Morning opening: Pope Leo visits France to meet Catholics, talk AI, united Europe
Jakub Krupa
Pope Leo will visit France this weekend, the first papal state visit to the country in 18 years, beginning with Paris today.
During the visit, Leo is expected to seek to repair the Catholic Church’s standing after abuse scandals in the country, as well as deliver a landmark speech on AI development at Unesco and talk about Europe’s future in Metz, with some other European leaders expected to attend.
He will visit the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as well as the famed Catholic shrine in Lourdes, among other places.
The Pope’s plane is now in French airspace and expected to land at Paris Orly airport in the next half hour.
I will keep an eye on his trip and keep you up to date.
Elsewhere, I will bring you all the updates from Ukraine and across the continent.
It’s Friday, 25 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Back in Paris, Pope Leo has arrived at the Élysée Palace, where he was greeted by the French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.
Crowds lined the streets of the capital to greet the pope, before his car arrived at the official residency of French president.
A particularly long red carpet was rolled out as the Macrons appeared to warmly welcome Leo to the palace.
Television footage showed the pope and the president talking to one another as they made their way through the grand building.
Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries in the past day, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said facilities has been struck in Bashkortostan and the Samara region, and that there had also been unspecified strikes in the Black Sea.
Trump made final decision to give Ukraine licences to produce Patriot missiles, Zelenskyy claims
Meanwhile, we are getting a strong news line from Ukraine, with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling reporters that US president Donald Trump told him during their recent meeting that Ukraine would receive licenses for the production of Patriot missiles.
In a voice note to journalists, Zelenskyy said:
“At our last meeting, President Trump emphasised to me that yes, I have made a final decision. Ukraine will receive licences for the production of Patriot missiles.”
Trump first suggested the move in July, though he later appeared to backtrack on the promise.
As Peter Beaumont explained at the time, it would mark a significant shift for Ukraine – if actually delivered on:
“It would be a diplomatic coup for Kyiv, which has been struggling to counter Moscow’s increasing missile threat.
Zelenskyy has for years been asking for more of [the missiles], and more recently for a license so that Ukraine can manufacture its own. Even at the current increased rate of production it is estimated that the US would not manage to replenish its stockpile for its own use until 2028.”
Leo’s visit in generally secular France attracted a fairly unexpected level of public interest, with over a million people expected to turn out to see him during the four-day trip.
There are a few sticking points between France’s secular public policy and the Catholic church’s teachings, including on abortion (the right was enshrined in the constitution in 2024) and assisted dying. The French Catholic hierarchy opposed both measures, but Leo is seen as unlikely to wade into these issues.
In political terms, the pope’s visit is seen as a big win for Macron in his final months in the office: his predecessor, Pope Francis, visited France three times, but never on an official state visit.
Only around 5% of France’s 69 million residents regularly attend Catholic church, AFP noted, but some 40% see themselves as Catholic.
Interestingly, Leo’s paternal ancestors were French, so there’s also that.
Pope Leo’s plans in France today and over the weekend
Later today, Pope Leo will go to the Élysée Palace for (another) formal welcome and a meeting with authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, before visiting Unesco and delivering a speech on AI in mid-afternoon.
He is then expected to go on a stroll through the streets of Paris, before going to the restored Notre Dame Cathedral.
In the evening, he is due to meet with some 80,000 young people for a prayer vigil with young people at Stade de France (I decline to say what they consider as ‘young’, because I’m not happy their brackets.)
Tomorrow, he will visit Maison Bakhita social support and integration centre and hold a meeting at the Catholic Institute of Paris before hosting an open-air mass at Place de la Concorde and Avenue des Champs-Elysees and moving onwards to Lourdes.
He will spend all Sunday there, with a Sunday Mass in the Sanctuary of Lourdes, and a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse within the Church later that day.
He will then be in Metz on Monday, with a speech on the roots of united Europe, another stroll through the streets of the city, and a mass at Metz Cathedral, before flying back to Rome.
Pope Leo arrives in France, welcomed by president Macron
Pope Leo gets off the plane, gets into a chat with Macron, and so the official welcome ceremony begins.
The plane is now in sight, and president Macron in position to welcome the pope to France.
Any moment now.
Meanwhile, frantic preparations are under way at the Élysée Palace, where the pope is expected later this morning…
But first, back to Orly airport in Paris.
Church bells across France ring to mark Pope Leo’s visit
To welcome Pope Leo to France, the bells of churches across France started ringing at 10am, just as his plane touched down at Paris Orly.
In fact, they are still ringing: it was agreed they would ring for seven minutes, which the Conference of Bishops of France said would be just right to “mark the solemnity of the event without disrupting civil life.”
It’s seen as “a symbolic gesture to mark the beginning of this apostolic journey and allow everyone to join in, wherever they are.”
Meanwhile, AP is reporting that in what will surely be seen as a swipe at Donald Trump, Pope Leo told reporters on board of his plane that they are always welcome to cover him, and affirmed the need for media scrutiny.
These comments came in response to a question about Trump ban at the White House, AP is reporting.
Pope Leo lands in Paris
As I was chatting about politics, Pope Leo’s plane has just landed in Paris.
We should see him shortly.
Last night Macron gave a rare prime time TV interview, answering questions about all sorts of current issues.
Talking to TF1 and France2, he denied media reports from Spain that the US Central Intelligence Agency warned Paris of a potential Russian strike across southern Europe, from the Mediterranean (Europe Live, Thursday).
“I can deny it. The CIA did not inform French services,” he said.
But he still repeated his warning about Russia’s “growing” hostile activities in Europe, saying all sensitive sites in France are subject to additional protection.
The French president also said that said any ban on US diesel exports backed by president Donald Trump would be a “bad” decision, including for the US economy.
Interestingly, French president Emmanuel Macron will meet with Pope Leo this morning and host him at the Élysée Palace, but will not attend tomorrow’s mass at Place de la Concorde in Paris.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy said the decision was Macron’s personal choice, adding that he would have attended if he were still in office.
“Some say that in the name of secularism, he shouldn’t go. That doesn’t make sense: secularism is a right, a right to believe or not to believe,” he said, quoted by BFM TV.
French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu will represent the state on Saturday instead.
Morning opening: Pope Leo visits France to meet Catholics, talk AI, united Europe
Jakub Krupa
Pope Leo will visit France this weekend, the first papal state visit to the country in 18 years, beginning with Paris today.
During the visit, Leo is expected to seek to repair the Catholic Church’s standing after abuse scandals in the country, as well as deliver a landmark speech on AI development at Unesco and talk about Europe’s future in Metz, with some other European leaders expected to attend.
He will visit the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as well as the famed Catholic shrine in Lourdes, among other places.
The Pope’s plane is now in French airspace and expected to land at Paris Orly airport in the next half hour.
I will keep an eye on his trip and keep you up to date.
Elsewhere, I will bring you all the updates from Ukraine and across the continent.
It’s Friday, 25 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
