Pope prays at Lourdes shrine after huge Paris mass
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LOURDES, France -
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Pope → pray → mass
Pope Leo XIV prayed for France on Sept 26 at its holy shrine in Lourdes, after riding along the Champs Elysees in the popemobile and holding an emotional open-air mass in front of hundreds of thousands of worshippers in Paris.
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XIV → pray → Paris
In the southwestern pilgrimage town the US pontiff prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle, where Catholic tradition holds that the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858 to a peasant girl, later Saint Bernadette.
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Mary → pray → girl
Months of ahead of a presidential election with the far-right surging and immigration high on the agenda, he prayed to the Virgin Mary to “obtain for France wise and generous leaders... eager to serve the common good”.
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he → surge → good
“May they make her (France’s) voice heard in promoting the defence of fundamental human rights and peace in the world, rejecting the mentality of war once and for all.”
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voice → make → all
AFP reporters saw him perform the rituals observed by the many pilgrims to the cave: touching the rock, lighting a candle and drinking spring water.
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him → see → water
On Sept 27, Leo will meet privately with seven victims of clerical sex abuse.
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Leo → meet → abuse
A 2021 inquiry found that clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as minors in France, over seven decades.
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clergy → find → decades
In an earlier highlight of the visit’s second day, the 71-year-old pope led enthusiastic worshippers in a mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy had been erected to serve as a makeshift altar.
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canopy → lead → altar
His prayers were accompanied by choral and organ music as the sun broke through the grey skies.
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sun → accompany → skies
“It is truly good and pleasant when brothers and sisters come together and glorify the greatness of God,” said Pope Leo, dressed in white liturgical vestments.
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Leo → come → vestments
Some 800,000 people had gathered all the way beyond the Arc de Triomphe, the Vatican said.
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Vatican → gather → Triomphe
“It’s one time in history to see the pope,” said Aline Riziki, 41, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has lived in France for 11 years.
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who → ’ → years
“I dropped everything to come here and see him, to pray for peace in the east” of her homeland, wracked by conflict for decades, she said.
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she → drop → decades
‘Important moment’
Jeanne de Montagnac, 29, came with her husband and two-year-old girl, who was perched on his shoulders.
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who → come → shoulders
“We’re happy that, even if she won’t remember it, we’re sharing this with her,” she said, a small golden cross dangling over her jumper.
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cross → ’re → jumper
“It’s an important moment for us to be surrounded by other people who also have faith.”
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who → ’ → faith
The first US pontiff was visiting France seven months before voters choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron.
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voters → visit → Macron
A number of presidential hopefuls were present, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Edouard Philippe.
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number → include → Pen
Macron did not attend the mass but was represented by his wife Brigitte.
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Macron → attend → wife
The president said in a message on X that France was “proud to welcome Pope Leo XIV and this monumental mass in the heart of Paris”.
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France → say → Paris
‘Dignity and peace’
Earlier in the day, the pope met migrants at Maison Bakhita, an association supporting refugees.
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pope → meet → refugees
Leo said it was “possible to encounter one another and to live together in dignity and peace”.
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it → say → dignity
He also stressed the “fundamental role of women in building a civilisation of love”.
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He → stress → love
The association said the pope’s visit sent a “message” ahead of the April-May election.
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visit → say → election
Leo was the third pope to visit Lourdes after Benedict XVI in 2008 and Jean-Paul II in 1983 and 2004.
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Leo → visit → 1983
Thousands of faithful watched his arrival at the site on giant screens.
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Thousands → watch → screens
The sanctuary, one of the most important Catholic holy sites in the world, receives some three million pilgrims each year.
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sanctuary → receive → pilgrims
Catholics credit it with miraculous healings.
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Catholics → credit → healings
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