Pope Leo XIV Opens Four-Day France Visit With Warning on AI, Nuclear Arms and Church Abuse Reckoning

Pope Leo XIV touched down at Paris's Orly Airport around 10 a.m. Friday, September 25, 2026, greeted by President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron as church bells rang for seven minutes across France, from Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris to churches in Lourdes, Marseille, Lyon and Orléans, according to Euronews.

It's the first official papal state visit to France since Pope Benedict XVI's trip in September 2008, an 18-year gap that both the Associated Press and Fox News note was extended when Pope Francis repeatedly declined a full state visit during his 12-year pontificate.

AI and nuclear weapons take center stage

Speaking to Macron and diplomats at the Élysée Palace, Leo warned that a "paradise of machines" risks undermining humanity, according to the Associated Press. He raised what AP described as existential questions about scientific progress and human rights in the age of artificial intelligence.

The pope also reaffirmed Vatican opposition to nuclear weapons, calling the doctrine of nuclear deterrence "mistaken" and saying it is fueling a new arms race amid the wars in Europe and the Middle East. "Peace is not a balance of power," Leo said, according to AP. "Rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice."

AI runs through the rest of the trip too. Leo is scheduled to address UNESCO headquarters on the subject Friday, and Fox News notes his recent encyclical warned AI risks becoming a tool of "domination, exclusion and death." Macron's office said the Élysée talks were also set to cover climate change, end-of-life care and child protection, according to AP.

A church-state collision written into French law

France's 1905 law strictly separating church and state creates real friction here, as Ground News points out. The Catholic Church has publicly opposed France's 2024 constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights and a bill that recently received final legislative approval allowing adults with incurable illness to receive lethal medication.

That tension shows up directly in the visit's choreography. Macron will not attend Saturday's massive open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde, a decision the BBC reported is meant to preserve the separation of religion and state. Brigitte Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will represent the government instead, according to Breitbart, while presidential hopefuls Marine Le Pen, Bruno Retailleau, Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal are expected to attend.

Organizers say registration for Saturday's Mass drew 200,000 sign-ups within hours of opening on August 10, and more than 600,000 people are expected to attend, per Breitbart. Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich noted registration isn't mandatory, so turnout could run higher. AP and Northeast Now put the total crowd expected across the full four-day visit at upward of a million.

Meeting abuse survivors in Lourdes

On Sunday in Lourdes, Leo will privately meet seven survivors of clerical sexual abuse, a move Fox News called unusual for a papal itinerary. It follows a 2021 French government-commissioned report that found roughly 330,000 children were abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades, concluding the Church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference" to victims.

Retired Bishop Marc Stenger, who led the Diocese of Troyes from 1999 to 2020, told Reuters the scandal "deeply wounded the Church and damaged its credibility." He also told Reuters the pope's visit "has sparked a real tidal wave" of interest, tying it to a reported surge of more than 21,000 adult baptisms in France this year, according to the Conference of Bishops of France, driven largely by people aged 18 to 25.

A political capstone for a weakened president

Macron is barred from seeking a third term and leaves office within roughly seven months, with approval ratings near record lows driven by cost-of-living anger and criticism over France's debt, deficit and public services, according to AP. Charles Mercier, who directs history and sociology of Catholicism studies at Paris's EPHE university, told AP that hosting an American pope near the end of a presidential term carries political value: "It can be important to be aside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity. It's not new."

Aboard the papal plane before landing, Leo also weighed in on press access, telling a CNN reporter who asked about the Trump administration's move to restrict CNN and other outlets from White House coverage that journalists are welcome around him. "I am very happy that here, you are all welcome," he said, according to reporting carried by USA Today.

The trip continues with Leo's UNESCO address and a youth vigil at the Stade de France Friday night, expected to draw around 80,000 people per Euronews, before Saturday's mass, Sunday's stop in Lourdes, and a Monday address to European Union figures in Metz on "the roots of Europe for peace and unity." Security officials have deployed 14,000 personnel across Paris for the visit, according to Ground News.