and then we already felt a
[00:02:47] fervor, people were happy to be there, anyway. You were also
[00:02:50] given a decal on your cheek, so we're playing along,
[00:02:53] we're trying to get into
[00:02:57] it a bit because it's not easy for everyone, I think. There are some who were
[00:03:02] otherness. asking questions before coming and are looking for
[00:03:04] and state, has contributed answers, who hesitated to come, and so I
[00:03:06] think you have to get into it, you know. Why
[00:03:10] hesitate, why hesitate to come? Well, he's the Pope, he's
[00:03:14] a famous person. I'm a practicing Christian, so of course
[00:03:17] I should be interested, but one might wonder why, but
[00:03:20] well,
[00:03:23] Catholic, very practicing, the reflecting, I understood that he was the right hand of
[00:03:28] secularism is not excluding religion from Christ, he was God's spokesman, so he definitely had something to tell me, that's why I'm
[00:03:32] here. You're actually hoping that from this meeting,
[00:03:35] eventually, you'll have some kind of revelation,
[00:03:38] right? Yes, of course, we all expect, I think, a
[00:03:42] sign, a word, a sign. People aren't all going to have an
[00:03:46] individual interview with the Pope, we are all aware of that,
[00:03:50] but I think, you hear the
[00:03:52] songs, it's all that that's important, it's the beauty of the people we meet, they're
[00:03:56] all happy to be here, it's a message, you know. Is it an
[00:04:00] event that should be reserved only for believers, for Christians, or do you
[00:04:04] actually welcome the fact that there might also be in the
[00:04:07] crowd people who don't believe or who have their own religion? Well,
[00:04:11] absolutely, Christ
[00:04:14] came for everyone, all
[00:04:16] largely outside the men, without any prejudice, he came to
[00:04:19] save everyone, really no
[00:04:23] problem. I think Christians are aware
[00:04:26] that the Pope is coming, but not only that. I have
[00:04:30] met people who work in companies right here in Paris who asked me how to
[00:04:34] come, where to go, where to register.
[00:04:36] So they know, they know. It's also a
[00:04:40] historic event for you Christians because it's also a
[00:04:44] moment where you can demonstrate your fervor, your religious
[00:04:47] fervor, right? Beyond the demonstration, I think for
[00:04:51] those you were just talking about who are not practicing Christians,
[00:04:54] meaning people who don't go to mass every Sunday or who don't
[00:04:58] have... Well, who are not steeped in
[00:05:02] this religion, it's the spirit, it's to say, well,
[00:05:05] try it, come, connect, enter a
[00:05:09] church, just look at the Virgin Mary.
[00:05:12] Look, go, come and see, come and taste, you know. You think religion
[00:05:16] is important, that's it for this testimony at the microphone of Marie Chuster.
[00:05:20] Sorry if the connection isn't always perfect because there are many, many
[00:05:23] people on this avenue of the Champs Élysées, at least
[00:05:26] 600,000 people. Father François
[00:05:29] Evet, we just heard this testimony at Marie Schuster's microphone,
[00:05:33] this man who is a believing, practicing Catholic, who
[00:05:37] explained that he had asked himself many questions and had also come looking
[00:05:41] for answers. He
[00:05:45] the sovereign pontiff. When we know that religious services in France don't
[00:05:49] gather so many people, when you see these images, these
[00:05:52] hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the same time
[00:05:56] on this avenue, how do you receive these images? Ah,
[00:05:59] well, obviously, it's impressive, it's rare to have such large
[00:06:03] gatherings. We remember that when other popes, it goes back a few
[00:06:06] years, came to Paris, especially John Paul II,
[00:06:09] obviously, who had a charisma, also drew crowds, there were hundreds of thousands of
[00:06:13] people, up to 1 million, I think, I seem to remember,
[00:06:17] there was World Youth Day in '97, so these are large gatherings that are
[00:06:21] indeed important, in which there is also a part
[00:06:25] of, well, of course, practicing Catholics who come for
[00:06:29] mass, and also out of curiosity,
[00:06:33] Christianity
[00:06:36] continues, or perhaps interests even more today than it did
[00:06:39] 5 or 10 years ago, so, well,
[00:06:43] to see the overall interest in the Pope's trip, it's interesting to
[00:06:47] see that it generates interest largely
[00:06:50] outside the Catholic world. And in what way does Christianity interest more than it did 5
[00:06:54] or 10 years ago from your point of view? Well, that's a good question, we can
[00:06:58] discuss it. I think what makes people turn more to this today, especially
[00:07:01] young people, I think that's not the trend. I
[00:07:05] don't want to answer for young people or place myself on the
[00:07:09] sociological point of view, but perhaps historically.
[00:07:12] It's been a long time now, a very long time,
[00:07:14] that the Republic has
[00:07:18] separated from religion. After the fusion of
[00:07:20] the divine right monarchy, obviously,
[00:07:24] it's an old story, so there were anti-clerical beginnings,
[00:07:27] we must admit. It devoured priests for a long time,
[00:07:31] this Republic, and now, finally,
[00:07:35] what does it mean to
[00:07:37] be anti-clerical? It doesn't mean anything anymore, you don't
[00:07:41] need to be. The church is a minority in this country, so we realize that even
[00:07:45] Catholics don't dare to affirm themselves as Catholics. So when we see events like
[00:07:49] this, and people have been saying it since this morning to your
[00:07:52] special envoys, well, you need
[00:07:56] dare to say that I am Catholic, etc. So there is something
[00:07:59] re-emerging that is perhaps more historical, a peaceful
[00:08:03] relationship between ultimately,
[00:08:07] would you say that the principle of the value of secularism,
[00:08:11] to which the Republic is very, very attached, and especially since the separation of church
[00:08:16] to this society becoming more secular?
[00:08:20] Well, it has, yes,
[00:08:23] yes and no, because the law of
[00:08:26] 1905, as we recall, and of 1905,
[00:08:30] this law of separation in a France that still remains very
[00:08:35] shift happened more in the 60s, it's more
[00:08:39] the evolution of societal issues, as they say, the evolution
[00:08:42] of morals after after the
[00:08:46] glorious period at the end, which
[00:08:49] in fact led to a very, very rapid decline in
[00:08:53] religious practice. But today, what I would also like to add
[00:08:56] is that it's an effect of... that is, an effect of
[00:08:59] the Popes. Already under Francis, the
[00:09:02] texts of the Popes intervening, bringing elements of
[00:09:06] reflection on the great contemporary issues, which is precisely the contrast
[00:09:09] with the 70s, where we were in a period of great development of
[00:09:13] technical progress, etc. Today, we are much more worried about
[00:09:16] the future, we are asking questions, ecology and new
[00:09:19] technologies, these are the two themes that emerge, where in
[00:09:22] fact the messages of the Popes
[00:09:25] interest, once again,
[00:09:28] Church. It's striking to see the impact of the encyclical
[00:09:32] Magnifica Humanitas, essentially on AI.
[00:09:36] I was at UNESCO and it was one of the themes
[00:09:38] that has a very, very
[00:09:42] strong impact, and I think that shows well what
[00:09:46] Christianity, apart from more patrimonial
[00:09:49] elements, we'll come back to that, well, indeed, the
[00:09:52] defense of certain monuments, etc., but more broadly, more deeply than that,
[00:09:56] on the life of society, that spiritual
[00:09:59] traditions in general and
[00:10:03] Christianity in particular provide
[00:10:07] elements of reflection. Yes, and exactly. I find that
[00:10:10] on the one hand, the Church has the intuition to meet the
[00:10:13] concerns, especially of young people. The Pope said yesterday, the
[00:10:17] fatigue of screens, anxiety about ecology,
[00:10:20] the environment, and also wars, international crises.
[00:10:24] But also, I find that, and you're right, the Popes
[00:10:28] have changed the way they address young
[00:10:31] people. And I find that what created the break of the
[00:10:35] 60s is also in the area of morals
[00:10:41] sexual practices, family life. And these encyclicals,
[00:10:44] for example, Humanae Vitae, were
[00:10:48] very poorly received because why was the Church interfering
[00:10:51] in people's sexual lives? We're going to address this theme.
[00:10:56] We'll have more time and opportunity to do so. The Pope has
[00:10:59] now taken his place aboard his Popemobile, which is preparing
[00:11:03] to descend this avenue of the Champs-Élysées to go
[00:11:06] and preside over this mass scheduled for 3 p.m. Paris time.
[00:11:10] Anne Corpé is on site, she's on this avenue of the Champs-Élysées
[00:11:14] at a higher vantage point. Anne, you're with us. The Pope will
[00:11:17] soon descend this avenue to officially open
[00:11:21] this solemn open-air mass that he is to preside over.
[00:11:27] Yes, the Popemobile is currently circling the Arc
[00:11:32] l'Étoile, and a tremendous roar
[00:11:35] accompanies him. The crowd, you can probably hear it behind me, even though I'm
[00:11:39] on the 6th floor on the publicist's
[00:11:42] terrace,
[00:11:45] is waving the Vatican flags that were distributed at the
[00:11:48] entrance, as well as French flags. There is truly
[00:11:51] a fervor. It must be said that people have
[00:11:55] been here since 9 AM this morning, they
[00:11:58] were even waiting for the barriers
[00:12:01] to open even before 9 AM, and the Popemobile will
[00:12:05] begin its descent of the Champs-Élysées.
[00:12:08] 600,000 people are announced, which is a figure three times
[00:12:11] larger than the number of people who attended the last papal mass
[00:12:15] in Paris, which was in 2008 with the Pope.
[00:12:18] You know that the security measures have been
[00:12:22] extended because originally
[00:12:25] it only included the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées,
[00:12:29] and the Avenue de la Grande Armée, which is located behind the Arc de
[00:12:33] Triomphe, was added. An imposing
[00:12:36] security detail accompanies this
[00:12:39] day with
[00:12:42] force, elite snipers positioned on the
[00:12:46] rooftops. I don't know if you can hear the crowd, the
[00:12:49] Pope is passing just below us there on the Champs
[00:12:53] Élysées, and the people are truly
[00:12:57] in an indescribable joy, waving
[00:13:00] their flags. The Popemobile will
[00:13:03] descend the Champs-Élysées until it reaches
[00:13:06] the Place de la Concorde where the mass will take place.
[00:13:10] A mass that will be attended by several
[00:13:13] presidential candidates. The message is not
[00:13:17] a political message, but a message of peace,
[00:13:20] a message of respect for human dignity, respect for
[00:13:24] diversity, for
[00:13:27] And we see clearly, even if it is not officially
[00:13:30] a political message, each of the presidential
[00:13:34] candidates will be able to find resonance
[00:13:37] in the proposals they intend to make to the French people,
[00:13:40] French people who are currently immersed in a form
[00:13:44] of popular jubilation around Leo XIV who
[00:13:47] is descending the Champs-Élysées before our eyes in his
[00:13:51] Popemobile, and we can see him in the image. We've seen
[00:13:54] him arrive on our screens, we've seen him at least
[00:13:57] via this aerial image, this
[00:14:01] Popemobile, preceded by what we see, a security convoy as well, and the Pope
[00:14:04] saluting on both sides this dense
[00:14:07] crowd that has formed on this Champs-Élysées. We're going to take the time to watch
[00:14:11] and observe these images for a moment.
[00:14:23] So we see in slow motion, it seems.
[00:14:26] The Pope must have stopped for a moment.
[00:14:40] Anne Corp, who also has a high vantage point since she is on
[00:14:44] the 6th floor of this building, so that allows us to have another angle on
[00:14:47] this avenue of the Champs-Élysées. Anne Corp, you
[00:14:51] were talking earlier about a clamor, and we can see and hear it.
[00:15:26] Indeed, at the beginning of the 60s, 85%
[00:15:29] of French people identified as Catholic.
[00:15:33] Today, they are less than 50%, and only 5%
[00:15:36] of French people go to mass every
[00:15:39] Sunday. There has also been a collapse
[00:15:42] in priestly recruitment, as
[00:15:46] only 84 priests were
[00:15:49] ordained this year, and nearly 30% of the
[00:15:53] priests officiating in France today abroad, mostly
[00:15:57] from Africa. Infant baptisms
[00:16:00] are much less frequent than before, one baby out of
[00:16:03] 10 today compared to one out of 2 at the beginning of the 2000s.
[00:16:07] But the new phenomenon is the resurgence of
[00:16:11] adult and adolescent baptisms.
[00:16:15] 21,000 people have requested
[00:16:18] this sacrament today, and the Pope
[00:16:21] this morning when he met these newly
[00:16:24] baptized individuals, said he was amazed by
[00:16:28] this number. It's a phenomenon that keenly interests
[00:16:32] Vatican. We have, in a way, moved
[00:16:35] from a Catholicism of
[00:16:38] transmission to a Catholicism
[00:16:42] of adherence. It's something quite recent and
[00:16:45] quite new that therefore interests
[00:16:49] Pope Leo XIV,
[00:16:51] who continues his descent of the
[00:16:55] Champs-Élysées and who will
[00:16:57] celebrate mass. A mass that
[00:17:01] is surrounded by a real popular
[00:17:03] enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that we do not find every Sunday in the many
[00:17:07] parishes of our territory. Thank you very much, Anne. We'll be
[00:17:11] back with you throughout this afternoon to continue experiencing with
[00:17:14] you, and thanks to the high vantage point you have from that terrace, this
[00:17:18] sequence. The sovereign pontiff, we see him in the image, has just
[00:17:22] stopped and is pausing for a moment,
[00:17:25] also meeting these babies. This is the
[00:17:28] sequence of the children blessed by the sovereign
[00:17:32] pontiff.
[00:18:08] Absolutely, Nabia, and if you see, I don't know if you see behind me all
[00:18:11] these young people who are agitated, who are calling the name of Leo
[00:18:15] XIV, there are flags, flags from Normandy, from the
[00:18:19] Vatican, from France. The crowd is in
[00:18:22] jubilation, the young people have been calling him for hours: Leo, Leo,
[00:18:26] Leo XIV. Behind me are also these priests who
[00:18:29] are patiently waiting for him, they are all in white, and the
[00:18:32] choristers who have been training all morning to sing, who
[00:18:36] will sing in this mass. These are choristers who come from all over
[00:18:39] France. We felt the tension, the anticipation building
[00:18:43] here in Place de la Concorde, and now we are waiting for him
[00:18:46] firmly, and we see this Pope who made us wait a little
[00:18:49] bit. Now he is greeting the crowd, he is blessing the
[00:18:53] children. It's a moment of popular jubilation. We didn't really have it
[00:18:56] yesterday during the walkabout, or even at
[00:18:59] Notre-Dame where it remained quite quiet, quite
[00:19:02] strict. Now, we are in a moment of communion and
[00:19:06] I want to say that this great moment of fervor has
[00:19:09] begun.
[00:19:12] that you are following, that you see in the image and you hear. Thank you
[00:19:15] very much, Florence. The sovereign pontiff is on his way to you to preside
[00:19:19] over this open-air mass. What Florence just said is true,
[00:19:22] Constance. We were together yesterday on the set when
[00:19:26] the Pope left UNESCO to
[00:19:29] make his way towards Notre-Dame
[00:19:32] Cathedral. He didn't stop as many
[00:19:35] times, or maybe he took advantage of this popular moment, and exactly,
[00:19:39] and then the journey was shorter, 2.5
[00:19:42] km. It was still the sidewalks, of course, it wasn't this
[00:19:46] crowd, it wasn't 60,000 people. Here we hear these
[00:19:50] people, the sound of this crowd, so obviously it's
[00:19:54] contagious, a crowd so there's something interactive
[00:19:57] there and we feel that he's really in this mass,
[00:20:01] taken as he was a bit yesterday at the Stade de
[00:20:04] France.
[00:20:07] contagious, of course, to feel acclaimed, applauded,
[00:20:10] while ultimately a vehicle that moves too quickly, the sidewalks,
[00:20:14] plus the boulevards of Paris are quite wide. Well, this is special
[00:20:17] because I was trying to say Pope
[00:20:20] superstar too, since yesterday, today he's descending this avenue of the
[00:20:23] Champs-Élysées, his name is acclaimed with this
[00:20:27] fervor. Father François, is it too much to say
[00:20:30] that we really have the feeling that the Pope is becoming a superstar
[00:20:33] during his trip here to Paris? In any case, all the
[00:20:37] components of such a sequence are gathered together. In fact, yes, that's what we
[00:20:41] undeniably observe. Yes, even if by temperament, it's true, the contrast with
[00:20:44] John Paul II who was a theater actor, who seemed more
[00:20:48] stiff, well, I mean, when you see him at UNESCO, not
[00:20:52] far, I saw him arrive, he doesn't seem necessarily
[00:20:56] very comfortable, well, but here he is comfortable, I
[00:20:59] think. Do you think he's enjoying the moment? Is he enjoying this moment? I think
[00:21:03] so, it shows, I find, for once,
[00:21:06] yes, I think he's really into it, he's really into it, and I think he must
[00:21:10] be quite pleasantly surprised by the welcome he received. I don't know
[00:21:14] what he expected here in France, maybe he had an image of France
[00:21:18] as a secular country, as they say, etc. So people come out of curiosity,
[00:21:21] but this fervor, well, for young people it's less surprising, but it's true, this
[00:21:25] fervor on the Champs-Élysées is perhaps more, and it's retransmitted on
[00:21:28] giant screens, you see these giant screens on both sides also, which allow to follow
[00:21:32] because they cost a lot, they cost a lot.
[00:21:36] Yes, we're at around 40,000 euros, we're going
[00:21:38] to point that out, because it's also information: 40,000
[00:21:42] euros per screen, and I think there are about forty
[00:21:45] screens deployed on this Champs-Élysées avenue
[00:21:48] to broadcast this mass, which will therefore take place on the side of this
[00:21:52] Champs-Élysées avenue, on this Place de la Concorde, and we know that this
[00:21:56] crowd invests this entire Champs-Élysées
[00:22:00] avenue, the Avenue de la Grande Armée, all the way to Porte Maillot, so it's
[00:22:03] really far beyond this single Champs-Élysées
[00:22:07] avenue. So, we'll keep an eye on these images, we're doing it
[00:22:11] on both sides of this set. The Place de la Concorde
[00:22:14] also raised questions, people wondered about setting up
[00:22:18] this mass in Place de la... it was during the Revolution, some considered
[00:22:22] it indecent,
[00:22:25] an attack on secularism. Well, the president of the
[00:22:28] Bishops' Conference, I'll just provide some information, Constance, the president of the Bishops'
[00:22:32] Conference had explained that according to the prefecture,
[00:22:36] it was the easiest place to secure,
[00:22:39] so that's why the choice fell on the Place de la Concorde. In any
[00:22:43] case, it's causing a reaction, yes, that's it, it's causing a reaction.
[00:22:47] I think that in the choice, there was still the desire to
[00:22:50] reproduce this recipe that worked so well for the Olympic Games, meaning
[00:22:53] for Paris to be the natural backdrop. It's much more beautiful to have the city
[00:22:57] as a backdrop than to have a stadium. What does a stadium represent
[00:23:00] exactly?
[00:23:03] So it worked well for the opening
[00:23:06] ceremony of the Olympic Games. It was secured, I
[00:23:09] think it's more difficult than securing an enclosure, so that argument, I
[00:23:13] don't really believe it. We know that, in any case, Emmanuel
[00:23:17] Macron said, "I was the one who wanted it, who
[00:23:20] insisted on the Concorde." So there is still a dimension, he
[00:23:24] wanted to make it grand, beautiful, majestic, all the
[00:23:28] superlatives. It's a success, and
[00:23:31] it's rather more complicated when it comes to the notion of secularism.
[00:23:34] I don't really see the problem. Indeed, it's a
[00:23:37] place that historically has been marked by, of course, the
[00:23:41] beheadings of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and other
[00:23:45] figures of the monarchy, while
[00:23:47] the others, I would say, who were not "people," would rather go
[00:23:51] to the Place du Trône Renversé to be guillotined. So, it's a
[00:23:55] place that was renamed Place de la Concorde by the
[00:23:58] Revolution itself, by the Republic in 1795.
[00:24:02] Why forbid a
[00:24:05] religious event, for me the secularism, it's the
[00:24:08] possibility for all religions to express themselves
[00:24:11] as long as they don't attack, as the sovereign pontiff
[00:24:15] said yesterday,
[00:24:18] public space, so it's time to address this question because it's also
[00:24:22] questioned precisely in our country, some elected officials said that the Pope was
[00:24:26] welcome but that this open-air mass could be questioned, Marie
[00:24:29] Chuster, you are still on this avenue of the Champs-Élysées, you are
[00:24:32] halfway between the Arc de Triomphe and this Place de la Concorde,
[00:24:36] have you actually seen the sovereign pontiff
[00:24:40] descending where you are and
[00:24:44] there he is still being acclaimed,
[00:24:47] well, I haven't seen him yet, but he
[00:24:51] should be arriving soon because I saw the first motorcycle gendarmes
[00:24:54] pass just now as you asked me the
[00:24:58] question, I can tell you that it's madness here, everyone is standing on the
[00:25:02] barriers, women are standing on men's shoulders, priests
[00:25:06] are literally standing on the
[00:25:08] barriers, children are obviously standing on their
[00:25:12] parents' shoulders, so I don't know, I, well, people
[00:25:16] see me, I don't know if you'll be able to see the Pope, he'll arrive in
[00:25:20] a few moments, a few seconds, I see, I see the
[00:25:24] procession arriving towards me, in any case, the fact remains that even my
[00:25:27] cameraman has disappeared because he himself wants to film this
[00:25:30] historic moment, in short, it's really madness, fervor,
[00:25:34] young people are standing, they've been cheering the Pope
[00:25:37] for hours, the procession is passing
[00:25:41] right next to me, maybe you can see it, maybe you can
[00:25:44] hear this fervor that is gradually rising in this
[00:25:48] crowd, do you hear it? Well, we have young people,
[00:25:52] parents, children, obviously, so some have brought their babies in
[00:25:55] the hope that the Pope will bless their
[00:25:59] babies, and you may see it behind me in a few
[00:26:02] seconds, the Pope is right there next to me, you'll see him,
[00:26:06] he's greeting the crowd, he hasn't stopped, this time he's greeting the crowd, he's very
[00:26:10] smiling, it's really madness, we've seen
[00:26:13] some people who have been there for hours, who,
[00:26:16] sorry, who are so fervent that tears
[00:26:20] are streaming down their cheeks, it was truly a historic moment
[00:26:24] for many Catholics, we were
[00:26:27] saying more than 60,000 are expected here on
[00:26:30] the Champs-Élysées, and just by looking, I'd even say there are
[00:26:34] probably more today, thank
[00:26:37] you very much Marie, you stay put, we'll come back to
[00:26:40] find you in a moment to continue following this
[00:26:44] sequence on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the sovereign pontiff who continues to
[00:26:47] descend this avenue to head towards this Place de la Concorde where
[00:26:51] he will preside over this mass, Father
[00:26:57] the Virgin Mary that will be said later at 3 p.m.,
[00:27:00] what do we know about the unfolding of this religious
[00:27:03] ceremony? Uh, I admit I don't have much
[00:27:06] information on this question, you've
[00:27:10] the Virgin Mary, how, how was it decided, by the way, is it the sovereign pontiff who
[00:27:14] decides himself how he presides? Traditionally, in
[00:27:18] Catholicism, on Saturday, one can celebrate a mass in honor
[00:27:21] of Mary, well, it's a tradition because in
[00:27:24] fact, today there's a feast of
[00:27:28] the Pope and Damian, but anyway,
[00:27:32] it's not necessarily very popular, tomorrow he will say
[00:27:36] Sunday mass, so it was a way to have a theme, if you
[00:27:40] will, for the mass that effectively joins the
[00:27:43] piety of many, many people, Natalia
[00:27:46] Mendoza, whom we will find in a moment, is also very close to this
[00:27:50] Place de la Concorde, while waiting to establish the connection, oh,
[00:27:53] you're there, hello,
[00:27:57] Natalia, yes, hello, I can tell
[00:27:59] you, here we feel an atmosphere,
[00:28:03] the effervescence, the immense enthusiasm, the
[00:28:06] joy of this crowd waiting for Pope
[00:28:10] Leo XIV in a few minutes
[00:28:13] here on the Place de la Concorde, and I'm with
[00:28:16] Gabriel, a young man who came today to
[00:28:19] attend, what were you saying? In what
[00:28:22] state of mind, what did you expect from this night? So we are all in a
[00:28:26] spirit of joy, of love, we meet many Christians and expect many
[00:28:30] strong messages during this mass, beautiful
[00:28:32] messages of peace that he will be able to convey to us and guidelines for us all to advance in our
[00:28:36] faith. Where do you come from? When did you arrive here? So we come from
[00:28:39] Normandy, from the diocese of Coutances, half of the young people,
[00:28:42] the youngest ones, arrived yesterday to hold a vigil at the Stade de France and were joined by people
[00:28:46] of all ages from parishes for the Concorde mass this morning, so
[00:28:50] the first ones arrived on site at 10 a.m. and we arrived at noon. What does
[00:28:54] Pope Leo XIV represent for you? So Leo XIV is our
[00:28:57] head of the church, he is also a guide because he is the one who teaches us
[00:29:01] the Gospels. Who gives us good guidelines to advance in our
[00:29:04] faith, there you go, the Popemobile should arrive
[00:29:08] here in a few minutes for this historic
[00:29:11] mass on the Place de la Concorde here
[00:29:15] in the center of Paris, thank you very much Natalia, thank you, we'll
[00:29:18] come back to you a little later also to continue following
[00:29:22] this event and this mass,
[00:29:26] Catherine and Father François, by the way, I'd like us to react to what was just said by
[00:29:29] this young man who was already at the Stade de France.
[00:29:32] Yesterday, so to the question of what the Pope embodies, he is a
[00:29:36] guide and that he expects from the sovereign pontiff that he will
[00:29:40] give elements in the line of conduct of faith, is that what we expect
[00:29:43] from him today? Yes, well, that's what he does in
[00:29:47] his texts, so without moralizing,
[00:29:50] we discussed this question yesterday, I think it was with you,
[00:29:53] Constance, in fact, yes, that's his
[00:29:57] manner,
[00:29:59] not moralistic, and I would still like to highlight an element to
[00:30:03] avoid making, I would say, the Pope the only
[00:30:06] channel, he insists in his texts,
[00:30:10] particularly that reflection must be done together, this is
[00:30:14] what Pope Francis called by a word that is not
[00:30:17] necessarily known to everyone, a little special, which is the word synodality,
[00:30:21] that is, it is together that we must advance, so the Pope
[00:30:24] advances, but precisely we must
[00:30:27] say, we must advance
[00:30:30] together, it's not just.
[00:30:44] But yes, but precisely, but I think that we are in the process of changing things from this point of view and Francis had already started the
[00:30:47] process, to say, but of course,
[00:30:50] clergy, he has a magisterium, he has people whose
[00:30:54] function it is to authenticate, but...
[00:30:58] d'authentifier des mais...